Tag Archives: charters

Fall Fishing South Texas Saltwater

double rainbow, port aransas, texas, gulf, coast, saltwater, fly fishing

Port Aransas Double Rainbow over Harbor Island

While it has been awhile since I have posted any reports or stories, I can assure you I have been busy chasing the local tail. While on the water very little attention has been given to the camera, and more time has been spent with rods in hand and tighter lines. As with any fishing experience, there have been some great days for catching, and some great days for fishing. That being said, it goes without saying that there is no such thing as a bad day of fishing!

A perfect example of what some might argue as a bad day of fishing versus an epic night of fishing is when you get spooled 4 times in one night of hunting tarpon.

tarpon, silver king, fly fishing, spin fishing, full moon, jetty

This little silver king graced us with its presence and allowed us this quick opportunity for a photo.

Somehow though I still felt the need to apologize to my crew for finding tarpon that were too big to catch with the equipment we had to use. Never in my life did I anticipate apologizing for this reason, especially because of the epicness of the tarpon hunt. But, because of the beating we all took during that trip, it was worth cracking my apology as the joke of the year. Hell, before the trip even started when picking up the crew from the airport I felt my own nervousness showing through, something inside me knew that it was going to be the sickest fishing trip that any of the 8 of us had ever experienced in a total of 120 years of combined fishing experience.

phil shook, lydia ann lighthouse, red fish, texas, saltwater, fly fishing

A scrappy young of year redfish comes to hand near the Lydia Ann Lighthouse with author Phil Shook.

Redfish and trout are still in the bay and reports of big black drum are starting to trickle in steadily from local sources.

With the cool Norther that we are getting right now as I write this article, the fish should respond well to the dramatic change in weather patterns are start putting on the feed bag in order to fatten up for the impending winter season.

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Lest we not forget, seagrasses are protected. This sign is posted at the Southwest entrance to Brown and Root Flats

Next weeks weather patterns are looking excellent, with a little bit of rain later on in the week (fish are already wet and don’t care if it rains). We should have calm seas with moderate winds early in the week and should make stalking redfish and trout pretty exciting.

A sad thing I have noticed alot of people doing recently is that they are running their motors across the flats. For those of you with your own shallow running boats, take the time to respect the law, and more importantly, the environment from which we take so much pleasure.

Stop your outboard motors at the edge of the flats and either get out and push, or use a push pole or trolling motor to get your boats onto and off of the flats. With a little research of the maps and some forethought, you will find short routes on and off the flats for quick trip, or longer routes if you have more time. Use the wind to your advantage to help push your skiff onto the flat, and if you plan your route correctly, the wind and tides will help you move your boat off of the flat just as easily so that you do not exhaust yourself.

Please be mindful of all the plants and animals on which we tread. I am certain that if a redfish could, it would be waving the “Dont tread on me” flag as well.

If you are interested in booking a fly or spin charter for redfish, trout, drum or flounder, I have This Sunday November 10th available and Wednesday the 13th of November. Give me a call or email to get in on the action.

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Capt Ken Jones ([email protected])
361-500-2552 – Port Aransas, Texas – Certified Wildlife Guide

Fly Fishing after-hours Tarpon

A few hours before sunset the crew of 3 jumped out of the truck onto the hot sand and grabbing their gear suited up for some after-hours tarpon fly-fishing.

bait ballz!

The usual sound of carbide tipped cleats scraping against the familiar yet awkward steps began to sing as we headed out onto the mass where so many animals live and call the underwater structures home.

“What fly to choose?” one of the fly fisherman asks himself out loud. He decides to limit himself to 5 casts per fly then change and repeat until something eats.

Intense anticipation builds as the flymen begin to search the depths, the action begins with the sights and sounds of a large tarpon breaching the water in an explosive manner and crashing back down into the darkening watery lair.

tarpon roll texas gulf mexico fly fishing guide

40-lb tarpon arent long but they are thick even in the tail

The excitement increases exponentially as we realize that one of us is connected to that fish which must have been 50+ inches.

We landed the fish and quickly released it for posterity (like the rest) but a quick scale sample was taken to give to the Marine Science Institute for age identification and year classification.

Over the next 4 hours, in the dark but under full moon, and with much surprise, we continue to hook, jump and release many highly respectable tarpon. On one occasion the three of us are connected to 3 healthy tarpon, a triple hookup!

fly fishing tarpon night texas gulf mexico

13wt getting bendo on an est. 60-lb tarpon.

During the melee, we had to jump over and crawl under each other several times to keep the fly lines tangle free and luckily all three tarpon were landed and released. One went 40 lbs, the other approximately 60 lbs and the third tarpon pushed close to 80lbs and over 5 feet. Very little time was spent to measure the fish’s length or even photograph the fish in order to reduce risk of mortality.

Another fish escaped when he cleared 80 feet of fly line and onto the reel in only 3 seconds when I realized the line was around my foot because these things happen at night too. I tried to clear the fly line but this massive 5-6 foot tarpon jumped for the third time and parted our way.

The final tally was 6 released between 40-80 pounds, and 20 others jumped with the largest being 100-lbs. At one moment, violent strikes from these hungry tarpon came on every 3rd cast. Now this is my kind of tarpon rodeo!

