Tag Archives: coast

Texas Coast Saltwater Fly Fishing School

redfish, drum, fly fishing, port aransas, texas, coast, guide, saltwater, charter, airflo, sims, hatch, beavertail, marsh, spartina, grass, sunrise, mullet, crab, shrimp, fly only, catch and release, trout, speckled, speck, snaggletooth,

Peek-A-Boo!

Have you been thinking about fly fishing the Texas Coast? Do you have a desire to learn at an accelerated pace all the aspects of saltwater fly fishing? What are you waiting for? Are you wanting to go to some fly fishing school to learn more about saltwater fly fishing? NO NEED! You can do it right here with Capt Kenjo.

redfish, drum, fly fishing, port aransas, texas, coast, guide, saltwater, charter, airflo, sims, hatch, beavertail, marsh, spartina, cord, grass

This one almost got away!

Come fly fishing with Kenjo Fly Charters now to sharpen your sight-casting skills. Working with the typically strong winds which are common in saltwater environments Capt Ken will work with you one-on-one to up your game.

With experience comes knowledge. That is, if you pay attention and apply the tips that your guide gives you play by play. to be clear, I am not running a formal school with “programs, curriculum, and classes”. Time on the water provides real-time experience and with Capt Kenjo as your personal teacher, he can help you speed through your learning curve with patience and sound advice. Consistently keeping you in front of fish having many opportunities throughout the day makes for good practice, and well… Practice makes perfect.

31 inch Bull Redfish, On The Fly, In Da Skinny, Flat Got Burned Moments Later Arghhh!

There are a few dates left in May (CALL ME ASAP FOR THOSE) and June is looking golden with good availability. Simply call me direct at 361-500-2552 to pick your date and place a deposit.

DON’T MISS THE BOAT! Get on board for a fun-filled saltwater fly fishing experience that will not only make you a better angler but also one that is quickly adaptable to the conditions and fish behavior as they change throughout the day.

Multi-day trips are available as well and are highly recommended for the serious angler who really wants to learn the fundamentals of saltwater fly casting and fishing. Time well spent on the water with an experienced guide and plenty of fish is what will make you a strong fisherman, and teach you the subtle tweaks and tricks that will put more species in your hands. Quite a few of my Guests come fish with me here on Texas Coast prior to their planned trips to more tropical latitudes to sharpen their skills. The conditions that the Texas Coast dish out will certainly challenge you and are very similar to anything you might face in more remote regions.

I look forward to being your preferred fly guide along the Texas Coast and who knows what awesome situation will present itself next! -Capt Kenjo

Boot Deep Backing Redfish

A fine afternoon in the lee it turned out to be… Caught 2 from the boat then found’em good in the lee every 30ft.

Power pole down, jumped out of the boat to go on wading in boot deep water with backing redfish crushin baits over hard sand against the spartina grass edges. Four more redfish to hand, and at least 4 others missed. Weekdays are where it’s at this time of year! Cancel all other plans except fishing plans! Wednesday Thursday are STILL looking golden in the forecast and I am open! Call Capt Ken ASAP 361-500-2552

red drum, redfish, fly fishing, port aransas, texas, corpus christi

Four Spots Loves Brown Crab

Redfish on a chain

Left’em biting

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

Crab Crusher

Day 1: Despite moderate north winds and cloudy skies, new guest, Mark from Colorado, arrived at the dock 45 minutes early and without even fastening the skiff to the dock he stepped aboard without hesitation and we hauled ass to the flats. We shared our anticipation levels as I explained the drill for the day as we held onto the slightest hope the sun would pierce the cloud layer for a minute or more… In short order, as we worked along a grassy shoreline we began to see redfish flushing from prime feeding habitat. Most all our shots were close range and by noon Mark had nailed five fine redfish to 25inches.

Bull-Rushing Redfish

There was a short lull in the action but by mid afternoon the redfish began to work in our favor again and Mark nailed a few more and missed several other eats. But that wasn’t the end, Mark was hooked as much as the redfish and on the way back to the dock he asked if we could fish the next day. “YES!” I exclaimed, and it was written, we would meet the next morning even earlier.

Texas Redfish

Day 2: Thicker clouds and a light rain greeted us as the sun worked tirelessly to break the horizon but the flat light would stick with us all day and we never got a glimpse of the sun. The fish were a little more spooky than yesterday but the tide was an inch or two lower and some floating shoal grass had rafted up along some fabulous stretches of shoreline. Undeterred, Mark nailed 3 fine fish before noon when we broke for a quick sandwich and booted up to wade into the marsh to hunt down some quality redfish at very close range. We got a couple shots at some smaller cruising fish and then we began to hear a WHOP! over here and then another WHOP! over there. And it wasn’t long we had a tail pop-up just 30-feet away in the thick cord-grass and we slipped into position to take a shot.

