Category Archives: South Texas Fly Fishing Reports

Good Times Fly Fishing

Tomjo at 2 months!

Tomjo at 2 months!

Things have been shakin and bakin ’round the Jones’ house lately and especially with the addition of our newborn son, Thomas. He is already growing so fast this little man will be double-haulin a fly soon enough. Sarah and I could not be more excited to have him in our lives! With all that has been going on around the domicile, I haven’t gotten out on the water much at all except for a short hour here and there and in between diaper changes and all the jazz that comes with that! Just like now, putting this blog together at 11:52pm… Thankfully the boy went to sleep!

fly fishing, trout, texas, coast, guide, port aransas

‘Ole Clouser getting it done on a 22inch sea trout

Two day ago when I arrived at a favorite Port Aransas spot that usually produces a nice table fish (such as grouper, trout or flounder), the water looked great but when I checked off in the distance I couldn’t help but notice a large tanker ship bearing down on the inlet getting ready to head into Corpus Christi Bay to do its dirty deeds. I thought to myself, well, there goes the fishing, and sure enough, as the ship passed the water muddied up nicely against the rocks. But I persisted, and methodically worked the fly from up current letting it swing to and fro… Finally I got the bite I had hoped for, and without even knowing what kind of fish had hit the fly, a large smile crossed my face as if I hadn’t caught any fish in a long time. Then something large appeared under my fish as it came to the surface, instantly thinking to myself, SHARK! But then, a 30-lb jack crevalle came busting out of the water hot on the tail of my trout, and I had to take evasive maneuvers to keep the fish from eating my catch! Definitely a fun experience to observe, but I told Mr. Jack “Not this time!” and quickly plucked my catch from its reach.

There are some dates open in September for sight-casting to redfish on the flats and I expect to see some big bull reds there too. I also have a few days available in October for Prime-time tarpon fishing. Give me a call directly asap to get on the books and make sure to leave a message if I don’t answer! The phone stays on vibrate most of the day to keep from waking the family!

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
361-500-2552
Port Aransas, TX
USCG Licensed
Certified Tourism Ambassador
Certified Wildlife Guide

 

 

 

Redfish going strong in Port Aransas

red, fish, port aransas, guide, saltwater

Bowed-up redfish

Got out yesterday for a quick 1 hour reconnaissance trip, and with the ulterior motive of setting a couple crab traps to soak… So after the dirty deeds of baiting the traps was complete I picked up my 8wt paired with my new Hatch 5+ Finatic for a chance to break it in for the first time. Turning the tiller to the nearest flat where i could get a good 30 minute drift along a narrow portion within minutes I was setup to drift across the flat and sure enough, there the redfish were. Cruising against the wind in only 7inches of water the redfish were going across or heading straight at me and I took a few shots at them and got one to eat almost right away. The casts where i didn’t get a bite were the ones where the fly landed too far away from the fish. One very large spotted trout even cruised into casting range but my fly landed right on its shoulders and what did it do? Exactly what most anyone would do if you dropped a bug on their shoulders… SPOOK!  And that’s just why I keep coming back for more! Getting multiple chances to place the fly in the “perfect zone” and the continuous opportunities to make it happen all over again is why!

Feel free to give me a call to book your next chance at some skinny water redfish!

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
361-500-2552
Port Aransas, TX
USCG Licensed
Certified Tourism Ambassador
Certified Wildlife Guide

Ken Jones

Hot Tail Continues

tailing, redfish, fly. fishing, saltwater, guide, port aransas, texas, gulf, coast,

There were too many of these to count!

The redfish has been more than cooperative and even with the extreme dead low tides we are still able to get into the skinny water with my skiff and put a hurtin’ on the large numbers of tailing red fish.

Justin fished with me recently and we absolutely had a blast trying to get him his first redfish on the fly! Not surprisingly the degree of difficulty in taking shots at these fish can be compared the technical difficulty found when bonefishing.

refish on fly, red, fish, fly, fishing, texas, gulf, coast, port aransas, guide

Optical Illusion! A 24inch redfish looks like 19inches up against Justin’s stature!