While it is exhilarating to jump any tarpon of any size during the daytime, it is absolutely thrilling to fish for big game species like the tarpon at night with minimal lighting. It is a spectacular experience and allows for the fisherman’s imagination to run wild, much like the tarpon who also swim wildly. It is also a crash course in honing one’s fly fishing senses.

silver king tarpon fly fishing texas night

Silver King on fly at night

The thrill is in the hunt, where a wide array of emotions are experienced. The satisfaction is in having a sense of relief once the fight is over and the fish swims away freely.

-Capt Ken

Nearshore Fly Fishing the Texas Gulf

fly fishing, jacks, port aransas, texas, gulf, mexico, guide

Feisty jack crevalle on fly

On the third day of a successful Texas Tarpon Hunt with a score of 1/6, the poon eluded me the 3rd day and just before a strong warm front hit. The full moon certainly have the seas roiled up and will be so for the next few days. Looks like the break from the winds will come Thursday and I am looking forward to getting back on the water.

Doubled up with jack crevalle blitz

Saturday afternoon’s clients absolutely tore up the jack crevalle fly fishing with top water popping flies and glass minnow or bay anchovy flies. The action was nonstop with many double hookups on these little young of year jacks. I absolutely lost count of how many fish we caught. Kudos to Eric and Dakota for not letting the wind get the best of them and holding fire until the boat was in good position! Their quick and short casts with few false casts had these guys hooked up constantly. It was great unhooking one fish from the port side then having another one to unhook already boat side on the starboard.

A few days prior the tarpon were feeding well, and 2 have been jumped while blind casting. Don’t hesitate to methodically and thoroughly work a likely area. You never know, a 4-footer might just surprise you! Also remember to check every hook for sharpness when you tie it onto your leader and check it frequently while fishing. Lost fish shouldn’t come from dull hooks!

Some dates are available for charters on the flats for big redfish with a single angler, or near shore trips up to 2 anglers using fly and spin gear as provided. Feel free to give me a call (361-500-2552) or email ([email protected]) for more information.

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Jack Crevalle Blitzing near shore the Texas Gulf Coast

Fishing Port Aransas Flats & Nearshore

Fly fishing the Gulf of Mexico

It has been “one of those times” …when you don’t get on the water as much as you want, and you know it would never be enough even if you did…

Big Bluefish for being this far South in the Gulf of Mexico

When this struggle begins, and its not all under your control, it is easy to be satisfied by using whatever kind of equipment falls into your hands for more than 15 minutes. There is great satisfaction in the simple action of merely catching a fish (alive), admiring how extremely vivid its coloration is, morally respecting the fish’s willingness to fight for its own existence, then releasing it (still alive) back to the water so it can continue its own adventurous life throughout the mighty seas that this brave fish calls home.

redfish, fly fishing, Corpus Christi, flats, saltwarer, poppers

The BIG one got away

A recent saltwater flats trip with a solo fly angler proved that there are some bigger than usual redfish in the 30inch class making good game in areas where only the skinny flats skiffs can reach them.

It is mandatory though that the fly be placed carefully near and in front of the fish.

No need to start a retrieve as these fish have been eating the fly instantly when it hits the water and certainly before you can recover the slack from overshooting the line. Any 10 minutes in your yard spent practice casting to improve efficiency, accuracy and stealth will prove to be more than worth the effort when a 30 inch redfish eats your fly at 30 feet faster than you can set the hook. When sight casting these fish it is best to only use 1 false cast and lay down a straight leader, and prepare for the strip strike just as the fly hits the water.

kingfish, mackerel, gulf of mexico, live bait

Birthday Girl gets a King as a Grand Prize!

Nearshore fishing has also been dependable with King Mackerel action taking the lead. Ling are still present and are suckers for live menhadden. Red snapper in the inshore state waters are present as well with some keepers in the mix. The False albacore (a.k.a. bonito) are also around with the spanish mackerel and if you haven’t caught a false albacore on fly you can’t appreciate the absolute speed these fish posses.

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED TALKING TARPON! Arghhhh!

These fish are here right outside my backdoor right now. The most commonly sighted tarpon are in the 10-40lbs class, BUT the larger fish are here too. The big ones just are not around the same habitat as the smaller ones. Only the most serious of fisherman posses the desire and patience required to spend an entire day scouting for that one fish that breaks their last personal best record. Find the bait and you will find the fish. I don’t know about you but I am certainly ready to put in several very long and consecutive days of hunting the Gulf’s monstrous Silver King.

Shoot me a message if you want to join in. Tight lines and keep your hooks sharp!

Captain Ken Jones ([email protected])

Salmonella wastes over 600,000 pounds of Yellowfin Tuna

This is all the more reason to eat locally sourced and seasonally appropriate fish! Commercial catching and processing of fish is a major breeding ground for dangerous food-borne illnesses. Catch what you eat, eat what you catch!

Fall Bluefin Tuna less than 1 hour from the dock

Salmonella FREE!!!

From the CDC website:

…State and local public health and regulatory officials are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a traceback of tuna. FDA has selected 4 of the clusters, which are located in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin, as the focus of the initial investigation. Information to date indicates that all 4 received the same imported frozen raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna product from a single tuna processing facility in India. Most common cause is ingestion of ground tuna meat, commonly used in

This investigation is ongoing. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing surveillance to identify new cases. Further investigation is ongoing to identify possible sources of contamination and whether any other tuna products are linked with illness. CDC will update the public on the progress of this investigation as information becomes available…

Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters

Texas Saltwater Flats Fishing Charters