King? Report

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rattlesnake68
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:43 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma

King? Report

Post by rattlesnake68 »

Dad and I arrived in the Corpus area on Sept. 30 and after checking in at a local motel we jumped back into the truck to find some salt. It was around 5pm so it wasn't enough time to hit the MP rigs and I've always wanted to check out the Packery Channel area so that's what we did on the first evening. launching the Hobie TI, we kayak sailed past all the fishermen and out into the Gulf trolling lures. It was very apparent most people have never seen a Hobie TI under sail fully rigged for fishing, lots of stares and pointing fingers. lol. We had a couple of hookups, but didn't boat them. daybreak the next day we were on the PINS with foot surf and a north breeze at our backs. We headed straight for the helipad trolling lures along the way with not a single bite and that concerned me. As we arrived at the helipad I saw a "gentleman" there in an inflatable dingy jigging to beat the band. I didn't want to crowd him although there was lots of room around that thing so I waved , he nodded, and I pointed the bow toward the pipe stem. Looking over my shoulder I saw him bring onboard some little silver colored fish. Over halfway to the pipe I here an outboard engine and it's dingy boy racing past us to set up next to the pipe stem and he starts furiously jigging. Aggravated but undaunted dad and I just troll about about 100 / 150 yards off of the pipe making passes by the pipe to stay in the area. On one of the passes my rod bends down nearly to the water and the first king is on. Then a second king hits and I land it. I look over at dingy boy and he has stopped jigging and has rigged up to troll two rods, only he is sticking tight to the pipe running his little outboard making circles less than ten yards from the pipe. He was going to make sure we didn't get anywhere near his beloved pipe. We were catching fish and I just shrug my shoulders, but I'm feeling bad that I've landed two kings and dad hasn't had so much as a bump. As I re-rig, I planned to give dad this rod also so he can catch the next one. While waiting for me to tie a new ribbon rig on, dad is smoking his pipe and has a ribbon fish setting still below the kayak. Suddenly the heavy action rod slams down and then aft bending the rod holder over at an impossible angle. I just know the rod holder and possibly the rod is about to break. The rod hits another rod at the back of the kayak and bends it over. Dad grabbed the rod as it is ripped from the rod holder and all heck is breaking loose. I tell dad to loosen some drag but it's all he can do to hold onto the rod. Finally the kayak starts moving in the direction of the charging fish and we can separate the two rods and dad can get a better grip. I don't know how fast that fish was moving, but I know I wouldn't want to have been in front of it. I honestly thought this was a hammerhead and dad has a very distinct fear of sharks. None of the scenarios running through my head ended well. As dad continued to fight the fish it started to go into long sweeping circles and I felt more confident that this was king and that was confirmed once I saw the silver color deep in the water column. Dad is in his 70s and that fish wore him out, but we got it onboard and the fishing continued. Dingy boy tucked tail and left in defeat and we slipped up to the pipe, dropped lines and drifted away over and over hooking into Spanish Mackerel or Kings each time. I even pulled up an undersized snapper at one point. We literally filled our huge fish bag with a limits of king and a couple of Spanish forcing us to stop fishing head back to the beach. It was a good feeling when dad said that this was the best fishing trip he had ever been on in his life. The next day we went up Packery channel, but it was pretty uneventful, just a couple of croaker, one of which was ripped from the stringer by something I would like to have caught. lol. We were back at the boat ramp by 9:45am as check out at the motel was at 11am. Packing all of our gear, we headed back to Oklahoma with nineteen quart bags of fillets. I've posted the pictures of this trip on TKF FB. I always have heck posting pictures on this site. I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions and tips. Being a landlocked country boy it can be difficult to fish a totally different environment and be successful. Honestly couldn't have done it without the help of several well know locals, you know who you are and THANK YOU. lol
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Killerbee
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 7:37 am

Re: King? Report

Post by Killerbee »

Great write up man! Thanks
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Kalait
Posts: 223
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2013 4:43 pm

Re: King? Report

Post by Kalait »

Thanks for the report, glad you guys had a great day of fishing. :D
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YakMack
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:33 pm
Location: Houston

Re: King? Report

Post by YakMack »

Well dang it. I guess that's what people call me when I opt for my Dinghy instead of my kayak! I prefer the name RIB or SIB though ;)

Great writeup and I'm glad ya'll slayed them Kings and gave your pops a grand ol' time. Safe travels!
Wolfman57
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Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 3:05 pm
Location: League City

Re: King? Report

Post by Wolfman57 »

Great report.

I felt like I was there

WM
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