Absolutely love fishing with George (and Susie) on the Texas Coast out of Port Aransas. We had to use my @smithoptics Ignitor lenses due to the skies and the extreme tides from the last Super Blue Moon redfish coupled with the remnant storm surge from Hurricane Milton, but we found ourselves floating over cow paddies and in the cactus in search of hungry red drum.
This redfish, though!?!?! Man! George can tell ya! We spotted it 200 feet away when it was belly crawling over the succulents with its back out of the water. This redfish was whopping its next meal just as the Super Blue Moon was in its major solunar period. Just as we got within range, it came to rest in a 3ft diameter sand hole laid up on the closest edge facing the thick veggies. George’s second shot landed midship on the fish, and in an instant, it backed up turned and crushed the fly!!! The next thing we know, it barreled under the roughage grass, just trying to break us off, but the @trouthuntertippet 03x BIG Game tippet proved worth every penny as the redfish peeled line and beached itself on top of the succulents. Quickly, I tore off my tennis shoes and ran after the fish with the net to land it.
And that folks, was the catch of the day, week, and most spectacular of the month, maybe! Book Now for your shot in November!
The cold fronts are coming (this week in fact), and that will turn them on even more and encourage the tides to really shape up! Dates in November are open, so get booked with KenjoFly Fishing Charters, Port Aransas Texas ASAP!!!
Not everyone catches their first Texas redfish on the fly, but we did catch a poor man’s tarpon (a.k.a. ladyfish) while working on casting skills! Nonetheless, we got shots at backing redfish in the thick matted grass beds. We also found some floating redfish. And with these fish you have to get the fly in front of them ASAP before the sink back down out of sight! It was an amazing day where these Gents were able to learn a lot of new skills and adapt quickly.
There was this pod of about 20 tailing redfish, which we only thought to be less than 5 fish, but when they flushed from the cast we could easily see about two dozen reds.
Congrats to Jonny and Andrew for enduring the heat and learning their cast so fast. Their willingness to return this fall to give it another go is awesome! See ya soon, fellas! Kudos to you for taking that first saltwater leap of faith! The sky is the new limit! Soon enough though we will get Jonny and Andrew their First Texas Redfish on the fly!
Recommended startup gear for entry level anglers is as follows:
The public received notice last week that the Army Corps green lights 80 foot dredge. The Corps of Engineers has authorized the Port of Corpus Christi to dredge the Aransas Ship Channel to 80 feet and out into the Gulf of Mexico for 10 miles. This includes moving 47 Million cubic yards of material out of the channel and Gulf and onto Port Aransas beaches and other local spoil areas. [LINK]
Thoughts from Capt Kenjo (full-time Port A resident since 2012):
What does this mean for you as a visitor or resident to Port Aransas beaches and bays? As a recreational fisherman, pro guide, nearby and newly established fly fishing lodge and outfitter in Rockport or Corpus Christi???
It means a lot if you don’t want to swim or go fishing in a mud puddle. It means shitloads of sediment laden salt water, too dirty for marine life to survive long, and too sediment stricken to want to breathe it in. It also means water so stirred up it looks like chocolate milk. Additionally, it means that our beautiful clear water that is usually excellent for sight-fishing, will become horrible water for sight fishing. That industrial impact will also continue for the next 15-20 years.
If you were around during the 5-6 years of dredging from the 45′ to the 54′ mark after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, you already know that it made the waters surrounding Port Aransas, Corpus, Rockport, Aransas Pass, and all of its bays and channels, very dirty and extremely difficult to sight-fish. We managed but the fishing was though then even though the fisheries populations hadn’t declined just yet. That was also about the same time that the jack crevelle fishing in the bay pretty much ended. Please also know that Rockport or Corpus Christi and the Laguna Madre will too be affected by this long-term dredging!
Additionally, if you do some simple math, it took the Port of CC approximately 5 years to deepen the Corpus Ship Channel only 9ft, and therefore, dredging it an additional 26 feet will take much much longer. This is long enough for all of the seagrass in the State Protected area of Redfish Bay to be totally dead because the suspended (dredge) particles will prevent photosynthesis from occurring, which is necessary for the seagrasses to grow, which is also essential habitat for the food sources of our precious gamefish species such as Speckled Trout, Redfish as well as flounder, black drum, sheepshead etc..