Low-Light Stalking

Next thing we know the fish is 8 feet away from our toes, in calf deep water and Mark makes a 10foot cast and sweeps the rod left to get the fly in front of the fish and… WHAMO!!! The next 24inch redfish crushed the crab fly and threw water everywhere ripping thru the tall tough grass straining the 25lb fluorocarbon tippet. And that is why we run the bigger leaders, so we can stay buttoned to the fish in the thick cover. We both wished we had the costa sunrise optics all weekend due to the heavy overcast and rainy skies but the Smith Chromapop Bronze mirrored lenses really helped get it done! We ended the day with tailing schools of redfish and bull-rushing mid-slot doubles closing in on the fly from 2 different angles and crushing it, hooking up Mark on a pumpkin orange 26-inch Texas Redfish with no time to spare before we hauled ass back to the dock so Mark could catch his flight!

Bull-Rushing Redfish

We left’em biting, tailing, and schooling… The skies have already cleared tonight and the weather forecast all this week is GOLDEN!

I am available so call immediately to get in on the great action under perfect sight-casting conditions!

-Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552

Reds on the fly

Redfish, fly fishing, texas, coast, guide

Capt Marcus showing off a brilliantly colored fall redfish.

The fall run is FAR from over folks! While the redfish have been schooling for a while on the deeper flats, they are just now starting to school up on some of my favorite flats for this time of year! We have some perfect weather in the forecast for next week which should make sight casting very exciting!

The last few days have been typical winter pattern but mild nonetheless. The fish have been waiting for these first few cold fronts and they are really feeding agressively now that we have a cold front that last longer than 24hrs. Even on the cloudy days we are able to fish the flats blind and have done well despite the weather.

School, redfish, tailsup, fly fishing, guide, port aransas, texas, coast

Top slot fall redfish

This time of year always excites me most because the majority of boating pressure on the flats is gone, the fish are far less spooky, alot hungrier and in denser concentrations. We are also seeing more quality sized fish (top slotters) as well.

We will also be taking some trips to more remote areas such as the Laguna Madre and other smaller bay systems with extensive marshlands. Group trips with 2 boats, 2 guides and up to 4 anglers can be arranged as well.

I have some dates available next week (excellent weather is forecast) so if you get a wild hair and want to jet down to the coast to take advantage of some of the best fishing of the year regardless of the weather now is the time!

Call now to get on board!

Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552

Full Swing Fall

Dredge yer Reds!

Fall is in full swing and the tides are favorable right now. The skies have been interesting to work with playing with our eyes as the light dances between the thick and thin clouds. Nonetheless, the sight fishing has been good at times and more surprisingly the muddin redfish schools we found on a super windy day was a blast with double hook-ups on both fly and spin occurring 3 times.

Rusty got’em!

When we are able to stalk the flats slowly with good sun and skies the redfish haven’t been far apart and are willing to eat just about any crab or shrimp fly when presented well to an unsuspecting redfish.

Looking at fish looking at bait.

There are still hoards of bait like crabs, shrimp and finger mullet way up in the marsh in the super shallow water and as our tides continue to fall so will the bait and this will draw even more redfish and trout up shallow to feed heavily. Alot of the grass is still flooded and the crabs will be needing to make a big move soon as the air temperatures drop.

1st Time Sight-Casted Redfish

This trend should continue for a while more and November and December can see some awesome sight fishing days as the weather usually mellows-out a bit during this time. The fish are responding to the continued drop in average water levels and temps putting on the feedbag to regain their strength after spawning and to prepare for the onset of winter. Just ask me why winter is my favorite time!

Doubled up Mud Reds on fly and spin in windy conditions!

Today the water temps in knee deep soft bottom flat read 76 degrees in one dead-end slough and not far away in another marsh drain it read 81 degrees… Granted these two areas are completely different which is indicative of the dramatic difference in water temps.

By making these observations it became apparent that the fish in the cooler location seemed to be sulking on the bottom over soft sand, not moving and just deep enough we couldn’t see them. These fish should be worked extremely slow, like crazy slow and from a distance.

Orange and Blue Fall Colors on display

Park off to the side, best to have some grass as cover, then make a long cast and dredge the bottom with the fly, long and slow with a little twitch at the end… The fish will hit on the twitch. This is a surefire method for fishing a 2-3 foot deep flat when you cannot sight the fish yet you know they are there from other signs.

In the warmer water the fish were certainly more active and were a little more visible because they were cruising or crawling instead of laid-up. These fish can be stalked one by one as your guide poles you through the maze of channels in the grassy marsh.

