     
The fishing is on year round in the Gulf of Mexico waters off Port Aransas, Texas, so when you get fishing fever, contact the Texas Charter Fleet to experience the finest in sport fishing charter boats in the state! Whether you go offshore deep sea fishing for a Blue Marlin or bay fishing with one of the local guides for Speckled Trout or Redfish inshore, we will provide you with the most experienced Professional U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Captains to ensure you have a great day on the water! Member of the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce. 
August 16, 2011 Deep Sea Fishing Report Port Aransas Overall the report has not changed much since last week, but I absolutely must mention the billfish bite that is going on right now. THe Texas Legends Billfish Tournament took place over this last weekend and had the best weekend for billfish that I have seen. Overall, there were 160 billfish released with one boat, the "Let It Ride" taking top honors with 19 billfish released. Below are the top 15 boats as taken from the TxLegends.com website: If you have ever wanted to have a shot at a Texas billfish, now is the time. The bite should remain hot until it cools, literally, after the first few fronts in October. Call now with any questions and we can get you out there.
August 8 Deep Sea Fishing Report Summer fishing remains hot with the arrival of the the shrimp boats a couple of weeks ago. The blue water has pushed within 7 miles of the beach and has brought the pelagics with it. The 8 hour trips are able to get their kingfish very easily around the ships at anchor and the shrimp boats. The shrimp boats have been also the home to numerous other fish, sharks, bonita, jackfish, dorado, ling.... Some of the deeper shrimp boats have had some blackfin tuna as well. You will need to find the shrimp boats in the deeper water, about 200 foot or more. This past weekend, most of the billfish fleet was down south for TIFT. There was a good bite around Colt 45 with sails, whites, yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna and dorado found all around the rock. Last week, Nate on the Iced Down found a couple of real nice dorado while trolling with one of them topping 38 pounds. The billfishing should only improve as we get into September. August Fishing Forecast August fishing offers some of the best variety of fishing off of Port Aransas. Despite not being able to keep federal Red Snapper, we can now put the Amberjack in the box. Amberjack season opens again on August 1st and will be welcomed by many blue water anglers. These fish will be found on some of the deep water wrecks and rigs. Usually a nice live bait will entice a bite. Another welcome site on the Texas offshore waters are the shrimp boats. By the start of August, the shrimpers have been on the water for a couple of weeks and have managed to create a decent following of groupies. The shrimp boats in the shallower water, about 200 feet or less, will have sharks, kingfish, bonita, ling and possibly a sailfish hanging around for a free handout. The “bluewater” or deep water shrimpers , tend to attract some of the same fish but may also have some dorado and tuna around as well. The best technique is to show up when the shrimpers pull there net and start to throw the by-catch, aka cull, overboard. It is very well known that a 12 pack of your favorite adult beverage can be traded for some fresh cull to use for bait. If you happen to miss the morning bite, check the shrimpers on the way back in to see if the local residents are willing to cooperate. You can troll around the shrimpers or throw some chum out to see what may be lurking below. August is a great month for the hardcore billfisher. The seas are normally cooperative and the billfish start to become a little more predictable. The best reports are normally from boats that have been fishing some of the deep structure, such as the Dumps, Dutra and East Breaks. If you can not make it out to these spots, then work the Fairway and keep an eye on your bottom machine for pods of bait. Be very patient while working the bait because it can take some time for the fish to get excited enough to come up a few hundred feet to check out your offerings. But when they do, you can usually have a few shots at the small trophy billfish, the white marlin and sailfish. If you can’t make it 70 miles offshore, don’t worry, the blue water moves in close enough this time of year to catch kingfish and sharks 5 to 10 miles off the jetties. Start by trolling some ribbon fish around the ships in the anchorage, usually 5-10 miles from the jetties. Then hit up any color changes or shrimp boats and you should have some luck finding something to bend your rod. You may not even have to leave the jetties. When the tides are right, the kingfish will come right up the ship channel and can be caught from the jetties in case you are boatless. If you are around the jetties, keep your eyes peeled for the numerous Tarpon that are rolling, boy do they love a free lined finger mullet. Remember to keep an eye on the weather before heading offshore and to always give someone your float plan. Have fun and safety first!
****** June 27, 2011****** Cherokee, with Captain Tray Clark, went out today and went 2 for 4 on blue marlin!!!! They also caught a limit of snapper, wahoo and a 45 pound grouper on a TLD 25. Heck of a day. The fishing is on!!!!
June 26, 2011 Port Aransas Deep Sea Fishing Report The fishing is excellent.... when the wind hasn't kept the boats at the dock. Yes, every year we go through the same pattern, it just seems that this year it has lasted a couple weeks longer than normal. During the periods when the boats are getting offshore Port Aransas, they are catching every species possible. Red Snapper season is in full swing with easy limits for all of the charters. After the snapper are in the box, a lot of the charters have been opting to troll for some mahi-mahi (dolphin, dorado)and wahoo with luck. Some of the charters are releasing sailfish and blue and white marlin on the longer , 12 hour trips. If 12 hours seems to long, we do have a couple of boats that will go snapper, shark and kingfishing for 6 hours starting around $700. With the light winds and pretty water the next few months, this may be a perfect trip for the family. Be done fishing by lunchtime and have time for the beach, ad bay fishing trip or even a round of golf.
Here is what to expect for the month of July offshore: July fishing and the weather have something in common here is Port Aransas, they are both hot! The blue water will be in close and the winds start to fall into a pattern more favorable for the offshore run. Snapper season is still open for a few more weeks and they have been very easy to find, just find some of your favorite bottom structure and drop to it. Keep in mind that sometimes those large sows are suspended off the bottom, so you may want to place your baits accordingly. Something else to look for starting in July are the shrimp boats. Shrimping season usually begins right around July 15. These shrimp boats can attract every species of game fish that the gulf can offer. Some of the regulars that can be found are kingfish, ling cobia, sharks, bonita and blackfin tuna. It is usually best to troll by the shrimpers to see what might come up. If trolling does not produce some dinner, then chumming and drift fishing may do the trick. July also starts the beginning of the tournament season here in Texas, this is because the fishing and weather are very cooperative. The billfish (blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish) are in good numbers and can be caught on a regular day charter out of Port Aransas. Some billfish “bycatch” may include wahoo, mahi-mahi, yellowfin and blackfin tuna. It is best to start looking around the rocks beginning with Baker, Hospital and Southern and further out at Dutra, the Dumps and East Breaks. Always look for signs that may indicate your best chances of finding the billfish…rips, weedlines, color changes, slicks, bait and bottom structure. When two or more of these signs come together, stick with it and you will get a shot at some of the best fighting and tasting fish the Gulf waters has to offer. One last thing, the tropical weather starts to get active in July, so always keep your eye on the weather and give someone your float plan. Have fun out there and be safe!
