South Texas Fly Fishing is heating up as expected…

While I await the arrival of my new flats boat from Ankona on April 12th, the fly fishing action at the jetty in Port Aransas is getting the blood pumping from the fantastic fly fishing action!

Colorful Critter

No need for spin gear and it is not necessary to carry loads of gear with you out there. When the jack crevelle show, they are in close to the rocks and any 9/10wt intermediate line with 2-3inch sink rate will be more than sufficient. Fly selection should be fairly large, in the 4-7 inch range as these powerful jack’s are feeding predominately on finger mullet and shad. The main factor in a successful day on the jetty is that the water must be clean, not stirred up with sediment from the bay if it is an outgoing tide and windy.

Got color!

While this fish was not cast to nor hooked from the location shown on these rocks, Korkers are essential and mandatory for safely getting into a good landing position so that unnecessary injury to yourself and to the fish can be avoided. On this particular day the surf was low and wave sets relatively even and constant. Take note that very little time is spent down low on these rocks even during good conditions. At any given time a larger than average wave could roll in and knock a person off their feet. Keeping a vigilant watch and timing is crucial requiring excellent judgement of the wave sets is critical to staying safe.  If you don’t feel comfortable in a particular moment, then that is the best indicator to get to higher ground and safety immediately.

On Point

Scouting from higher vantage points gives the safety needed and sight advantage to determine where along the low underwater rock ledges these fish are cruising and chasing bait. Locate a good casting rock, preferably one that is fairly level and where the waves are not breaking over the rock and usually it can be a rewarding perch for a fly angler with keen eyesight.

Having gone through many different fly patterns in the last week trying to figure out which fly these fish simply cannot resist, I decided to tie up some of Trey Combs’ Sea Habits using yak hair in a 5inch size range.

Sea Habit tied by Capt Kenjo

Color schemes include the ever popular chartreuse over white, red over white, and green over white. Many other patterns are effective such as 4 inch grey over white mullet patterns which can be found in most local fly shops.

Persistence pays off with a large jack crevalle

Finally, if the conditions don’t seem good and you are especially hungry to eat some fish, the Spanish mackerel are great table fare in limited quantities and especially feisty on the fly. They will eat any Clouser thrown in front of them and will continue to hit it even after it has been shredded by their gnarly and razor sharp teeth. Be sure to use at least twelve inches of 50-lb bite tippet when attaching the fly because they will certainly chew through anything smaller before you can get them to hand.