Undaunted and full of energy, Justin stuck it out and adapted well. His initiative that he took a week in advance to practice his casting accuracy by taking shots at paper plates in the yard at random distances certainly gave him he edge he needed to get the job done when taking shots at tailing redfish in only 8 inches of water! His exercise in patience paid off as well and for the first time he was able to sight-cast, hookup, and land this nice slot redfish. Of course he let it swim away, as it is only right and good karma to set free the first fish!

The weather has been more than cooperative, and the few passing clouds are nice and offer great reprieve from the scorching sunshine! I have some lat minute dates available and early August and late August are also open!

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
361-500-2552
Port Aransas, TX
USCG Licensed
Certified Tourism Ambassador
Certified Wildlife Guide

Hot Tailing Reds on the Fly

fly fishing, redfish, texas, gulf, coast

Waiting for the fish to come to us… Staying on point with fly in hand.

Well it seems like we have been waiting all year for it to happen and I am happy to say that the last few weeks has been HOT for redfish on the fly on the flats near Port Aransas. While the fishing was good earlier in the year, the colder than normal winter kept the fish from moving up super skinny for quiet a bit longer than we all hoped for. And while there were decent numbers of redfish on the flats in May and June, they just were not in the mood to put their tails up. Now it’s just head down and ass up for them all and I am finding excellent numbers of redfish in every direction and there are several times a day when we encounter schools of 5-10 tailers in 6-8inches of water. This allows for plenty of shots at fish and as long as you can place the fly gently within 1 foot of the fish’s business end (the mouth) they are willing to eat and will blow a hole in the water when hooked taking you to the backing in short order. Additionally there are still some big broom-tailed redfish that I am seeing each time I got out, Its only a matter of time before one of those tails pops up within a decent distance and someone will get to take their shot at a 30+ inch bull red.

On short notice Dylan came down from Austin for a quickie this past weekend and even though the boat ramp was busy we only shared the huge flat with one other skiff. Dylan was able to take tons of shots at cruising and tailing fish and the times that he got the fly right where it needed to be, it got eaten.

redfish, port aransas, guide, fly fishing

Patience and Persistence brought this fine redfish to hand

If you are planning to come down to fly fish for these redfish in this super skinny water I strongly suggest spending some time in the yard doing some target practice at distances between 30-50feet. Tie a piece of yarn on the end of the tippet and take 4 or 5 paper plates out onto the lawn and spread them out at various angles and distances. Then stand back and take shots at each plate without rocking your body and making a few false casts as possible. Placing the plates at random distances and staggering them off to one side and the other will hone your targeting skills as you hit each plate and instantly move onto the next target. Keeping your false casts to a minimum is important because a single false cast in the air over the top of a redfish will most certainly spook the fish from the noise the line makes as it travels through the air. Spend 15-30 minutes a day casting at these paper plates and with a little time on the lawn you will find your targeting skills will become more accurate and each cast will have a better chance at getting an eat from the fish.

I have only a few days available left in July for guided trips. Give me a call ASAP to get in on this action with a fly rod!

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
361-500-2552
Port Aransas, TX
USCG Licensed
Certified Tourism Ambassador
Certified Wildlife Guide

Redfish Numbers on the Rise

“Look there! 12 O’clock, 200 yds!” What’s that? Oh man! Its a coyote!” We watched in amazement as a coyote seemed to be swimming towards a short oyster reef, which was on the edge of the middle of nowhere… He must has swum quite a long distance to reach that reef. The squawking shorebirds of several varieties protested the coyote while coming ashore but it seemed unfazed by their annoying calls and cries intent on reaching drier land.  How cool it is to be on the flats and observe wildlife roaming free, unhindered, and most of the time… uninterrupted? Pretty damned cool if you ask me.

The last few days was great for fishing the flats and with persistence and a sharp eye there were plenty of fun shots at slot-sized redfish. A 36 inch redfish graced us with its presence on Tuesday and young angler Cole from Ft. Worth took quite a few heroic shots at that bull red but it showed no interest in the fly we had been using to sight fish the pocket water. On top of that we tracked along with that fish only 15 feet off the port side  for a few minutes and Cole didn’t flinch and stayed cool the whole time!

redfish, fly fishing, charters, port aransas, texas, gulf, guide, flats

nice under slot size redfish specimen safely released

As the week progressed the skies and winds improved and for the last couple days the small and scattered clouds eased over us, sending shadows over the flat but the clouds would pass by after only 30 seconds and the sunshine would illuminate the flat again well enough to see good numbers of fish over the course of the day. Matter of fact, my guest today landed his first keeper redfish of the day within 15 minutes of working the flat with me on the platform… On a popper too no less. Then the second fish came on a shrimp/crab hybrid fly and it too was also a nice slot fish. The third fish was big enough to be in the upper end of the slot but popped off when some tippets go tight and possibly brush against an oyster shell.