Bay Fishing Report Port Aransas The bay fishing in Port Aransas has been very consistent since spring break. The redfish and drum seem to fill the boxes every trip. A lot of the trips have been catching a couple flounder as well as some trout. I think the increase in flounder that are being caught is due to the fall closure for gigging and reduced limits. Hopefully this trend continues and we start to see more flounder in the regular daily catches. As soon as the winds start to relax, the water can clear up and the trout fishing should improve. When the wind is non-existant, the bay guides will head out the jetties and turn the corner for some surf trout. Not only will they get some fat trout, but they can run into reds, skipjack, jackfish, kingfish, sharks and the elusive (but increasing in numbers) tarpon. March 27, 2011 Port Aransas Deep Sea Fishing Report The deep sea boats have been fishing out of Port Aransas whenever the weather cooperates. Most of the boats have been heading out about 35-45 miles and targeting wahoo early, then drift fishing the rocks for kingfish. While they have been chasing kings, a good number of big spinner sharks have been cuaght. THe Tica Rica with Captain Matt Reed caught a 203 pounder this last week. Nate Forbes on the Iced Down got into the action as well as catching some nice amberjack. The Herradura made it out and caught some wahoo. All of the Port Aransas boats are reporting a lot of grass out there, almost so much that it is difficult to troll. It won't be long before the good warm water pushes in and brings a few more pelagics with it. Bay Fishing Report The Port Aransas Bay Fishing has really taken off with the warmer Port Aransas weather. The Port Aransas bay guides have been having some excellent days with limits of redfish and black drum. There have also been reports of a couple of flounder taken on most of the trips. This time of year the speckled trout begin to show up with the green water.
January 30, 2011 Deep Sea Fishing Report Port Aransas We are deep into the winter fishing season with spring conditions just a few weeks away. There have been some boats out taking advantage of some calm days between fronts. Captain Nate Forbes on the Iced Down made it out this weekend and reported good fishing. He caught 20 blackfin tuna, 25 beeliners and kingfish. The wahoo, which have been reported at Southern did not cooperate. A couple of weeks ago, a private boat, the Happy Hour made it out to a nearby floater and boated about 10 yellowfin tuna and then hit Southern for an early morning bite and caught 6 wahoo up to 71 pounds. Take a look at the last couple of February and March reports and you will see that there is some excellent fishing when you can make it out. SO if you are coming down for spring break, give a call and book your trip now.
August 23, 2010 The weather has been very cooperative for the most part and the fish have also been numerous. THere are still reports of good weedlines starting as close in a 20 miles. That is close enough to get some chicken dolphin, aka mahi mahi and maybe some wahoo. THere will definitely be some sailfish in close as the El Gato and Captain Tom Ramsden caught 2 sails while on an 8hr charter. One of the sails was caught around the ships. Besides the sailfish, kingfish and chicken dolphin have also bee reported being caught at the ships. The shrimpers are out there, and so are the different fish that go with them. The Caliente, with captain John Brennan, has been catching a nice variety of fish on his trips. The staple seem to be kingfish, amberjack, dog snapper and ling. On one of the fishing trips, he caught 13 different species of fish. Some people are happy with 13 fish, but 13 species...what a trip. On a billfish trip last week, the High Bid released a blue marlin and a white marlin.
The billfish bite has been hot. A few of the boats have seen more than 7 billfish in a single trip. There are a lot of white marlin being caught this year so if you need to get your white, now is the time. Usually the sailfish and white marlin start to school up for the next couple of months, and as most seasoned billfisherman know, this is a great time of the year to have multiple shots at billfish. A few boats have been making it to the floaters on some extended trips, and have been rewarded with some great tuna action, one tuna caught at Perdido topped the scales at 163 pounds. It wasn't the only big yellowfin tuna there. There were 100 pound plus tuna seen throughout the day down there. There are a number of boats that will make that trip so please call for information. Here is a picture of that 163# yellowfin tuna.
Port Aransas Bay Fishing The fishing reports from the bay guides said that it was a little slow a couple weeks ago as far as the redfish were concerned, but the black drum were making up for it. Over this last weekend the reds seemed to have turned on, Butch Findley reports 4 limits on one of his trips. When the winds calm down, the trout have been pretty active as well, especially if you can make it out to the surf. There have been some large bull reds caught around the jetties, which is the norm for this time of year. Do not be surprised if you happen to see a few tarpon rolling around as well. Both of these fish are in the peak of there seasons and should be plentiful for the next month. Port Aransas is at the beginning of the favorite season for fishing according to the locals. With school starting up, it is a little quieter on the island and the fishing is spectacular. If you ask any locals,what their favorite time of year to fish is, the majority will say the fall. Come find out for yourself and I am sure you will not be disappointed. Please feel free to call if you have any questions.
July 20, 2010 Port Aransas Fishing Report It is still business as usual for the Port Aransas Fishing charters. This is the last week of red snapper season, so I hope everyone got a chance to get out and catch a few. The kingfish are thick around the shrimp boats in 150 feet of water, maybe eventually some blackfin tuna will start to show up on some of the deeper shrimpers. With all of the rain, the blue water is out further than normal, but if you can find some decent color chages or weedlines, they have been producing mahi mahi some wahoo and sailfish. Nate Forbes relesed a sail today and had another one take a look. Speaking of Nate, a huge congratulations to him and his crew for taking first place in the POCO Bueno Blue Marlin Tournament with a 465 pound blue. Nate also released a second one during the tournament and a few meat fish as well. I happened to be fishing aboard the Happy Hour the same tournament and took 2nd place with a 454.5 blue marlin. Here is the video of Happy Hour's fish:
There have been reports of some excellent weed lines and color changes the last few weeks. I know there is a lot of green water nearshore, but the blue water should be moving right back in in the next week or so. When it does, the fishing should be non stop again. Here are some pics from a weedline in 200 feet of water just inshore of Southern.
Congratulations are also in order for bay fisherman guru and good friend Josh Garcia. He took grand champion at the Port Aransas Boatmen's Deep Sea Roundup. Mitchell Collins also had an impressive tournament by putting his son on the winning fish to take home the top junior prize. There is still a lot of fishing season ahead so call today to book your trip and I hope to see you on the water!
