TexasKayakFisherman.com

I went to Harlingen a couple of days before the other five arrived at Arroyo City. My former band-mate from the Virgin Islands was visiting his 98-year-old Mom, so I stayed with them. On Saturday, we took my 14-foot Low-Tech Polack Trolling Skiff to San Martin Lake, on Hwy 48, between Brownsville an...

A neighbor stopped by and told me he caught a 50-pound Black in Ingleside on a light rod & reel with a 10-pound leader, while I was in Arroyo City catching mostly hardheads! Oh, well. TexasJim

Saltwater trotlines are legal, with a few geographical restrictions, one of which is Goose Island, and South, down the Rockport shoreline. Not legal on the Gulf shore. This is all in the TPWD Annual booklet. Maximum of 30 hooks. I have and occasionally use a "Sail Line", a Saltwater trotli...

I fish the LLM and Arroyo several times a year. Last trip, a friend told me not to miss the Mexican restaurant by the stoplight in Riviera. I had driven by it for over ten years, but hadn't ever stopped there. Well, I stopped in December and was very pleased with the menu, the food, the service and ...

Took the yak to the Sailboat Channel on 361 this morning. Lots of real estate showing with the super-low tides. Found some fish activity and tossed some frozen shrimp and boated two lower-slot Reds, and a bunch of shorts. The Red bite faded, and the Black Drum cranked up. Caught three 16-17" dr...

Nice, Josh. I always see frog lures with all sorts of spots and such on top. The fish below only see the white bellies. I went to a fly casting session with the CC Flyfishing Club, and one of the old-timers told me the real weapon for the Texas Coast is a green popper frog fly. Let us know how it wo...

deptral: I have the same experience with the tide predictions versus reality. They say incoming, and it's flowing out for hours. Good catches! I've only been able to catch short Reds and flounder lately. Which flavor of MinnowZ was that? Looks very dark. A friend catches with The Deal and Mood Ring,...

karst: From what I read, the current Regs were 12" minimum with a bag limit of 25 fish! But, you have to remember, they have a zillion square miles of marsh and estuaries, and not that many fishermen. And, they don't have the Houston, Austin & San Antonio weekly invasion like the Texas coas...

Saw where Louisiana's Speck regs change Nov. 20th to: Slot size 13" to 20". Bag limit of fifteen, with two over-slot allowed per day. No bag for guides with a charter.
Be interesting to see what TPWD will have for us soon. TexasJim

karst: TPWD has been buying land adjacent or near parks or other areas for a few years I read they got the funds from the BP oil spill fines. But, they aren't spending the cash on boat ramps, or public use facilities. Boat ramps and launches have two big troublemakers: Parking, and trash. If you hav...

When my dad was a kid, around WWI, his family (5 or 6) lived in a covered wagon, and they traveled from Fort Worth to New Mexico. They picked the prickly pear fruits and my grandma made jelly with them. I have never had any, but I'll bet it's good. I've looked at the process online, and thick, leath...

Yes, karst: It was a meeting about the public's feelings about the current and past limits on speckled trout, only. There's a TPWD Commission meeting the first two days of November, and nothing's on the agenda about fish. I'm amazed I've seen nothing about the other five coastal meetings. I'm on two...

Thanks for the reports karst! Nice flatties! I've fished all summer thru the brutal heat, mostly without results. Finally caught two slot reds a couple of weeks back, but it's really been a time to stay in out of the heat. Now that it's cooled a bit, I've been fishing, but not catching much. It'll g...

Thanks, Kitsune! I was pleased overall with the meeting, and the non-threatening attitude. They seemed genuinely open to hearing what the average fisherman thinks on the subject. I'd be interested to know if all the meetings were as congenial. Being a "local", I rarely fish on Saturdays or...

Last night(18th), I attended the Rockport TPWD Public Meeting on Speckled Trout limits. It was one of six on the Texas Coast, from Port Isabel to Port Arthur. I met kitsune, a Forum member there. I estimate that there were around 100 people there. Mostly recreational fishers, and some guides, maybe ...

Maybe they don't want a lot of input? The guys on the CorpusFishingForum are usually very vocal about such things, but I haven't had one reply to my post over there, nor on the TexasFishinForum. Do we foresee an upcoming reduction is limits? During the just-ended regs, there were zillions of 14 to 1...

Thanks for posting that, kitsune. I put a blurb on Corpus Fishing Forum. I'll be at the Rockport meeting. TexasJim

I started looking for a copy of Lefty Kreh's DVD, "The Complete Cast". I couldn't believe that AMAZON and E-Bay didn't have it. It apparently came out not that long back, sold out, and anyone that has one is keeping it! I realize that Lefty died, and I guess his estate isn't re-issuing. it...

I saw a funny the other day in a book about fly fishing. It recommended fishing golf course ponds, but advised going around daylight, to avoid confrontations with groundskeepers that don't want you "bothering the golfers". Amusing. Maybe it's safer from flying golf clubs then, too. TexasJim

Me, too. I bought a TFO Pro II 8-wt.fly rod. Never fished with it. Still had the plastic over the cork grip. I got it out to try to flycast, and the top section was broken about in the middle. I bought this as a close-out from Sierra Trading Post, so expected no help. The nice person I talked with s...

kit: I fished Port Bay last week, and a kayaker guy I know told me he has seen and been followed by something long and dark, coming back to the launch. He didn't think it was a shark or dolphin, but it was at least four feet long. Doesn't seem a likely spot for tarpon, but what else could it be? May...

Glenn: A lot of us like seeing and reading your reports from the "Stealth Navy"! I don't think seeing your posts will make me paddle offshore. Ever. Keep it up. TexasJim

Josh: I just got back this afternoon from a 3-day RGV fishing trip. I didn't have my yak, but my 14 foot skiff. I launched Tuesday AM at Jaime Zapata launch ramp on Hiway 48, between Brownsville and Port Isabel. The tide was coming in strong under the bridge into San Martin Lake, so I fished the dow...

I fished Port Bay Friday, south of the launch. Got one 17" Red, and two big blue crabs. If you go east from the launch, past Port Bay Club, there's a couple of marsh drains in the corner of Italian Bend that can be productive in a falling tide. Also, you can launch from Cape Valero Road into th...

If I fished the flats at night, I would be in my boat. My neighbors ask me to go (wade) fishing with them, and I tell them about the time I was anchored off Hog Island, with a nice trout on a stringer tied to my skiff. I was moving from my rear seat to the foredeck seat, when I saw a grey shape abou...