Here is a shot of a wild sea creature we encountered today. Who can guess the species?

DSCN3131 copyright-sea-cucumberThe fish are filing onto the flats when the tides allow, and each day it seems like more and more redfish are slipping up out of the deeper waters and even holding on the flat longer as the tides fall. The sea grasses are looking nice, plush and green now too. Quite possibly it is this weekend’s full moon that is turning on the fish. It has certainly caused an interesting tide cycle this past week. Nonetheless, as I sit here and type this tall tail I ask if you would imagine a pair of tailing upper slot redfish in 8inches of water. And while at least the thought wont escape me, I am debating within myself whether or not I should hunt for tarpon tomorrow morning 4am to sunrise… Sounds crazy I know… But that is just how I like it.

I’ve got a few dates left in June for flats charters and a few dates towards the end of July. Weekdays are highly recommended. Call for details. 361-500-2552

Also here is a short clip I took a while back with notable Outdoor Writer, Phil Shook, of some cool dolphin laying down tricks in the wake of a tanker ship at Charlies Pasture.

-Keeping the hooks sharp, Capt Ken Jones

Max Jacks And King Macks

“Boy am I going to miss that fly!” I thought to myself seconds after that big boy jack crevalle finally found the rock that would part the 20-lb leader. This came after a 10 minute dog fight where the brute nailed the red/white fly on the swing and instantly headed for the bottom of the channel. Into the backing, but only barely. I cant imagine who doesn’t love the stopping power of a Hatch Reel.

Fish pumping hard against the Beulah Bluewater 11wt rod, I cleared fly line and then suddenly watched the splice between fly line and backing smoothly exit the rod guides but the fish stopped short by the infamous 9+ Pulse Reel. Its no wonder though, all 9 of it’s bad-ass discs were working perfectly in unison and applied maximum force against the beast.

Back and forth, from one side of the jetty to another, down deep. I wasn’t worried about the fish finding that one rock that sticks out further than all the others until I saw my leader and some flashy white coffee table sized fish below it. Hues of green, blue and silver radiated up from 6 feet below the water’s glistening surface, and then, just as I felt the line begin to scrape against that invisible rock, the drag was backed off and very little pressure was applied to the rod in an attempt to let Max Jack swim out but the fish was straight down, tail still thumping. Trying different angles, and reaching out over the water failed to free the line from it’s snare, suddenly I felt a little pop just as the line went slack. Raising my rod tip I found a keenly abraded tag end to the leader, roughed up but severed in two.

Goodbye Mr. Crevalle. I shall call you Max Jack from now on.

As the excitement subsided, I realized that fly worked like magic, but I had just lost my only one in that pattern. So, I headed to the truck and drove home to fashion two more while the tying recipe was still fresh in my mind.

Within an hour, a turkey sandwich fell victim along with a few handfuls of Fritos corn chips, I was back on the rocks with two new freshly tied red/white flies in my shirt pocket.

As I walked along the stony path, the sea conditions were not as favorable as I had hoped for but as I continued, I decided that the exercise was worth the walk even if I didn’t make a cast. Then sure enough, I noticed cleaner water on one side of the jetty than the other. Taking plenty of time to study the wave patterns, the easterly swell proved that while the waves sets looked small, the sea retained its powerful rhythms.  So, I found a familiar perch, and stripped out a lot of line onto the rock, then fed it back into my stripping basket to prepare for the first cast.

One cast… a little short based on my idea of the where is the strike zone.

Strip off a bit more line… recast for #2… Agh, but the wind caught the line as it descended on the water and put a big bend in the belly.