July 1, 2010 Port Aransas Fishing Report The deep sea fishing out of Port Aransas continues to stay hot. All of the boats were catching a ton of fish to keep the customers happy. This seems like it is getting redundant, but the fishing, or should I say catching, has been great. For the billfish fans, there have been a good number of blue marlin and sailfish seen and caught amongst various boats this last week. For the most part, the boats have been trolling weedlines and patches of weed to pick up their blue marlin, sailfish, dorado, wahoo and even some blackfin tuna. The Cherokee went out for a family meat haul and they ended up bring back snapper, 6 big wahoo up to 55 pounds, a 35 pound grouper, 2 40 pound dolphin and released a sailfish as well. The total catch brought back to the dock weighed in at 428 pounds. That will fill up the freezer. Here are the pics from the Cherokee trip:
The 8hr trips have been bringing back limits of snapper, kingfish, ling, baracuda and sometimes some dolphin. The longer meat trips have been doing well with amberjack and some grouper. The Caliente even managed a 100 lb wahoo while out last week. The bill fishing has been excellent with some big fish out there. The Meat Haul released a 400# blue and there were quite a few blues caught during the LoneStar Shootout. Here are some pics and videos of some blue marlin from this last week. Meat Haul Blue:
Happy Hour Blue Caught during the LoneStar Shootout:
Video:
June 21, 2010 Port Aransas Fishing Report The Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism (Texas Tourism) and other state and federal government agencies are working together to closely monitor all sources of information related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, there are no impacts to Texas’ 624 miles of coastline. Our beaches and offshore waters are not affected, and are open for business. Texas Tourism reassures travelers not to cancel plans to visit the Lone Star State. The wind started to lay down this last week, and the charters took full advantage of the good weather. The Herradura went for some billfish and they found some on a small weedline/temperature change between Falcon and Dutra. They were able to release one sailfish and came unbuttoned on 2 other sailfish. There is still some reports of grass out there, so take advantage of any current or temperature breaks that form a little line, the fish should be there. Here is a picture from one of Herradura's 8 hr trips:
Some of the charters that were not bill fishing had some excellent catches themselves. The Iced Down, High Bid, Caliente and Ambush are all getting lots of big red snapper, kingfish, ling, dolphin, dog snapper and Amberjack. Nate Forbes on the Iced Down even boated a 82 pound wahoo, that is a huge fish that is going to make for some excellent dinners. Take advantage of the calm weather this week and get out fishing. There are still boats available for bay and offshore. Check out this week's forecast at the link below: http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=gmz250&syn=gmz200 Port Aransas Bay Fishing The report from the guides is still positive. They have been catching the redfish fairly consistently, and there have been some reports from a few guides that have found a couple large schools of black drum. Butch Findley and Frank Eicholz have both told me that they have been on one of these large schools for a number of days now catching their customers limits. Everyone is waiting for this calm weather for the trout to turn back on. If it gets calm enough, some of the guides will look at heading out to the surf and around the Port Aransas jetties. Mitchell Collins, the Fish Pimp, has been taking the boat down to Laguna Madre the last week or two. He seems to be very excited about the fishing down there, and if Mitchell gets excited, you know its good. He has told me of schools of thousands of drum, and limits of trout on bait in no time. The Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay and the Land Cut are some of the best bay fishing areas in the country. It is worth fishing at least once, just to experience it. The oil is still not affecting the Texas coast and we still do not see it having a negative impact any time soon, if at all, at this time. There are still boats available for bay and offshore this week and weekend, so take advantage of the calm weather and go catch some fish.
Port Aransas Fishing Report Right now all of the charters are bringing in just about anything you want to catch. With the red snapper season open, the 8hr fishing charters out of Port Aransas are bring back catches of Red Snapper, Kingfish, Ling (Cobia, Lemonfish), dog snapper, dolphin (mahi mahi, dorado) and wahoo. There are still a lot of weed lines out there from 8 miles out to, well, as far as you can go. I spoke with Captain Brian Phillips of the Mojo, and he just brought back the boat from Isla Mujeres and said that there is grass out to 400 miles, but there are areas as lengthy as 50 miles with no grass. So the weeds just may thin out eventually. On the longer 12 hour fishing charters, the High Bid and Iced Down have reported catching the fish mentioned above as well as amberjack and grouper, and some blackfin tuna. The Ambush went out aon an 8 hr trip and caught limits of red snapper, some ling, kingfish, wahoo and blackfin tuna. A report from the Herradura from Friday had visions of Blue Marlin. They had one blue marlin attack a wahoo that they had online, then hooked up and lost another blue marlin , and sa w a third blue marlin while bottom fishing around Baker. The water is much prettier in closer than it was last week. Fishing Saturday the 5th out at Baker, there was more grass than you knew what to do with, but the water was prettier, not dark cobalt blue, but it was mostly blue. The Meat Haul worked the grassy area and released a sailfish and boated some tasty 30 and 40 pound wahoo, as well as a 33 pound dolphin. We also had an encounter with a large blue marlin (400+) that was chasing some dinner. So there are definitely some big girls out there, and we were only in 50 -60 fathoms. Some of the other boats fishing reported that the scattered grass went all the way from Baker to Dutra and the Dumps. We stuck with a decent area and had a nice current form for about an hour and we managed a few bites and fish from that. So there are fish there, it is just going to take work if you are trolling. Here are some pics from the Meat Haul.
John Brennan of the Caliente sent in his pics and report from his trip Saturday:
5 amberjack (up to 65#)
June 1, 2010 Port Aransas Fishing Report Conditions offshore this last weekend:
Quick report of whats going on offshore. We headed
out of Port Aransas Saturday knowing that the blue water was deep.
We headed off Southern and came on a good rip, weedline in about 65
fathoms and pulled a few wahoo from it, but the water is green,
green green. We started to troll out at about 120 degrees to look
for the blue water and there was a good amount of bait (bonita,
balckfin) in 70-80 fathoms, and the water is still ugly green. We
managed a couple hookups and missed one big fish around the bait. We
open water troll and got a 37 pound cow dolphin, largest cow I have
ever seen, water is getting better but no blue at all.
Red Snapper season is open as of today! The red snapper season will run through July 24th, so get out there now before it is too late. Besides the snapper, the High Bid reported catching 7 wahoo, limits of kingfish, ling and buckets of dolphin on one of the 8hr trips last week. It is a little uncommon to have the wahoo in so close, but they are mixed in with the dolphin in all of the sargassum that is floating around right now. On a 12hr trip they even added limits of AJ's, dog snapper, and some grouper along with the previously mentioned fish. Basically, the fishing is going off right now for everything. There have even been some blue marlin released over this last weekend. The Herradura released two blues on a nice weedline at the end of the fairway along with keeping a handful of wahoo and some dolphin. The inshore guides have been busy catching their usual redfish and trout. It seems that these guys are getting booked up earlier than normal, so give a call to reserve your fishing trip.
May 24, 2010 Port Aransas Fishing Report Both the High Bid and Iced Down made it offshore a couple of times last week even though it was a little windy. They were rewarded with some good catches of meat fish. They were able to bring back some dog snappers, ling, kingfish and amberjack. Next week they will be adding some large red snapper to the list as well. We have some good weather forecast towards the end of the week and hopefully throughout the Memorial Day weekend. I know last year it was flat calm and there were a lot of fish caught, even some blue marlin about 45 miles out. Here is a picture from the High Bid last week with Captain Aaron Chambers and first mate Matt Reed.
Bay Fishing has been on a tear out of Port Aransas with limits of redfish and trout being caught. With the light winds for the weekend, I imagine that the water will clear up very nicely and even more large trout will be caught.