Imagine this then: Think of the numbers of bay, bait, and fly guides as well as recreational fisherman and pleasure boaters that it would displace. Now imagine those same numbers showing up to work, fish, and recreate in Baffin Bay, the upper Laguna Madre, Port O’Connor, Seadrift, Mesquite Bays, Copano, so forth and so on. Now how is that going to effect your own “locally hallowed waters”? Are those of you on the fringes of all this damage going to happily accept the multitudes of displaced fisherman searching for cleaner water?
Continued notes from PAC:
The EIS and the entire Permit is flawed, as the Port staff and Commission have publicly said they have no plans to build a VLCC Oil Export Terminal on Harbor Island, which is the purpose of the 80 ft. dredge.
The fact that the Oil Terminal was not part of this EIS defies federal law and common sense. The Port has indicated that they will temporarily shelve this Permit and pull it out in the future when they dream up a new Purpose. If you say “Beneficial Use” over and over as the Port advertises, does the other damaging effects of deep dredge get ignored?
The Permit is a boondoggle and a slap in the face to Port Aransas and its many visitors from across the country. Port Aransas Conservancy will be meeting with its attorneys to explore its legal options.
James King
President, Port Aransas Conservancy
Port Aransas Conservancy
Please Donate
PAC’s team of attorneys is heavily engaged with both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contesting PCCA’s various (nefarious?) plans for Harbor Island. This is crunch time.
We have an outstanding legal team but they do need to get paid–and it’s gotten very expensive. Please click HERE to make a donation, no matter how small (large is OK too). We really could use the help.
The current Texas state fly record for tripletail was caught only a few years ago, offshore in 2023. And, as luck would have it this summer, we almost literally ran over this fine specimen of a Tripletail in Aransas Bay as we cruised around the open bay in search of any fair game. This tripletail that Randy caught was 25.75 inches, the biggest I have observed in the waters surrounding Port Aransas & Rockport area.
Massive Tripletail caught in waters of Port Aransas, Texas
Congrats to the fine anglers that week who expertly caught this fish on its 6th cast while dodging the doublewide triple deep barge/tug with me!
This surprise tripletail measured 25.75 inches and was released.
Once we had hooked this fish, we were being approached by a barge/tugboat in the channel, so we had to move ourselves out of their way quickly with the engine to avoid collision with the barge. Using the engine to idle us out of the channel, we played the tripletail deep in to the backing. Praying that the massive fish and line did not get chopped up under the tug boat Randy played the fish keenly, bringing it boat-side to be photographed, and subsequently, released alive. I was so happy my guests agreed to release this extremely large specimen!
Who knows what Texas State Fly Record we might encounter next? If you are interested in fly fishing the Rockport, Port Aransas, or Corpus Christi areas, give Capt Kenjo a call to book a trip! Or simply Book Online Now!
Ladies and Gents! To any and all with whom I haven’t spoken in a while, I want to wish you all a Happy New Years, Merry Christmas and HappyThanksgiving! I pray that all has been well with you and yours! It has been quite some time having posted anything so it is certainly time to give everyone a Captains Annual Fishing Update!
Fishing the Fall Run of ’23
Last minute trips can prove to be productive too
The fishing during the fall run of 2023 was pretty great. There were plenty of days to struggle finding fish, but there were quite a few days when we were astonished at having seen so many in one place. The key was finding the niche places that the numbers tend to hold this time of year. Not as many places held decent populations of fish but we pressed on each time, locating fish, getting shots and making catches. That’s just the name of the game in sight fishing with a fly in the salt..
Personal Update from Capt Kenjo
Some of you are aware that I have been planning to take some time off from guiding in order to have some surgeries. Unfortunately these plans have now changed no thanks to some failed handshakes in the healthcare industry. So, back to square 1 in regards to starting this process all over again. If any of you readers have a great spine surgeon referral in Texas please don’t hesitate to share!
