TexasKayakFisherman.com

Well, I’ve enjoyed following this thread. Best of luck to all of you finding a date that works out weather/conditions-wise!

Are these the only species we're likely to encounter?

King Mackerel Bag limit = 3, Min length – 27”
Spanish Mackerel Bag limit = 15, Min length – 14”
Cobia Bag limit = 2, Min length = 40”
Jack Crevalle No restrictions
Red Snapper State waters (up to 9 nm offshore) Bag limit = 4, Min length = 15”
Lane Snapper No bag limit, Min length = 8”
Sharks I don’t care

Dave

deptrai wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:49 am Are these the only species we're likely to encounter?

King Mackerel Bag limit = 3, Min length – 27”
Spanish Mackerel Bag limit = 15, Min length – 14”
Cobia Bag limit = 2, Min length = 40”
Jack Crevalle No restrictions
Red Snapper State waters (up to 9 nm offshore) Bag limit = 4, Min length = 15”
Lane Snapper No bag limit, Min length = 8”
Sharks I don’t care

Dave

Don't forget these species as well:
mahi mahi - no bag or size limit
grouper - limits depending on the species of grouper
sailfish - fun to catch but not something you want to haul back to shore (no limit and 84" minimum)
tripletail - limit 3 and 17" or larger
tarpon - limit 1 and minimum 85" but not something you will want to keep
triggerfish - limit 20 and 16" minimum
spade fish - no bag or size limit

So I have done gulf coast bays and Intercoastal pretty extensively, even got a few Texas Slams! Can anyone explain how to read these surf reports and what it all means? Wave 1 through 4, height, direction, power, wind... it's a little overwhelming to try and decipher a good time to do BTB! Never been BTB so I am for sure still looking forward to this but would still like to understand in case I want to go again later. Also, I don't know really anyone that does these types of trips, are there any texts or forums people post in for upcoming BTB trips people can tag along with or be a part of?


-Michael

mhouse wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 7:55 pm So I have done gulf coast bays and Intercoastal pretty extensively, even got a few Texas Slams! Can anyone explain how to read these surf reports and what it all means? Wave 1 through 4, height, direction, power, wind... it's a little overwhelming to try and decipher a good time to do BTB! Never been BTB so I am for sure still looking forward to this but would still like to understand in case I want to go again later. Also, I don't know really anyone that does these types of trips, are there any texts or forums people post in for upcoming BTB trips people can tag along with or be a part of?


-Michael

Surf 1-4 means 1 to 4 foot waves in the surf (getting out the breakers) not bad. Surf over 2-3’ not good.

Swell 2-3’ basically means once past breakers the rolling swells at e 2 to 3 feet, not bad

Frequency 5s means those swells come in every 5 seconds - not bad not great, longer intervals of 8-10 seconds makes it easy breezy

Wind direction and speed helps interpret if the surf and swells will break. Under 10 is great more than 15 not so great. Coming to the direction perpendicular to the beach/sandbars is better against the waves not good.

Low wind with big gusts not good, low wind with no gusts more better.

Now everyone has their own opinions and what they will tolerate or their yak can take. I have run bait out BTB in one kayak in 4-6’ surf and 3-5’ swells every 4 seconds. But it was me, bait and a paddle, so if I dump/turtle no big deal. It is/was a ton of work getting out and back in, but I could sit on the beach after the workout. Now same conditions with $$$$ in rods and gear and having to paddle 1-2 more miles and fish, no way no how would I do it.

As for groups, people, posting up here and getting # of people that will buddy boat….kayak with ya is a good way to go. If it is the season and conditions are right I will either kayak out with or take the bay boat out and roll with people if they want.

I had a friend that is a very seasoned kayaker go out yesterday to the MP rigs. He only went to the first rig. At first when he first arrived at the beach he called to give me the rundown of the surf. He said it looked nothing more than 2 ft and the swells from shore looked nice. Once he made it back to shore at the end of the day he called me again and told me he got beat up out there. The surf/swells were deceiving and were worse than he thought. It sounds like the forecasts for once are on point.

With this being said, this is why I have been pushing out the outing. No need to have people come out and try their luck only to flip and lose gear. It's better to side on the error of caution and reschedule rather than to risk it for the biscuit.

I appreciate you continuously pushing out the date. Not sure if I'll be able to make it on the eventual date, but I'll take vacation days if necessary.

I've rolled in the surf (Pacific) my fair share and don't look forward to the next time!

Dave

Not to go against Blake’s assessment for this weekend for the larger group especially the inexperienced or new to it crowd.

That being said, is anyone thinking about giving it a go Saturday or Sunday that has experience?. I am considering it myself and the whole safety in numbers thing applies. Obviously if conditions change between now and then we would shift to inshore.

So last year we tried to do a BTB with a guide but halfway through getting out to the rig, our guide called it off due to the water conditions. We ended up jumping out of our kayaks and holding on to the back to ride the waves back in. On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate this video I took at? To me, it doesn't look bad on video but it was pretty puckering when we were out there, every wave felt like you were going to flip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2siao7YgImg&t=70s

***guide was very professional and we are thankful he knew enough to call it when needed.

mhouse wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:44 pm So last year we tried to do a BTB with a guide but halfway through getting out to the rig, our guide called it off due to the water conditions. We ended up jumping out of our kayaks and holding on to the back to ride the waves back in. On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate this video I took at? To me, it doesn't look bad on video but it was pretty puckering when we were out there, every wave felt like you were going to flip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2siao7YgImg&t=70s

***guide was very professional and we are thankful he knew enough to call it when needed.

I’ll admit I didn’t watch the video. Many times it’s really hard to get a good idea of wave height by watching a video. Many times it’s worse than what it looks like.