May 9, 2010 Port Aransas Offshore Fishing Report A lot has happened since the last report, and sure enough, the pelagic species have moved into the Port Aransas waters. I had a couple of different boats report a nice weedline a few miles off of Southern this last week and it was holding dolphin and wahoo. The Iced Down was one of the boats and although he said the water was not blue, it was still worth trolling. The Iced Down also had a short trip in which they caught 7 ling and a released a limit of sharks (Sharpnose) and an undersized Blacktip. I heard the Caliente caught a 98 lb Amberjack, heck of a fish. Amberjack fishing has been very good with limits and the average fish going from 25-45 pounds. That is a good fight and good table fare. It looks like the prettiest water starts around 40-50 fathoms, so look for a color change or weedlines and there will be fish. Congrats to the Ambush, they went out last week during the weather window and released two blue marlin. It is always great to see one or two blue marlin, but to actually release 2 in a trip is outstanding. The federal Red Snapper season is open from June 1 to July 24. Judging by the amount of snapper that the spring trips have been having to release, it should be an excellent snapper season. There is no problem with the oil spill off of our waters, we are watching the situation very closely and make sure to keep those who are affected in your prayers. Anyone who has spent any time along the gulf coast can understand the severity of the impact to the environment and lives of the local communities. The bay fishing is in full swing with all of the guides reporting very good fishing for reds and trout. There will be reports of kingfish around the jetties soon. I also know that there has been some jackfish being caught around the ferries this last week too. Give a call if you have any questions or if you want to set up a trip. Tight Lines.
April 26, Port Aransas Fishing Report Fishing in Port Aransas has started to heat up with the warmer weather. The spring tides and south winds have pushed some warmer water, bait and sargassum into the Port Aransas area. The deep sea trips have been producing a large variety of species and good numbers as well. For example, I saw the Caliente bring in a nice catch last week which included 7 wahoo, amberjack, grouper, ling (aka cobia or lemonfish) kingfish, barracuda jack crevelle and countless red snapper that were released. That was with only 2 anglers on board. The High Bid also has been bringing in the same type of catches as seen in the pictures below.
This last week, there have been reports and talk of numerous ling near shore Port Aransas. When I say near shore, I mean caught off the jetties. Some boats have reported seeing dozens around the nearby rigs, although a lot are undersized, they are excellent fighters and there are plenty of keepers in the mix as well. As always, stop and check anything floating on the surface to see what may be lurking below. The spring tides have also brought in baitfish into the bays, which in turn brought some large trout. Mitchell Collins, the Fish Pimp, had a day where he helped guide his group to catch a 28", 26" 25" and a 24" trout, along with the regular catch of redfish. He also took out a group of friends ages 13-16 in the afternoon and helped them bring back 3 limits of redfish. There is a lot of fishing and catching going on and it will continue to improve with the weather. It is is just a matter of time, about a week or two, when we will get the first reports of billfish being caught along with the dolphin (a.k.a. mahi mahi, dorado). Whether you are new to fishing or a veteran angler, if you have any questions about fishing out of Port Aransas or what trip may be best for you, do not hesitate to call or email. We are here to make your fishing (catching) charter an enjoyable experience you will not soon forget.
March 21, Port Aransas Fishing Report It is that time of year when the fishing in Port Aransas heats up with the weather. We had some nice warm days overr the last 10 days, and the wind even cooperated for a good number of those days. Offshore Fishing Report: The boats heading offshore deep sea fishing have been heading out to the rocks and the rigs about 35-45 miles offshore. On the rocks, most of the catch consists of kingfish, sharks bee liners and plenty of red snapper. Unfortunately, the red snapper must be released due to it not being red snapper season. The word from the captains is that you can not get away from the red snapper anywhere you want to fish. Captain Brian Phillips of the Mojo said that he had 10 pound snapper feeding on the surface out at the rocks. All they wanted to do was catch some kingfish, but had to avoid the snapper. The amberjack and ling bite has been very good as you can see from the pictures below taken of the Iced Down catch captained by Nate Forbes. The Iced Down also caught some good grouper and African Pompano. These fish seem to be around in good numbers through May and will still be caught throughout the summer. A couple of boats the Mo Azul with Captain Peter Young and the High Bid with Captains Brian Cody and Aaron Chambers made overnight trips and were rewarded with a large number of blackfin tuna. The High Bid stayed out the following day and caught some amberjack, ling, kingfish and beeliners. There is also as many as you can reel in jackfish and horse eyed jacks that were caught and released. Captain David Bujnoch of Third Coast Charters is a new addition to the fleet and has the fastest boat with the very comfortable 38 Fountain. This boat can make it up to 65 mph when the seas allow. He made it out for a quick 8hr trip and caught kingfish, jackfish, beeliners and sharks. He also had to release numerous red snapper. All of the charter boats seem to have had an encounter at some point in their trips this spring with the extremely hard fighting and very tasty Mako shark. It seems that there are a decent number of them around and they are very willing to take away your 40 pound amberjack, tuna or wahoo. Even the Mako knows what fish taste best.
It will only be about a month until the blue water from the south gets within range of the Port Aransas fishing fleet, and with it comes the dolphin, wahoo, blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish. It seems that the best blue marlin bite has been around the month of June. This bite has been as close as 40 miles the last few years, so take advantage of it and get out there fishing. Bay Fishing: With the warmer and sunnier days, the bay fishing in Port Aransas has taken off. The guides are getting more redfish than the last few weeks and limiting out there customers. THey are also targeting some black drum which are in good numbers and if you want to add to the catching, the sheephead are still around. It will not be long before the water temps get right for the trout to start showing up. Flounder Gigging: Captain Tray Clark made it out this last week and although the flounder were not yet coming back into the bays yet, he managed a couple flatties but he did get 100 pounds of sheephead and black drum to make for a very good bag of fillets. It is all starting to heat up, so get down here and take a break fishing in Port Aransas Texas.
February 1, 2010 Port Aransas Deep Sea Fishing Report- The boats that have been getting out fishing have been having some good success with their catches. Nate Forbes on the Iced Down has run a large variety of trips the last few weeks. From 8 hours up to some of the overnighters at the floaters. On the shorter day trips, the catches normally include kingfish and sharks. For the longer day trips, he has been adding amberjack, grouper and some blackfin tuna. He has even brought in a few large Mako sharks, 263 pounds on a 12hour trip and a 288 pounder along with "lots of blackfin". That is some very good eating. On one of the exteded trips, the boat brought back 28 wahoo with a combined weight over 1300 pounds. That is some excellent fishing and good for loading up the freezer. Down south in Golfito, Costa Rica with John Brennan, the sails are turning on. I had one group fish a couple of days and had a one day catch of 10 sailfish and a blue marlin. They even caught some mahi mahi for the table. John then went on to win a local tournament out of Banana Bay marina with 29 sailfish releases over the two days. Here is a picture of the blue marlin that John Robinson released down in Golfito, Costa Rica.
November 23, 2009 Not a whole lot going on , but a group went down to Guatemala this month and had an excellent time. Even though it is considered the beginning of the season, the were able to get thick into the sailfish. They tagged 20 sailfish the first day, along with some dolphin and rainbow runners. They tagged 12 sailfish the next day and repeated the final day with 20 sailfish tagged and released the final day for a 3 day count of 52 sails over the three days of fishing. The fishing season has begun down south, and if this is any indication, it ought to be another outstanding year in Guatemala. Let me know if you have any questions and I can help you get a trip set up.
