Tag Archives: fishing

Days of Glory

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.

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36 inches of rejection

Glory day

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!

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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Tag Teamin Texas Reds

Belly Crawling Port Aransas Redfish

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

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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.

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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

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Port Aransas 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!

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Port Aransas Fly Fishing trips has open dates for October 2025 still available! Call Now or click the link below!

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Ed caught his first redfish on Fly

Tailing Schools of Texas redfish

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!

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Matt pulled this 5-spot redfish from a school of tailing red drum in the Texas marsh
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Fly Fishing Port Aransas Redfish
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Matt holds his first redfish caught from a tailing school of Texas redfish on the fly

Port Aransas Fish Market

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!

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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!

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Winter Low Tides

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.

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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.

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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!

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Tom kisses another Texas Redfish before releasing it back into Aransas bay

Some also say that a fish with a big tail shows great potential in their DNA, somewhat like a child growing big feet early on in life… Do you ever wonder though where the blue sheen in a redfish’s tail comes from?

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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.
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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!!!

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First Texas Redfish on the Fly

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.

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Poor Mans Tarpon on Fly

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:

Fly Rod: TFO Mangrove Coast 7wt | Reel (put your investment here for longevity): Hatch Iconic 5wt or 7wt | Fly Lines (for finesse and distance): Airflo Fly Lines: Flats Technical Taper (formerly known as the Bonefish Taper, in 7wt size). This recommended gear is intended for year round use in most all situations. It is preferred for its close and long range accuracy, as well as for its stealth. The Gulf Coast fly Line is very good for applications where the fish are eating larger flies or when you can hit the fish on the head and they still still eat instead of spooking.

Practicing your casts with this equipment can certainly help you get better shots at your first Texas redfish on the fly.

Get it ASAP, and lets go fly fishing!

Captains Annual Fishing Update

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Blind in one Eye?

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

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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!

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The Most Excellent News

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Glass on Glass

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

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Prevailing Optimism

Prevailing

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!

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This guy just wont smile :-)

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.

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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

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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!

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Redfish on foot defeats the wind and wins the prize

Sharpen Ye Hooks & Call NOW!!! 361-500-2552

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Glamorous Ladyfish Skipjack on the Fly

Muddy Drum in Texas Fog

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!

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first redfish ever
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.

texas redfish winter 2022
Top Slot belly crawler
used wading boots
on and off 6 times in one day

fishing in the fog Texas marsh
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.

big ugly black drum Texas coast
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!

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