I went out once when it looked like 3-4’s standing at the beach (which is clearly a bad decision in itself) thinking that once we got passed the last bar it wouldn’t be as bad. We got half a mile out and waves went to 6-7’s. My buddy had a 7’ rod in his rod holder behind his seat and he and his rod would literally disappear as he went over a wave.

It can get worse the further out you go. Also current can be tough as well. Bigger swells and current often go hand in hand.

Which one of these gaffs would be more suitable? I'm not going to buy a third.
The longer one is designed for Barracuda and has barbs.
The shorter one has a cover over the tip so I'd be less likely to stab myself. I used this for large Lingcod in Oregon.

deptrai wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 8:52 am Which one of these gaffs would be more suitable?
IMG_3546.jpg
I'm not going to buy a third.
The longer one is designed for Barracuda and has barbs.
The shorter one has a cover over the tip so I'd be less likely to stab myself. I used this for large Lingcod in Oregon.

In my opinion it depends on your kayak. If you have a kayak with low sides that sits low in the water like my Viking Reload I would take the shorter one. If you’re kayak has higher sides like a Hobie Pro Angler I would take the blue one.

deptrai wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 8:52 am Which one of these gaffs would be more suitable?
IMG_3546.jpg
I'm not going to buy a third.
The longer one is designed for Barracuda and has barbs.
The shorter one has a cover over the tip so I'd be less likely to stab myself. I used this for large Lingcod in Oregon.

They both will obviously work. SWFinatic has brought up a good point in regards to if you have a kayak that has higher sides (ex. PA 14, Knarr, etc.). However, I will take the longer one every time. Sometimes when the fish gets near the yak, it spooks easily and will run again. This gives the fish another chance to spit the hook or pop the line. This is why my gaff has a longer handle. My gaff is telescopic so I can make it short or long. Amazon sells telescopic gaffs at a reasonable price. I hope this helps.

Quick Post. We went out to BH standpipe Sunday, surf was easy peasy and swell was as well. it was HOOOOTTTTTT especially coming back in with the wind at our back. Felt like the entire mosquito fleet visited that location with several boats and one jet ski. lots of bait balls, saw some spade/angel fish and caught several juvi red snapper and a couple lane. trolling a halco and some cigar minnow around up to and back from rig resulted in nada. water is/was green/clear and very warm.

Summary, great conditions slow catching. didnt see any or experience any good hook ups. We did get a late-ish start by being beyond the surf around 7-715am back in by 1215 as the temps became unbearable.

mhouse wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:44 pm So last year we tried to do a BTB with a guide but halfway through getting out to the rig, our guide called it off due to the water conditions. We ended up jumping out of our kayaks and holding on to the back to ride the waves back in. On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate this video I took at? To me, it doesn't look bad on video but it was pretty puckering when we were out there, every wave felt like you were going to flip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2siao7YgImg&t=70s

***guide was very professional and we are thankful he knew enough to call it when needed.

I'd say an 8 of 10 and on that scale you'd be surprised how much worse it could get before being unnavigable in a kayak, probably on this scale about a 12/13. That being said, conditions like that are really hard to fish IMHO, you made the right choice coming back.

The issue isn’t so much launching in the AM as dawn is usually the calmest in the summer, but you have to get back in later when the wind has had hours to work on the surf, and that push from behind is what takes everyone out.

Also, never needed a gaff out there. I can’t think of a species you can’t tail grab better and more safely than trying to gaff from a kayak. Even a 50” king is easier to tail grab than gaff if you fight it out.

AyJay wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 4:18 pm The issue isn’t so much launching in the AM as dawn is usually the calmest in the summer, but you have to get back in later when the wind has had hours to work on the surf, and that push from behind is what takes everyone out.

Also, never needed a gaff out there. I can’t think of a species you can’t tail grab better and more safely than trying to gaff from a kayak. Even a 50” king is easier to tail grab than gaff if you fight it out.

Until you hook into a keeper, 40+in "arony" cobia LOL

Yep, a ling is the exception. You’re going to get thrashed no matter what you try to do in a kayak, but a gaff would help there. No good place to grab one of those torpedoes, except maybe under the gill cover with gloves on.

AyJay wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2023 7:31 am Yep, a ling is the exception. You’re going to get thrashed no matter what you try to do in a kayak, but a gaff would help there. No good place to grab one of those torpedoes, except maybe under the gill cover with gloves on.

Like ARS' sharp gill plates, be weary of the top spins on cobia

Until this high pressure dome moves off, we’re going to get the same weather pattern that we’ve been getting that is keeping the surf 2-4 feet with no break. It’s been something like 3-4 weeks of almost the same forecast every day.

I’m out at the Mayan .. waiting till the morning.. so far the beach looks good water is calm passed the surf.. app says 2.5 at 4s I’m looking 1.5 to 2s at the moment

xxsloanxx wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 12:55 pm I’m out at the Mayan .. waiting till the morning.. so far the beach looks good water is calm passed the surf.. app says 2.5 at 4s I’m looking 1.5 to 2s at the moment

Good looking conditions! I'm going to try my hardest to pull a quick gear-up together with my son and meet you there 5:30amish. What marker exactly?

Roy

Beach access 2 … beach marker 81

xxsloanxx wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 1:59 pm Beach access 2 … beach marker 81

81..... I've never heard of anyone meeting at 81. Everyone has always met at 80. They are right next to each other so I guess it's no biggie. As long as you guys don't interfere with the people at the resort while going out or coming in, you should be good to go. I hope you guys manage to hook up big tomorrow.

I'm packed, mostly. Just need to buy a beach sticker at Stripes in bound and some Ribbon Fish. See you guys there! I'll be heading down from Round Rock at 1AM.

-Roy