August 12, Offshore Deep Sea Fishing Port Aransas Wow, summer is in full swing and fishing in Port Aransas has been very good. The pretty water has moved back in close to the beach and the shrimp boats are out there in full force. As far as the meat fishing has been, High Bid has reported very good catches on red snapper and numerous dog snapper. Dog snapper will fill the void of the red snapper the rest of the summer as soon as red snapper season closes this Saturday morning at 12:01am. Along with the snapper, the near shore trips are catching lots of kingfish, sharks and some ling. There are lots of sharks on the shrimp boats near the beach as well as the blue water shrimp boats. The Iced Down, Caliente and the High Bid have all been reporting some blackfin tuna on shrimp boats out deep, although you have to find the right boat and contend with the sharks. When the charter boats make it out in the deeper water, they have also been bringing in some very nice catches of amberjack. Even though you can only catch one per person, nobody complains much if they don't have to reel in another AJ. The "little" 30 pounders will put a hurt on you, imagine what a 60 pound amberjack will do to you. There are still not a lot of weedlines out there for mahi-mahi or wahoo, but there have been some dolphin caught on the troll as well as chumming up chicken dolphin for some light tackle action and tasty dinner. The billfish have been sporadic with most of the catches coming from around Falcon, Dutra and the Dumping Grounds. A couple of captains have done well with the tournaments this year...Nate Forbes on the Iced Down led his team to some well deserved cash with a white marlin win at the Rockport Offshore Challenge. Not to be outdone, Captain Peter Young was at the helm to help win Third Place Angler at the Texas International Fishing Tournament (TIFT) in South Padre Island.
Click the link below
August 12 Inshore Bay Fishing Port Aransas, Texas Hot August weather right now but the fishing has not cooled down too much. Last week the guides were reporting good catches of redfish but they were not biting until later in morning and running into the afternoon. This makes it difficult because the heat starts to get to the fishing folks and they have to stick it out. There have been a few guides that have been catching a lot of black drum as well as the reds. If you get a guide that knows where they are, you might be coming back with 80 pounds of fish or more. On these calm days, a few of the bay guides have been taking the clients out in the surf and even offshore for some kingfish and shark action. Overall, the reds should start schooling soon and the surf should produce some very nice trout on calmer days. A few guides are even fishing down south in the Upper Laguna Madre to get some trout along with the reds.
July 12, Deep Sea Fishing Report Port Aransas The Deep Sea Roundup is over and the fishing was tremendous. The charter boats do what they do best and came away with lots of hardware. Some notable catches were from the Iced Down with a 111 pounf Amberjack which is a new tournament record. The High Bid caught the winning ling with a 54 pounder. Most impressive was the Grand Champion, 8yr old Kendall Owens who fished on the Caliente captained by John Brennan. Congratulations to everyone! The overall fishing is on fire offshore with lots of sailfish being caught along with a good number of white marlin and blue marlin. A lot of the fish were caught south from Southern to Colt. There was some weedlines and lots of bait which was holding the fish. Some large dolphin were caught with a 54 pounder taking first place in the Deep Sea Roundup. I will try to get some specific number of billfish caught, but in general, everyone says they have not seen so many caught in a long time. The Billfish winner was the Gunslinger who managed a Grand Slam on day two! For nearshore fishing, the catches have been good for kingfish, snapper, sharks and ling on the shorter trips and the longer trips have been adding some amberjack and grouper. Cherokee caught a 115 lb grouper on there charter last week. Another boat, the On Location, with Captain Matt Haworth went on an overnight trip over the weekend and released 3 sailfish and a white marlin as well as putting a sword fish on ice. Good job to Matt and the crew. Give a call to get out fishing now because the summer will be gone before you know it. There is still lots of availability for boats no matter what you want to catch.
Inshore Fishing Report Port Aransas Speaking with the guides, the black drum bite was very good the last few weeks has slowed down a little bit, but the redfish are still around. The trout have been hit and miss, but usually improves with the good weather. When these very calm days happen, a lot of guides have been hitting the surf for trout and some have even been getting their clients some kingfish around the jetties.
June 2, 2009 Port Aransas Offshore Deep Sea Fishing Report Summer is in full swing from the jetties out to 100 miles offshore for all the different types of fish that you want to catch. I will start out with what is happening deep offshore. There has been a persistent color change roughly 50 to 70 fathoms offshore of Port Aransas. The closest place to catch it has been heading off Hospital rock and keeping your eyes open. When it is ripping, you can't miss it. I have heard many experienced billfishers claim it is one of the best rips they have seen in years. One side is green and whitecapped while the other side is cobalt blue and slick calm. I noticed that the green water was moving south-southeast over the weekend, which is heading straight into the blue water. Reports were that the rip / weedline did not start to "turn on" unti late in the day. I know of a few blue marlin taken from it along with some sails and good size wahoo and dolphin. SO if you pass it early, check on it later, it could make a good trip into a great trip. The blue water does not start until you get to that color change, but there are plenty of fish inshore as well. Red Snapper season has started, and there are plenty of kingfish, shark and ling around too. The bill fish bite has turned on with some decent numbers of blue marlin and sailfish being caught by various boats. I have a video of the Cherokee's fish from last week, and some pictures and video of a little blue that was caught by yours truly on the Gloria II.
Moving nearshore, the water is extremely nice at the jetties with the calm weather we have been having. I was fishing with Rene Lopez last week at the south jetty and we caught trout (one lost at rock at least 25 inches), small grouper, 3 kingfish, jackfish, spanish mackeral, cero mackeral, mangrove snapper and saw some tarpon rolling. There was also bonita chasing bait everywhere. I mentioned that it was pretty enough for there to be sailfish around, and sure enough there have been a handful caught the last few days around the jetties. See pictures of one caught by Kay and Bill Culpepper today, June 2. The forecast is excellent for the week and it looks like we have a nice summer pattern going on right now.
June 2, 2009 Port Aransas Inshore Bay Fishing Report The fishing has been improving with the weather. The light winds are making for some great catches of trout in the surf and in the bay. The surf usually only happens in August and September when the light winds and small seas allow some of the guides to go hit San Jose Island with some good live bait to tear up the trout. The redfish have also been caught in large numbers by all the guides. They are even seeing jackfish in the bays and I am sure a few of the guides will hit the jetties to take part in the kingfish and unbelievable sailfish catches.
