Kelby and Abbie came down to Port Aransas to fish with me on the last day of the year 2025. And we sure took advantage of our moon dependencies. Capitalizing on the day, we exercised patience while the fish were spooky and particular about the cast. Then, when the moon got just right, the fish turned on good!
Biggest Fish of the Day. Guess who caught it?
Kelby got some nice shots on some quality Port Aransas redfish but Mrs. Abbie bested him and landed the biggest fish of the day.
2nd Best Redfish of the day
There is still dates available this spring but winter isn’t over just yet either if you can call it winter its been so mild and warm. Check my availability for your preferred dates and book online ASAP!
Not all sight fishing has to be done with a fly rod. Certainly, using a spin rod can be productive. My crab flies tied on jig hooks work very well with redfish! Whether your fly or spin fishing, its worth the effort to go sight fishing the Texas Coast.
These two wonderful ladies hopped on board one gorgeous day after a cold front and told me they wanted to focus on sight casting with spin rods. So, naturally, I tied some of my crab patterns onto a jig hook and we went to town! It didn’t take them long to get the hang of casting ahead of the fish and reeling it into their path to feed the redfish.
One on the Line, another taking shots
So whether you fly fish or spin fish, hop on board and lets go see for ourselves what fun could be in store!
Every year, for many years, the great sportsmen of the Pasadena Casting Club in California have auctioned a two for one trip with Kenjo Fly Fishing. This year, Steve and Barry jumped on the opportunity to chase some Texas winter redfish with me for four days of glory. And they were astounded.
The weather for those four days we fished together was magnificent and the redfish and black drum kept us busy! One particular fish gave us a hell of a time, being that we casted at it 100 times. Continuously, it refused every offering and several different flies. Over and over and in circles, we chased the fish on the pole as fast as possible to keep it in range, and while this fish finally “seemed” to eat the fly, when we landed it, we discovered that we had accidentally snagged it in the cheek. We took our time boat-side letting the fish recover in the water, and with close inspection we could find nothing obviously wrong with the fish. Very interesting experience with more unanswered questions. This fish must not have been hungry at all!
Another keeper in the boat
Cravings
Steve and Barry’s cravings for catching redfish and black drum was not exactly their only desire. They mentioned to me one the first day about how they loved barbeque, so I offered to smoke a brisket that night and we chowed it down over the next few days along with some homemade kimchi!
boat lunches start at home on the pit…
Our fish were all very healthy and above average size with many shots at oversize redfish each day. Both anglers got to feed so many fish I too am amazed at how great the fishing is this winter.
brisket crabs for lunch
Hook Sets with Incentives
Both Barry and Steve had to overcome their “trout-setting” instincts. After trout-setting on several fish in a row one particular day, I decided to give them some incentives to “not” trout-set on these hungry red drum. The incentive I offered was a fresh $100 bill to the next person to break the tippet during the next hookset. Accordingly, they did not manage to win that “hundo”, but the challenge inspired him to set the hook properly with a strip-set, and he landed that redfish on fly!
PCC member Barry getting dialed in on Texas Winter redfish
Fly Fishing the Port Aransas region can be very challenging, and sometimes, extremely rewarding. Tenacity, courage, ever-evolving adaptation are key characteristics in fly fishing saltwater. Being a great sportsman also makes any experience a really great time!
The black drum couldnt resist KenjoFly.
While our Texas winter is not quite over at the moment, fear not, we have had a very mild winter with many “glory” days of sight fishing. And many more to come!
Teamwork makes the dreams work
The days of glory are not over though! We should really see some great fishing this spring. Don’t forget to book your next Texas saltwater fly fishing experience in Port Aransas! Fly Fishing dates are open for spring break as well!
Roger got a handful of these upper slot redfish with their backs out of the water belly crawling over grass beds not long ago Port Aransas redfish. He had so much fun his first day, he picked up a spare day only two days later! This month has been amazing with plenty of a lot of oversized redfish getting ready to go
Rogers “second” first redfish fly fishing Port Aransas Texas
The gar and shark are bonus fish if you dare pass up shots at some big redfish! Youve got to get commited and stay commited to the redfish or the sharks and gar. Neither will give you time to switch fly rods and then take a shot.
New angler Roger caught quite of a few “first” redfish on the fly!
There are still available few days open in October and November! Let’s get on’em NOW! Come on ya’ll! Lock and Load! Lets go fly fishing
Fly fishing Port Aransas Texas for redfish and black drum!
The recent rains and tides we have received have made Port Aransas fly fishing exciting! And for Ed, it sure has been amazing! Ed did so well on his first trip. He managed to learn so much about fly casting to tailing redfish and black drum! It was a tangible day on the water!
Port Aransas Fly Fishing trips has open dates for October 2025 still available! Call Now or click the link below!
Fish On!!! Woop woop! Matthew got on’em back in May, even in the wind and clouds we were not discouraged! The fish were hungry then and the tailing schools of Texas Redfish are plentiful right now! August saw loads of tailing redfish on the flats, if you can float the flat! Let’s go get’em in September and October!
Coming this Fall! October-December are some of the BEST months of the year to sight fish the Texas Coast! Fly Fishing Port Aransas with Capt Kenjo will certainly help you step up your game in the saltwater world of sight fishing saltwater!
Port Aransas Newest Fish Market /// Open Now! We proudly have the absolute freshest redfish and black drum! Available NOW!!! Book a Trip NOW to take advantage of this special offer!
Fish Market Now Open
Wade Fishing Trips are available for when the conditions are wind or cloudy! Contact Capt Kenjo Now to directly book your next fly fishing trip in Port Aransas Texas!
Take home some black drum and redfish from “The Port Aransas Fish Market” when you catch them!
Winter doesn’t really settle into the Texas Coast until around February. But Tom from Colorado knows all too well that he can come down to Port Aransas for some great fly fishing action during the winter low tides.
Tom caught his second personal best record breaking Texas redfish measuring 30 3/8″ on the fly with KenjoFly Fishing
On this particular day of winter low tides, the fishing was great!
We had multiple schools of cruising redfish to chase for hours. They were swimming in formation, evenly spaced like fighter jets. Tom connected with several quality redfish in the marsh. Managing to set his own personal best redfish record on the fly twice was icing on the cake.
Tom admires his first personal best redfish for the day with Capt Kenjo measuring 29 inches.
Kissing a fish makes a lot of people feel disgusted, but every true fly fishing angler with good sportsmanship knows that kissing the fish before letting it go brings good karma!
Tom kisses another Texas Redfish before releasing it back into Aransas bay
The blue in the tail of a redfish comes from the blue green algae that the food of the redfish eat. Crabs, shrimp and mullet all eat blue green algae and it is passed onto the redfish and is revealed in their tail fins.Tom racked up the numbers sight fishing Texas redfish on the fly.
Additionally, with the winter low tides, April and May are already showing great promise with loads of baitfish moving into the bays and marsh areas to feed, and the redfish, trout and drum and feeding on them heartily as we breathe. Get on your calendars folks and book a fly fishing trip in Port Aransas with Capt Kenjo! The jack crevelle are right around the corner and hungry to put on the feed bags for ya’ll!!!
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
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!