Recast again, looks good, and fly is in the zone… letting the line and fly sink a bit I worked the fly within a depth where the fly remained barely visible… Waves continue crushing the line of rocks as I setup for cast #3…

Good distance made here, the line zipped out of the casting basket during a brief lull in the wind and laid out nicely in front of me. Counting to 5 (one 1 thousand, two 1 thousand, three 1 thousand ect…) I began the retrieve…

king mackerel, texas, coast, port aransas, corpus christi, guide

Extreme Angles with a King on a Leash

Then it struck like lightning! 50 feet of line in the water, and 30 feet of line in the stripping basket, I pulled tight to set the hook with Airflo’s low stretch Tropical Intermediate line and on the second strip-set the fish’s adrenaline demanded even more line clearing all slack in the basket in half a heartbeat. I cheered for my fluorocarbon leader, as if encouraging the 30-lb tippet to hold fast, I checked the drag and found it nice and tight yet smooth as butter on Texas Toast.

She headed for the end, where I knew my odds of even seeing the fish were minus five to one, I jumped from my perch to the next, gaining as much line as possible and recovering the 30 feet of backing as well as some fly line that it had taken before the fly reel forced the fish to turn on its initial run. It turned sharply, and ran to the right, parallel to the rocks but still 40 feet out of sight. Jumping between perches, constantly changing angles and pulling low and hard to the sides, the fish finally succumbed to the relentless pressure that this fly gear was meant to serve to its opponents.

fly fishing, port aransas, jetties, guide, charters, king mackerel

Surf’s Up for King Mack!

And then, as if time was standing still, the waves sets calmed and aligned with my attempts to land the fish in a safety zone. One the second wave, I coerced the fish up onto a kind rock relatively safe from escape. This fish weighed in on certified scales at 21.8lbs and measured 50″ total length. 30-lb leader was used with 50-lb bite tippet.

fly fishing, guide, port aransas, jetty, charters, king, mackerel, texas, coast

GUITAR SOLO!!!!

Reflect on a few things here with me if you will…

Your equipment must be in perfect working condition. Inspecting your setup frequently helps identify flaws in the system. Your rod should match the quarry you seek. Your reel must have super smooth drags and your leaders tied with properly formed knots.

Your level of preparedness dictates your success. And… the best way to gain confidence in a fly pattern is to fish the hell out of it.

IT IS ON FOLKS!  Sharpen your skills as well as your hooks. Practice makes perfect. That’s why I fish in even the terrible conditions. Even if I don’t catch something I will have at least practiced the art of fly fishing. And that my friends, is what makes it all worthwhile. Train yourself in tough conditions, and you’ll be more than ready in excellent conditions. Every athlete knows this routine all too well.

Custom jetty trips can be arranged and dates in June on the flats for redfish are filling fast.

-Kenjo (361) 500-2552

fly fishing, extreme, king, mackerel, texas, coast, port aransas

Maximum tension and a quick hook-set kept this mouthful of razors from slicing the 50-lb bite tippet.

 

 

Spring Is In The Air So Should Be Your Fly

So the story goes like this about this little fly…

The finger mullet are moving into my home waters in a nice steady flow and so I’ve been playing with sparsely tied mullet patterns. This is a difficult task to say the least being that the mullet are so damned fat-headed and it can take alot of  materials to get the fat and wide profile. Short and Stumpy they are.

hollow fleye, bucktail, seaducer, saltwater, fly, fishing

Hollow Fleye Seaducer

And one night in thinking over methods on how to get bulk yet tie sparsely, I put together this seaducer headed hollow fleye. Its another hybrid but of natural materials to keep it as light as possible yet maintain that bulky fat head.

A short time later I saw Matt’s the salmon fly hanging off the swollen edge of a particle board shelf. “Yes!” I thought and feverishly began to reproduce that pattern which was given to me by Matt, who is the brother of my good ‘ole buddy, Nate. We go way back and have gotten into fish trouble with our women many time! And, both Nate and Matt contribute to the Ohio Outdoors & Wildlife website which always has cool stuff about the outdoors. They are real critter getters!

Matt tied this fly during a video shoot with me of some “other” patterns with heavy metal music blasting in the background. He was muttering Dahlberg this, gawd-dang Dahlberg that and this was pretty much the only word I could understand. And that is certainly one of my favorite ways to tie flies.