May 27, 2009 Port Aransas, Texas Deep Sea Fishing Report Wow. What a way to start the summer. The first good weather weekend happened to coincide with memorial day weekend. With seas 2-3 feet, most of the Port Aransas fleet made it offshore. On the longer trips, most charter boats and recreational boats hit the color change rip in about 50 fathoms that went from offshore Ant Hill up to Baker and on to Falcon. The rip was holding a lot dolphin, wahoo and even some tuna, with lots of a variety ofbait on and off the rip. This is a very good sign because the blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish will not be far behind. Last year, the hot billfish bite started Father's Day weekend and stayed extremely hot through June. Take a look at the archives to get an idea of what went on last year at this time. Some of the boats that I got reports from Peter Young on the MoAzul, which caught a good number of dolphin, wahoo and tuna and may have had a finicky billfish in the baits as well. The Ambush went out as well and came home with the same catch of dolphin and wahoo. The Caliente, with Captain John Brennan is still catching Amberjack, kingfish, grouper as well as the dolphin and wahoo. They even jumped off a blue on the rip as well. The High Bid had an inshore trip that produced a nice catch of ling, kingfish and shark. The catch of the week went to the Cherokee, and Captain Tray Clark. The Cherokee released a large Blue Marlin at the Dumping Grounds. Considering the fact that they called it one of the better blue marlin that they have caught, you know it was big. I will have video up of it within the next few days. I have seen it, and it is a good fish. They also missed a couple of smaller billfish and iced down some good meat fish for the grill. Earlier in May, a group of us went to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico and fished with a good friend, Captain Bobby Johnson on the Solid Waste. It was a great trip with fishing taking place about 500 yards off the beach. The boats do not even get up on plane when leaving the marina. With the proximity, and various activities other than fishing, I highly recommend getting down there for a little R&R. Check out the slideshow on YouTube:
May 27, 2009 Port Aransas Inshore Bay Fishing As with the offshore fishing, the bay fishing has really heated up. The redfish has been very consistent, but the talk right now is that the trout have been thick on the calmer days. The guides have been using croakers for the most part and have been limiting out, according to Frank Eicholz, Larry Kelley and Mitchell Collins. Don Miller took his group out over the weekend and caught a limit of reds for them. I have heard of cut up skipjack/ladyfish being an excellent redfish bait, so give it a try. A good local fisherman and friend, Rene Lopez hit the North Jetty last week a couple of times and caught just about everything. He said that once you got through the skipjacks, there were trout, redfish, grouper, flounder and snook to be had. I am probably leaving something as well. He was using Yozuris and also had some live shrimp. On one day he even caught 4 snook on the Yozuris. I have not heard of Tarpon yet, but it is a matter of time. With this good weather, the kingfish are moving in close, with lots of report s of catches at the standpipes, and some small ling nearshore as well. Give a call if you want to get out there fishing. There will be a couple of boats doing strictly state water trips for snapper, kings and sharks as well.
March 15, 2009 Port Aransas Deep Sea Fishing Report Although the weather has been wet and chilly, the fishing is red hot offshore. Captain Nate Forbes on the Iced Down has been out a few times this last week and has reported excellent fishing. He has been bringing in good numbers of blackfin, large amberjack and he has left the wahoo biting. He even managed a good size dog snapper. The last trip out was a "two cooler" day. Meaning he had topped off both coolers with fish. Proof is in the pictures.
The High Bid with Captain Aaron Chambers went out on a quick trip and caught limits of kingfish and even threw in a 15 pound dolphin. The report is that the water is a shade of blue at the rocks. The Bounty Hunter made it out and caught 6 wahoo that totaled 290 lbs. The had one 40 pounder bitten in half by a shark. Captain Dennis Lugg also managed some kingfish around some rigs but he said he could not keep the red snapper away from the trolled ribbonfish on the surface. Overall, the offshore fishing has been excellent as long as the weather cooperates. Feel free to call if you have any questions. Tight Lines!!
March 10, 2009 - Golfito, Costa Rica Report. Wow, what a trip. A few of us went down to fish with the Muy Caliente of Rancho Tropical in Golfito, Costa Rica last week. We knew it was going to be good but what we got was beyond anything we had hoped for. Captain John Brennan and mates Keith Banks and Tico Jeremy put us on a great bite. We ended up releasing 77 sailfish and a couple of dorado over the three days of fishing. Day one had 14 releases, we did not find the fish towards the middle of the first day. We headed out at first light on day two, which is very unusual for charters to take out the customers so early, and it paid off. Captain John Brennan put us on the fish early and stayed on them all day, which ended the same way it started with a double header. That made the count for day two at 39 releases. Fishing continued to be fast and furious for the sailfish on the third day with 11 releases by 9am. We kept pace until noon until the anglers hit a spot of bad luck. It always seems that catching the fish can be so easy when the fish are aggressive, but when they are finicky, it can make any angler weep and want to crawl into the cuddy. Anyway we managed a few more before the bite turned off and ended up with 24 sailfish on day three. We also managed a couple a dorado for the barbeque and some gorgeous pictures. I can not say enough about how hard these guys fish, how much they enjoy helping and teaching and how smoothly they work the boat and the cockpit. Keith and Jeremy are extremely efficient and hard working and they have to be when Capt. John keeps them on the fish. Please feel free to call me or email if you have any questions about fishing Golfito with the Muy Caliente.
February 9, 2009 - Deep Sea Fishing Port Aransas Texas - It looks like the year has started off with a bang last week when the Iced Down with Captain Nate Forbes made it out on a 12 hour trip and made it back with 800 pounds of fish for the charter. That is correct...800. The catch included 9 ling cobia averaging 40 pounds, a limit of amberjack for 5, and 7 wahoo taken around some floating debris. What a day for the private charter. Nate mentioned that the water was clean but not blue. I have noticed that the weather buoy 45miles offshore Port Aransas had a water temperature around the magical 70 degrees needed to turn the wahoo on. Other fishing reports have mainly been from the long range tuna trips, and the tuna have been cooperative. Most of the floater trips have been very successful for yellowfin tuna and some other species including dorado (mahi mahi, dolphin). There are a couple of new boats that will be available for offshore deep sea fishing charters out of Port Aransas, Texas this year. One boat is a 43' Viking called Caliente and will be captained by John Brennan who is currently releasing many billfish down in Costa Rica. Another boat that can get you out there is the Reel Insanity a 58ft custom for the high end luxury charter. It is a custom Carolina boat that is as pretty as it is big. I expect that Port Aransas boats will be very busy this summer with the unfortunate landfalls of last summers hurricanes in Port Isabel and Galveston. Fortunately for Port Aransas, we dodged the hurricanes and are ready for a great season. Call early to book your trip and I will answer any questions that you have. Inshore Bay Fishing Port Aransas - It has been quiet on the bays around Port Aransas, Corpus Christi and Rockport, but the redfish and black drum have been making some noise the last month. Mitchell Collins (aka Fish Pimp) has reported very low tides the last few weeks which has made it easier to find the schools of fish including one catch of up to 84 pounds of fish for one of his charters. Things are only going to get better with the rising temperatures and the arrival of the trout. Another new attraction to Port Aransas is the golf course. Newport Dunes opened last fall to rave reviews and has been well received here in Port Aransas. Ask me about the course and I can give you plenty of information.