As this news goes, the most excellent news is that I get to keep guiding this year! Or at least until I can find another surgeon. Spring is approaching fast. But don’t forget! The captains annual fishing update says, “We are not done with our winter fishing yet!” Next week forecast looks rained out but the last few days of January forecast can been great! And February still has promise too! What is certain right now is that the fish are hungry after this cold front and if we can get out there to hunt them, we will have a good chance trying to feed them if we can adapt!
Last Minute Trips
We all now how it goes, we wake up one morning with no plans to go fishing, look outside, see the blue skies with no wind and say, “Dang it! I should have gone fishing today!” Well, stop right there and give me a call at 7am if you want to hop on the boat for last minute trips typically starting at 9am this time of year! Half day trips are $600 this year. Please note: Payment in full is required for last minute trips and for late night calls! -Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552
The Summer of ’23 is certainly one to remember, with loads of sunshine and fair winds. With prevailing optimism we managed to find redfish many days as well as some individual slot fish cruising around, backing and mudding, floating and crab crushing on the mangrove roots. One lucky angler witnessed a possible world-record speckled trout swim away from us rather calmly. You can ask me on the boat soon about that story!
Some guests got to see some well above average fish too. We even had some blacktip and bull shark action in the flats where many like to wade.
Flounder are best to taste!
One 5ft Bull Shark in particular demonstrated prevailing optimism. While in only 2ft of water it gave us time to change rods (from redfish to jack rod) and as we polled alongside, the Angler hit it on the head 10x with the fly at least. Finally! It ate the fly as it landed across its head right next to its mouth. That shark rolled on it’s side and engulfed the 6/0 jack popper. HA! Perfect hook placement too, even though 50-lb flouro does not stand a chance. The angler was so surprised though that he never set the hook. That is good enough of a game for me! Our optimism is prevailing again!
Optimism
First Timer Joe Sight casting Texas Redfish on Light Tackle
September and October are perfect times to sight fish because we tend to see larger than average redfish on the flats because the spawning age fish begin to move to the inlets to reproduce. We are already seeing a handful of over slot redfish each day when we are working the right areas. Tailing schools of smaller redfish are showing up again too as our tides come up a little. Soon the fall tides will have the fish crawling the edges like crazy! I expect to see a good run of bigger than normal fish this Fall Season! d
Hopefulness
Therefore, have hopefulness! Come get your next fly fishing experience with Kenjo Fly on the saltwater flats of Port Aransas, fly fishing & sight casting Mustang and St Joe islands! Maybe we will even run into schooling bulls, blitzing jacks, blood thirsty sharks, or prehistoric tarpon in the Wild Blue Yonder!
Redfish on foot defeats the wind and wins the prize
That morning everyone at the dock an hour before sunrise was jovial. As we cast off our dock lines in the Port Aransas Harbor for another optimistic day we joked about how the flats are over-run by summer boating crowds.
Sploosh!
Plying the shallow salt waters of Corpus, Redfish and Aransas Bays can be busy. Dreaming big while remembering the rarity of tarpon in our Texas Bays. Laughing a bit more knowing that it was only Thursday.
Do you ever hear that little voice on your shoulder, horns and halos mistaken, telling you its gonna be a great or horrible day, but maybe not? Pay no mind, its just you’re fly guide talking himself out of and into it. Over and over again, he knows that there is a good hunt ahead of us. And he’s got some awesome folks onboard to keep it real and ever so “reary reary” fun!
Neighbors that brushed us off the beaten path to find the road less travelled and behemoths along the way. Thank you!
Aside from the mundane order of events, the first decision of the morning was to abandon all hope and strategy. Throw caution to the wind.
Regardless of our new found fishing buddies we turned our attention to the wide open spaces. What we expected for a summery Thursday sunrise did not come close to what we witnessed. “There, I saw something super big and super fishy.” Off in the distance we could see a fleeting glimpse of dolphin sized activity (excluding the dorsal fins).This was another rarity of tarpon. “Let’s go find out!” we all seemed to say at once. We motored slowly away from the flats hoop-la and setup on what would become one of the best days we had experienced yet.
Splooosh!
“What was that?” someone asked quietly… Then we saw the 12-ft hole in the water just outside of casting range open up. Was it jack crevelle? Was it sharks? Or was it Tarpon? “Naw! Not tarpon in the bay here! That ‘NEVER’ happens!” Our hopes were on the moon. We were sure that we didn’t know exactly what huge fish species was about us. Nonetheless, we suspected all 3.