There are dates open in November and only a few remaining in December. Give me a call to book even if you decide to race down here on a whim last minute. We are locked and loaded and ready to float! Keep the hooks sharp, Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552. Also now taking reservations for Winter!

October Marsh Landscape

Mangrove Lake Redfish

Going thru some client emails I found a sweet little video that a client put together very nicely of a fantastic day in May sight casting redfish about my old skiff, the 16ft Ankona Shadowcast. Matt had a quick learning curve and within short order was nailing fish left and right. I believe we got 9 fish to hand that day and missed at least 5 others. The big ones escaped without much damage from us but beware, we’ve got our eyes on you again now during the FALL RUN GOING ON NOW!!!

https://vimeo.com/164157445

Fall Run is ON!

Bull red in the Texas Marsh. Port Aransas Texas Fall Run

We just started tracking down some massive sized schools of bull redfish (top slot and overs) on the flats and the tides are perfect for working the marshes during the day. The weather is excellent right now and we have had some 10 fish days lately.

Bull redfish on the flats pulled out of a school of 200 fish strong!

There are also plenty of black drum around too. I have dates open this Thursday the 15th and again Sunday and Monday. Give me a call ASAP to get in on some of the best redfishing of the year!

Capt Kenjo

361-500-2552

Fall Run

Black drum, port aransas, texas, coast, fly fishing,

Big red trying to steal the fly from a smaller redfish

The finger mullet and pretty much all other bait species are thick this year and the fall run has only begun! Let’s hit’em hard! Give me a call to get on board for a buffet of species to target now! The fishing is good and continues to get better. On the right weather days we can fish around the jetties and hunt for big game. We are still seeing a few really big redfish over 30inches in the skinny water along with a good number of slot redfish.

Black drum

The black drum are also prevalent and although the black drum can be tough to feed with a fly, the right retrieve can get’em hooked up.

Give me a call if you want to get in on some of the most consistent action of the year!

-Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552

Redfish school & jack attacks

August is prime time for best chances at a big redfish in shallow water. I have some weekdays available. Simply give me a call asap!

We have already worked one area that had a 20lber in there and today ran across some schools of top slot redfish.

Adam did well and nailed this 22.5inch redfish at a close range of 5ft.

Below is some short clips of the surprise Jack attack. Straightened 4 hooks, broke off a big monster Jack on 30lb leader and pulled the hooks on quite a few others. We chased them for 2hrs over 2 miles distance.

AND again!

Red Summers

Sunrise Tailing Redfish

Hot hot hot! Thats the easiest way to describe dead of summer-time along the Texas Coast… If you are fishing gentlemen’s hours this time of year chances are you are seeing double from the potential heat-stroke, but now is when the old saying “early bird gets the worm” hold the most truth.

We have been pounding on some fine redfish early in the mornings with their tails up, and they are eating just about anything you throw at them so long as you don’t bomb the cast.

redfish tail fly fishing port aransas corpus christi rockport coast gulf mexico

Do you see it too?

Delicate presentations are key, as most shots are coming at close range. By 9am though most of the tailing has stopped but then the sun is high enough to spot these fish in the water.

redfish trout topwater port aransas texas gulf coast

Topwater Redfish at Sunrise

I have been telling everyone lately, I have found 3 situations where it is imperative that we wade fish and will list them for you hear. These are also 3 excuses to buy a good pair of wading boots!

The fish are in such skinny water that the boat might bump or drag the bottom occasionally, and the sound that makes will scare the fish, even if it doesn’t send them bolting away it can give them lockjaw.
Windy Fishy
The winds are honking (usually any winds over 15mph). This makes it difficult to fish slow enough. If the boat is moving too fast along the flat then there isn’t enough time to spot the fish and the fish doesn’t have much time to reveal themselves to us, which limits the number of shots you get at each fish. In the afternoons I prefer to work into the wind with the sun to our backs that way we can move super slow along the flat and that gives us more time to find that well camouflaged fish in the grass.
This is the big one… when there are so many fish in one tight area, the boat itself can spook the group of fish, interrupting their feeding pattern and behavior. Stopping the boat simply isn’t an option because the boat creates noise and sometimes this cannot be helped. It is then best to park the boat off to the side, preferably behind some cover like cord grass to obscure it and then wade into the fishy area like a ninja, moving painfully slow.
Cord Grass Galore

August is a very good month for chances at BIG redfish in our area as those larger redfish are moving into the shallows to gorge themselves to get ready for the spawn. The boat records have been both set and broken during this month so I encourage you, if you want your chance at a sight-casted redfish over 30inches in super clear shallow water, this is the time to get on the books. Give me a call ASAP to secure your reservation! Keep your hooks sharp, Capt Ken 361-500-2552

Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters

Texas Saltwater Flats Fishing Charters