Corpus Christi/Port Aransas in March

[TMF89]

Hey guys, I'm heading down to Texas over spring break in March, and we're looking to do a little fishing there! Now I've checked online and all the sites say they have trout and redfish. Now while I don't mind catching anything, I wouldn't mind catching some bigger stuff, does anyone know of any reliable deep-sea/game-fishing guides down there? Or is there just nothing but reds and trout around there? If anyone has ANY repots of trips past please feel free to share! Thanks guys!

[Tim_Anderson]

It's been a number of years since I fished down there...probably a half dozen or so. I did quite a bit of fishing while visiting my folks for a week. There are a couple of things I did.

Waders come in pretty handy. Like you say, trout and redfish are the main thing when fishing near shore.

There is a big marina area out of Port Aransas, where most of the guides and charters run out of. I did go out on a charter as well, and we caught a number of bigger species. Shark, Amber Jack, Kingfish, and then lots of smaller-good eating stuff too like Red Snapper. I can't remember the name of the outfit though.

Your best bet would be to drive over there and snoop around. Most of the boats come in in the afternoon, and you can see what they have been catching.

The weather is pretty unpredictable. I remember I had to wait almost a week, because it was too windy to go out. So, pretty hard to set something up this far out. At the same time, if you're going during spring break, you might find that there's too much competition down there, and that many of the boats fill up short notice. Some online research early on like this might help.

I was down there in March, but I don't remember there being much around for spring-breakers. Had the weather been cooperative, I could have gone out any day that I wanted. They just weren't that busy.

Hope this helps,

[TMF89]

Tim, first off thanks for the wealth of info, very helpful.

Was it easy to find places to fish in your waders without a guide? Or was that guided? If you remember anything about the outfit PLEASE let me know, all the online stuff just has redfish/trout. I think I'll start emailing some of the charters and see what they expect for March. Just wondering, do you have any idea of numbers/sizes of fish caught?

[paul pachowicz]

I'd think your best bet to get a low-down on the bite is to go to Bob Hall pier on Padre Island and talk with those guys fishin there.

[Tim_Anderson]

The shore fishing was un-guided. It was easy to find plenty of places to fish from shore. All you really need is a place to access the ocean, and then you can walk north and south all you want with your waders. I found that the trout were pretty easy to catch with some pretty basic stuff such as jigs and plastic, swimbaits, stuff like that. The redfish were a lot more challenging.

The thing I remember most about the charter was the kingfish and the Amber Jack. The guides anchored near an oil rig, and had a chum slick going out behind the boat. The king fish came in behind the boat on that scent trail, right up on the surface. We caught them with baitcasters and surface plugs, just as if you were fishing musky. They were mostly 10-30 pounds.

The Amber Jack were pretty impressive too. They were probably 40 pounds or so, and put up a heck of a fight. A school of them came through, and the folks who were bottom fishing caught a few of them. They also caught a shark that was about a 5 footer.

Other than that it was mostly smaller stuff for the dinner table.

Have you tried a google search for OFFSHORE fishing for the area? There are many, many boats that will go out 100-300 miles down there. In alot of cases, that's how far they have to go to get off the "shelf" and get into deep water where those bigger fish are.

[TMF89]

Tim that sounds exactly like what my grandpa does. Was this a massive charter or a small private one? I know my grandpa does it with a lot of guys, which could be hard to coordinate dates with. Thanks!

[Tim_Anderson]

It was a big boat. I think there were 30 or so people on board, and we went out a couple hundred miles. Stayed out there for 30 hours too, if I remember correctly. Fun, but we hit big winds, and I got sicker than a dog when it got dark and I couldn't see the horizon. Can't remember ever wanting to quit fishing, except for that day! It didn't last though. As soon as my feet hit dry land, I headed for the DQ.

[BartmanMN]

If I were you, I would fish the lower laguna madre for Speckled Sea Trout and Redfish. I did while in South Padre and it was great. There are hundreds of guides working out of Corpus.

[thorski]

TMF89-

I have family that spend thier winters in Port Aransas. I was there last March and fished with my uncle on his boat. Not the type of fishing you are thinking of though. We mainly fished the ship canal and port. It was too rough to go out in the gulf with his boat while I was there.

My uncle has wintered in Port Aransas for many years. He is an avid fisherman. He may have some good advise/information.

Also, there is a great resturant (can't remember the name of the place though) in Port Aransas that will cook your catch for you. Just clean the fish and bring it in. Awesome!

If you need some more info, let me know. I will contact my uncle and ask him for some advise for you.

email me if you want: [email protected]

[hound32]

the past few years i have gone down we have got alot of sheepshead and trout using shrimp off the jettys in port aransas. Every time we went out we would have out limit. This was nice since we didnt have to pay for a guide or anything, and thoes sheepshead are fun to catch,

[thorski]

Sheepshead are good eatin' too!