He then fished this fly with me in their neck of the woods under heavy snow in a river with ice sheets floating down it. Personally I prefer ice in my tea! The fly was tied on an upturned eye salmon fly hook in about a size 1. And, as he already knows, I used it in Argentina for freshwater trout. They killed it.

Once I saw how violently the fish were attacking this fly, I cut it off my leader and put it away for safe keeping.

salktwater, flies, redfish, jetty, jacks, mackerel, trout, redfish

Name that Fly

Now it took me a while to find gray magnum rabbit strips locally but finally found them at Swan Point Landing thanks to Dave Hayward. Hareline products can not be beat.

Sitting down at the desk and clearing off a patch to make room for another short stack of materials I found the Tiemco 611S and whipped it up into this. Then, I just had to tie it on the ever famed for its power but always hated for its one time use kind of a hook, the Tiemco 600sp.… I couldn’t bare the thought of a tarpon scarfing down this fly and not getting a perfect hookset. when one does, one must be prepared!04-11-2014_PIC123456 363 kenjo-foot-wound-copyright

Hopefully the samurai wound on my foot heals quickly enough to avoid infection, cabin fever is setting in.I will certainly put it in front of some of these South Texas Coastal fish!

– Kenjo Fly

 

Learn to Fish Eat more Fish

On how the Hastings Bill could throw a wrench in the re-authorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act…

“We have to remember that what really matters is [TOTAL] mortality, which is the sum of all mortality, whether or not fishing-related.” – John McMurray.

red white fly grouper texas coast

Dinner Sized Comb Grouper on the Fly

When I read this, I stopped… grabbed at the stubble on my chin and thought to myself…

“Precisely! This signifies what we should do when factors “outside our jurisdiction” cause a [calculable] negative impact on fish species populations.”

Maybe there is some rough factor in the equations already that account for this, but I bet not everything is taken into account. I’d like to see a list but I am no expert in those things. It seems though the obvious proactive measure would be to reduce quotas across the board in order not disrupt the natural ebbs and flows of a balanced fish population.  Human impact factors are the greatest of all in the list of measurable conditions which negatively effect a fishery. There is endless amounts of data for that! avoiding the use of plastics every moment you have is one example of a counter measure to pollution.

I’ve been known to say, “If you want to eat ( the freshest of) fish, learn to catch it yourself!”

Not only will it taste better than any fish you have ever eaten, the sense of accomplishment when serving your meal will be absolutely amazing.

redfish, fly fishing,

Not dinner to go? Let it go!

My philosophy when fishing for the table is to simply realize that I do not need to take a “limit” of fish. Nor do I need to kill the most fish and the biggest of fish that the law allows. Especially if just because it is allowed.

Compare the amount of fish on your plate at a restaurant to the size of the fish on your plate at home. As a frame of reference, restaurants only serve 6-8oz portions and most of the time its in the 6oz size. A 20.5 inch redfish will feed two people nicely with some rice pilaf and grilled asparagus. That’s full enough for me. Thank you. Maybe on a hungry day I throw in some GMO korn.

On the occasions when I want to take a fish home for dinner, and especially when the fridge is bare except for a few vegetables I routinely don’t catch a keeper. The idea though if you do get into boatloads of fish is that you can carefully select the fish that is appropriately sized for your dinner that night without even risking swamping your boat because you killed limits of fish. Nonetheless, certainly respect the current laws in place. If these laws didn’t exist we wouldn’t have any fish for which to go fishing. This practice also helps reduce waste of fish after it has been taken for the table.

Only taking species which have a stable population is a good practice, and letting go all the ones that are big fish because they produce the largest reproductive biomass and especially those that are currently reproducing. And hell, if you caught tons of fish, after a long exhausting day you might pass out and forget to clean the fish. Doh! The gills should be red when you go to clean them. If the are dead too long or if they get hot too fast, the gill color fades considerably. That is exactly what Granddaddy taught me as a kid. Red gills are a sign that the fish is fresh. Any other color gills was a a waste of that fish’s life. Grandaddy was right. Make sure your fish has gills, then put it to your own taste test!

happy camping redfish texas coast

Vic with his keeper redfish that fed 4 people well.

If you know me, cleaning a tons of fish for a few hours is not my favorite thing to do. When only taking one or two fish for a single meal you will usually have a few cold pieces of fried fish leftover from the night before to snack on for breakfast!! Just dash on a little powdered cayenne pepper and hit the door to go catch some more!