August 20, 2008 - Deep Sea Fishing Port Aransas - It seems like the weather is cooperating nicely the last couple of weeks which has made for some good offshore fishing. The shrimp boats are out there and there are some good catches of fish coming off of them. Some of the ones out a little deeper are holding some blackfin tuna this last week. No reports of yellowfin tuna yet, but if the boats remain out there through the fall, there is a good chance to see some good yellowfin tuna. As far as trolling for billfish...it is either hit or miss. All of the boats I have spoken with have mentioned the large amount of weedlines from the inshore rocks of Hospital, Southern and Nailhead all the way out to the deeper waters of the fairway and near Falcon. Some of the rips have been described as "monster" size. It is a matter of time before some good catches come off of them. Captain Nate Forbes of the Iced Down reports that he has been thick into the blackfin tuna his last four trips this week. He has also said the fishing has been good out of Port Aransas for amberjack, ling, kingfish and dorado. All of the captains have been having tremendous success on the near shore trips too. High Bid, El Gato, Ambush and the Backlash are all catching limits of kingfish, red snapper, ling and sharks on state water trips. I heard a report that the Let It Ride had an excellent day this week for billfish. I was told that they were 3 for 5 on sailfish and might have released a blue marlin as well in one day. This is the time of year when it is important to keep an eye on that bottom machine while trolling. It seems that if you can find some suspended bait, you can raise some fish, it just takes some patience. There are still some reports of floating debris out there so keep your eyes open. There have been more bent props and shafts than I have ever heard of this year. Bay Fishing- The Port Aransas bay guides are getting into the late summer pattern. I have reports from the bay guides that they are coming across some huge schools of redfish around the Port Aransas fishing area. A lot of them were seen around the lighthouse shoreline. Just use common sense and cooperate with any others fishing the schools. Take your turn or move on to the next school and be courteous to your fellow angler. This is also the time of year that some of the guides get out into the surf on the calm days for some very good early trout action as well as redfish. I have seen some tarpon rolling around the south jetty and have heard good schools at the north jetty as well. The best bait is live finger mullet free lined to the area they are rolling. Don't be surprised to get cut off by a kingfish when the water is real pretty at the jetties, which it is right now. The Port Aransas weather forecast for the next 5 days is light winds and calm seas, so make a call and go out fishing before summer is over.
June 25, 2008- Deep Sea Fishing Port Aransas Wow! The fishing has turned on in a big way. The billfish have moved into Port Aransas and a lot of the charters and private boats have been having excellent catches. Most of the boats have been have been catching there fish on weedlines from 40 fathoms to 60 fathoms. One area that was holding a lot of fish was a blue water color change around South Baker. It seemed as if most boats had 2 or three shots at blues and 2-3 chances at sailfish. When they weren't catching billfish, there was plenty of billfish by catch, such as wahoo and dolphin. The best chance at coming across a good area is to run straight out the fairway and keep your eyes peeled for weedlines starting around the rocks. Some notable catches: Cherokee - Had back to back charters on Friday and Saturday of last week and released a blue marlin and a sailfish on each trip. Tray even managed to catch snapper, kingfish, tuna, dolphin, wahoo and ling. On Friday he was 1 for 2 on Blue Marlin and 1 for 4 on sailfish.
Mo Azul - Peter Young released a sailfish and a blue marlin over the weekend and had numerous shots at other fish "with a stick on the nose". Iced Down - Released a blue marlin and a sailfish on Saturday along with the usual wahoo and dolphin. Hit some snapper on the way in to top off the fish box. Paka - A tremendous day last week with 3 blue marlin releases in one day, along with a sailfish. The blues were estimated at 200, 350 and 500+ pounds. For some meat they caught wahoo and dolphin, with one of the hoos pushing 70 pounds. Meat Haul - The Meat Haul crew went out Saturday and were 1 for 4 on blues and missed a sailfish. They too caught a couple of 40lb wahoo and some good dolphin about 30 lbs. High Bid - Has been out catching their share of the fish as well. They seem to load up on snapper and kingfish and then troll for some wahoo and dolphin themselves. They also managed to catch a 72 pound ling. I heard of some white marlin being caught as well on some of the private boats. The boats that have been going after swordfish at night have also been rewarded with consistent fishing. I saw online that there is a possible new dolphin state record that was caught out of Port Isabel...65.7lbs. Congrats! Bay Fishing Port Aransas - The guides have been switching over to more trout fishing now that the weather is cooperating. Most of the guides are using croaker to get good numbers of trout, with lots of limits being reported. The reds are slowing down a little bit. A lot of the guides will head out into the surf to go after trout when the conditions are favorable. Whenever they get out in the surf, there is a good chance for other species not usually caught in the bays, species such as sharks, jacks, kingfish and maybe a ling. Larry Kelley had a trip last week in which he caught 20 trout and then proceeded to take the clients out the jetties and they were rewarded with a 46 pound ling. Not bad for a bay trip. There are also reports of kingfish and bonita at the anchorage. As always, call ahead of time to book your trip. It is summer and dates are filling up quickly.
June 16, 2008 - Deep Sea Fishing Port Aransas Quite a few boats have made it out the last few days with the improving weather. Overall the offshore fishing in Port Aransas ahs been excellent. The deep sea charters have been bringing in great catches on every trip. The shorter trips have been producing limits of snapper and kingfish, along with ling, shark, dolphin and barracuda. The longer offshore fishing trips have been seeing all of the fish already mentioned along with wahoo, amberjack, more dolphin, and even some billfish, mainly blue Marlin and sailfish. The El Gato fished Saturday out of Port Aransas and was able to catch limits of snapper and kingfish. Captain Butch Findley also caught some ling, mahi-mahi and shark for clients. The MoAzul made it out a couple of days and caught limits of snapper and kingfish, and missed a sailfish around the Aransas rocks. They did manage to release a blue marlin on the following trip. The Cherokee made it out on Father's day along with a good number of other boats. Captain Tray Clark caught their snapper and some kingfish and then decided to troll around some rigs in about 50 fathoms. They quickly hooked up to a good blue that wanted nothing to do with being brought in and unfortunately came unbuttoned after taking about 600 yards off the reel. The Cherokee did manage to catch a 65lb wahoo and some dolphin. Aboard the Iced Down, the clients have been treated to some excellent deep sea fishing. It seems like the norm right now is to get some good snapper in the box and then move on to do some trolling. It has paid off nicely for the Iced Down as you can see in the pictures below.
Overall, it looks like the fishing season is in full swing with the arrival of the billfish and other pelagic species off the coast of Port Aransas. I heard of a lot of the fish being caught on a rip/weedline around the rocks from 190 feet to 240 feet. The marlin were caught on the rip, a couple were released at Southern and some hooked up near Baker. It is nice to see so many fish "in close" with fuel prices being what they are. Reports from around the Texas coast are indicating a good blue marlin bite this last weekend, so give a call and get let's get you out fishing! Inshore Bay Fishing in Port Aransas The guides have been having good luck with the redfish by managing to bring in a couple of limits on each trip. It seems that they have the best success recently when they have some good fresh bait, specifically menhaden. Redfish are not the only game in town, Captain Mitchell Collins went out over the weekend and limited out on some very nice trout. One of the speckled trout was 24 inches. Remember to book your trips early, most of the Weekends are filling up for both bay and offshore charters. Give a call if you have any questions about getting out fishing in Port Aransas. May 19, 2008 OFFSHORE Port Aransas- Well it looks like the sport fishing in Port Aransas is starting to heat up with the weather. All of the boats going out have done very well recently. I had one group go out fishing with the Cherokee, Bad Boy and the Mo Azul. They all had excellent catches including limits of kingfish up to 40 pounds, ling, snapper, barracuda, jackfish, amberjack , ling and bee liners. The kingfish are thick at the rocks and should be moving in closer every day. There was also a wahoo that came off while the Mo Azul was trolling. Nate on the Iced Down reported some excellent grouper fishing along with all of the above mentioned fish. He did get thick into the ling and he reports that the ling have definitely moved in. The water is still green at the rocks, but the fish are definitely there. I heard that a some private boats released a sailfish and that the Hale Yeah may have caught a couple of swordfish over the weekend. Time to get to Port Aransas and go fishing!!