Quietly shaking, the crew slid their rods out and the guys started prospecting the area. One angler with his 15-lb spin rod hooks a ladyfish on a quick steady retrieve. Then the fly angler gets a nice hit from a good sized skippy. “Hell yeahs” and high-fives were already being exchanged. Quickly the first ladyfish went off the hook. On releasing the second ladyfish a 5ft bull shark swims up from depths and nails the ladyfish! SPLOOOSH!!!
Glamorous Ladyfish Skipjack on the Fly
Now our nerves were on fire and the guys started stuttering their “holly hell” gibberish. As any good guide knows, this is time to keep the boat calm and get back to fishing… Out comes the another tarpon leader. And another ladyfish hits the gunnels. There! A fin! Is that tarpon?” someone whispers stressfully. Yes, and then, we hookup another ladyfish on the fly, and just as we are landing it, the spin angler’s jig gets hammered boat-side just out of sight.
SPLOOOOSH!!!
A giant 12-15ft hole in the water just opened up next to the skiff. “TARPON!” we all yelled! Water sprayed all over the crew as the reel started screaming. I look over and the shimano spin reel was getting smoked! Captain laid a waypoint, cranked the engine to give chase. The beast fought us for 5 minutes peeling line hardly giving any back. Over a half mile we followed, helpless with the tiny flats pole.
Shortly after it turned and ran right for us. When it came tight one last time, it shook out the hook. That folks, is all about the rarity of tarpon. Even if you get a chance, there is a better chance to loose. But, in doing so, we win, because we cannot give up!
Now, this story may seem impossible. Some even consider it to be embellished. But you can be sure it happened. Right here in Port Aransas Texas!
Bent by a Blacktip Shark Port Aransas Texas
It was a fleeting chance to strategically work tarpon in the bay, not just see one, but we got to work them for quite some time. This is just another story of the rarity of tarpon.
There is also far more to the story, much detail was left out to save the author and readership time. It would be better spent on the skiff, hunting whatever sea creature we may encounter next!
Many thanks to the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce for choosing me as their Partner of the Week last July. It has been a pleasure to have been a member for 10 years and their contribution to our tourism in Port Aransas is no doubt, Great!
Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters made Partner of the Week in July ’23 in Port Aransas Texas
An experience on the water with Capt Kenjo is full of useful information about this flora fauna as well as the history this area has to offer.
Texas Fog rolls in off the gulf during warm fronts in the Winter. Along the Texas Coast, muddy drum can be found in various areas when deep water meets shallow oyster beds. In winter the southerly warm fronts jockey for position with the cold Northers, the fog sets in. It can stay for a few days. not to worry though, clear water and solid cloud cover still lets us sight-fish from the skiff!
Tough to Beat, Andrews first redfish ever was so big! Congrats Colorado!
There are still dates in Jan Feb open so pick your day quickly and prepare for either blue and grey skies! The fishing in Winter is some of the best of the year!
The Texas Fog
On those foggy days when the water is chilly, redfish and black drum will float on the surface warming themselves. When they do fish are usually easily visible even though there is low light and you will get shots at your fish.
When the fog stays put all day, sight fishing can still work out well. While the water may be cool (44 degrees F in some cases) muddy drum in Texas Fog can be very productive.
Sometimes we got to use the boots to get through a stretch where the fish are lurking and these Simms boots stay in the boat 24/7 for just that reason.
Top Slot belly crawler
on and off 6 times in one day
Upper Slot Port Aransas Bad Weather Redfish
The solution is simple and the trick is to not look out too far from the boat. Anglers need to only scan 10-30ft from the boat. Many Anglers are surprised when they realize they can see that upper-slot redfish or oversized black drum only 10ft away. Calm casts with minimal body movement is necessary. You will want to be able to present the fly to such a close fish without spooking it.
Catching a giant Black drum on the fly can be your best chances in winter on the Texas Coast!
Some days the giant black drum don’t want to eat as seen in the drone videos. But on other days, the eat the fly like a champ! Do you want to hook into and hug a Big Ugly black drum? Winter-time can be the best time to have chances at big redfish and black drum!