Keeping the hooks sharp
Captain Ken Jones

 

 

Jack be nimble

… Jack be fish. Jack jumped over the fisher man.

Jackfish. Yellow bellies. Jack Crevalle. Give’em any badass name you want!

It is undeniably only a primal act of natural instinct to wait patiently perched on the tallest of rocks scanning the water while wolf packs of marauding crevelle cruise just outside of casting range on the crowded tip of a mega shrine made of red stone. Here fisherman from all sorts of watery trails convene in one place for a holy experience with a ravenous Jack.

Many are sighted and hundreds of casts thrown as offerings with a mighty heart and sometimes in faint confidence.

jack crevalle, fly, fishing, texas, coast, jetty, guide

Down in the S…

Then the brave soul encounters another soul of even greater brevity. It belongs to the fisherman. The best are patient. Keenly aware of their surroundings and quick to execute a precise cast and know when to retreat. That feeling, the twitch, the shake, the jitters and even the creeps, can make your hair stand on its end as if in anticipation of being jolted back to reality when the massive donkey jackfish crushes your fly out of nowhere and screams for the border. “HERE WE GO” he yells aloud!

A power and strength unrivaled in the saltwater world. Even the tightest drags and strongest of lines cannot seem to hinder the initial runs of these fish. Then, they get down and dirty and that is where you are most likely to loose. In the rocks, deep down on their flanking sides, the jack begins a process of swimming sideways and even in circles trying desperately to separate you from him. Talk about rocks being in hard places. It can end in an instant, faster than you can imagine or even react.

But with luck, a skilled angler can put maximum pressure on the fish from the instant you are hooked up together, to exerting maximum amount of turning angles on the fish when he is running from one side to the other, the techniques described below will certainly increase your odds at winning the jackfish lottery!

Fly Tech Section:

Since most saltwater fish are stronger and bigger, the butt section of the average saltwater rod is designed to do all the work. That is where your lifting power and turning capability stems from. For some people this is why they prefer fishing in saltwater over freshwater although many giants exist in sweeter waters.

Lets think about angles here for a minute, as it applies to the angle of the rod in relation to the angle of the water (horizontal) and in relation to the angle of the fish.

The most effective fish fighting method is to keep the butt section of the rod at a low angle to the water. That angle, in relation to the fish means that if the fish is moving left, your rod angle should be to your right, effectively putting pressure against the fish (from behind the fish) yet still off to its side (the fish’s left or right).

low left, angler, fly, fishing, texas, coast, gulf, jack, crevalle, saltweater, guide

Hard low and left angle on fish running right and tight to the rocks

If the fish is running straight away out in front of you and you’re loosing line fast, angle the rod slightly to the left of right, but keep the butt section quite low to the water, yet keeping the vertical rod angle no higher than 45 degrees to the water. If the rod is lifted higher than 45degrees above the water (horizontal plane) when fighting a fish, the mid section of the rod has to do all the work then, and that section is not as strong as the butt section (bottom ~3ft of the rod). This prevents you from putting maximum pressure on the fish and increases the possibility of breaking the rods Gink & Gasoline wrote an article on that.

Hope you find this explanation helpful and with little effort and patience the mighty Jack will pay you a certain visit you cannot forget.

Until next time, sharpen your hooks and I will work to put together a video on preferred knots to connect the fly, and to connect leaders with bite tippets.

-Captain Kenjo, Port Aransas, Texas

Quality Redfishing Continues

While the South winds are very welcome this time of year and are a promising sign of warmer weather, they were a tab-bit strong today and required some interesting adaptation to techniques in order to find the fish that would eat willingly. But, in the right place and at the right time, the redfish ate eagerly.

saltwater, fly fishing, texas, coast, guide

Dead Drifting Crab Flies Deadly on Redfish

Working an area thoroughly and methodically, since the choppy water had visibility low, the incoming tide was creating a nice flow of current and the small size 4 crab fly produced all the strikes today when cast quartering up current. Allowing the crab fly to bounce along the bottom in the current was the ticket, proving that even on the toughest of days when conditions seemed to be unfavorable, the right presentation, approach and working with the wind can still produce great results.