INSHORE Port Aransas- When the winds let up, the trout fishing tends to improve. The redfish have been very consistent over the last few weeks in the bay. Things are looking more and more like summer everyday, the temps are heating up, the bait it coming in the jetties and I even saw some tarpon rolling at the end of the south jetty today. A few of the boats at the end of the jetty were catching numerous redfish with a few oversized redfish being released. Tray Clark went out on 5/18 for some flounder and sheephead and ended with 14 flounder and 16 sheaphead. There are a couple of guides that have been fishing down in the land cut and have been having some good success with the trout on live bait, croaker and shrimp. Captain Grant Coppin reported that it is mainly trout right now with 2 or 3 redfish thrown in.
May 5, 2008 OFFSHORE- Some of the boats are making it out offshore and are bringing in some good catches. Over the weekend a few boats made it out before the front came through. Captain Peter Young on the Mo Azul and Captain Jim Harmon on the Bad Boy made it out Saturday and got into a lot of fish. They caught amberjack, kingfish, baracuda, jack crevelle, ling and released a lot of legal snapper. One AJ on the Bad Boy made it to 40lbs as well as a 20lb ling. THey both reported numerous undersized amberjacks as well. Nate Forbes on the Iced Down had a nearshore trip yesterday in the blustery winds and caught an 80 lb sandbar shark along with some snapper. Word is that the water is green and that there are some decent rips starting to show up. INSHORE- It looks like the trout have shown up. Captain Mitchell Collins had a few trips this last week and was able to catch the clients both redfish and trout. He did mention that it was easier for the reds one day, and then slowed on the reds the next. The trout he was getting into averaged 18-20 inches. Captain Justin Cortez got took some clients fishing down to the land cut and brought home 27 trout, a black drum and a flounder. I know of a few guides that will fish the Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay and landcut so let me know if you want to get out down south. Tray Clark of Backstabber guide has been out flounder gigging and has been quite successful. He has been getting 20-30 fish when the weather cooperates along with some sheephead. Most of the fish are 2-3 lbs. April 04, 2008 OFFSHORE - Things are starting to change offshore. I have heard of a little bit of prettier water just inshore the rocks. There was a report of a big scattered rip between the 26 mile rigs and the rocks that had some wahoo on it. Nate Forbes on the Iced Down went out scouting this week and found some good Warsaw grouper and had a good trip overall. Looking at some sea surface temperature charts, the first push of warm water (74-75degrees) seems to be around the Dumping grounds about 75 miles from Port Aransas. I have noticed that this normally doesn't show up until May the past 5 years. It may be an early start to the season. Speaking of an early start...it seems that people are booking their trips early this year, so if you you are planning on getting out on the weekend, you may want to give Texas Charter Fleet a call to set up your trip. Inshore- Larry Kelley went out a few days this week and gave me the first solid report of trout. He caught a limit of trout for 2 people on Wednesday in about an hour and a half. The next day the wind picked up and the trout shut off. He also reported that the spring tides are here and that you need to check out some of the "new water" areas for the spread out fish. Flounder Gigging- Had the pleasure of getting out gigging with Tray Clark of Backstabber Guide service, once again he did not disappoint. In a quick hour and a half, we managed our limit of 10 sheephead and added 14 flounder. It should get better for the next couple of months as the flounder start coming back in the bays. As far as the sheephead, there were hundreds of them, so you can take your time and wait for some of the larger ones. As always, feel free to email or call if you have any questions or need to book a fishing trip.
March 24, 2008 OFFSHORE - The boats are starting to get into some fish out there, at least some good meat fish. The Iced Down made it out a couple of days this last week once the waves and winds subsided. He managed to get a mako shark on back to back days along with some kingfish and snapper the first day. On the second day, he went out further than the 26's and got limits of amberjack, 7 grouper, An African Pompano and some nice snapper to finish off the day.
All the fishing reports that I got said that the water was green and cold (66-67 degrees). Capt. Matt Haworth, who runs the private boat Madera, got into some blackfin at an early bite out deep at a rig and then pulled baits out to Dutra with no luck. He also managed some grouper. The Hale Yeah (Ronnie Hale) had a good weekend with a swordfish, tuna, and grouper. Congrats on the swordfish!! Inshore- I am finally starting to hear of some trout starting to show up with the warming water. Got some reports from the guides that they were getting into them around Traylor Island and redfish around Hog Island. Still a lot of black drum and sheep head out there too when the currents slow around the structure in the channel.
March 3, 2008 OFFSHORE-- Fishing offshore of Port Aransas has been good as long as the weather cooperates. This is usually the case for this time of year. I spoke with Capt. Nate Forbes of the Iced Down about his last couple of trips out. On the ICed Down, he was able to get some Amberjack, grouper and a 30lb ling. He did not have any luck on the wahoo but that can change literally overnight. He also ran a couple of party boat trips and they were able to get into some good numbers of blackfin tuna. He thinks that they should still be out there. If the blackfin tuna are there, then the possibility of hooking into a mako shark should be good. Inshore-- I got some good info from a couple of captains on the recent inshore fishing around Port Aransas. Capt. Frank Eicholz told me that there have been some good numbers of redfish and black drum around Hog Island, and plenty of sheephead at the jetties if th wind is not blowing too hard. These fish have been caught using shrimp. He said shrimp is fine to use due to the lack of pinfish (baitstealers). Capt. Ed Woodhouse said that the reds are showing up in the flats with the warmer weather/water. He has been able to trick them into biting with gold spoons, perch and shrimp. He is working areas of bait, mainly schools of mullet to catch his fish. He said there is a large amount of bait up on the flats. International--Just returned with a group from Quepos/Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica for a fun filled fishing week. The sailfish bite picked up as we were down there with the first two days releasing 3-4 sails a boat and seeing about 12-15. The sails weren't real excited to eat, but luckily some were hungry. The third day of fishing led to the release of 9 sailfish out of about 25 in the baits. There was also some yellowfin tuna in the 40-50# class range caught. The highlight of the fishing trip was the release of a black marlin estimated at 500lbs or better. It was a 2.5hr fight with only one jump. Below are some pics of the trip.
Oregon Salmon Fishing Website Traffic Fishing Accessories Tiger Airways Webpage Best Viewed in 1024 x 768 |
