Tag Archives: port aransas

Max Jacks And King Macks

“Boy am I going to miss that fly!” I thought to myself seconds after that big boy jack crevalle finally found the rock that would part the 20-lb leader. This came after a 10 minute dog fight where the brute nailed the red/white fly on the swing and instantly headed for the bottom of the channel. Into the backing, but only barely. I cant imagine who doesn’t love the stopping power of a Hatch Reel.

Fish pumping hard against the Beulah Bluewater 11wt rod, I cleared fly line and then suddenly watched the splice between fly line and backing smoothly exit the rod guides but the fish stopped short by the infamous 9+ Pulse Reel. Its no wonder though, all 9 of it’s bad-ass discs were working perfectly in unison and applied maximum force against the beast.

Back and forth, from one side of the jetty to another, down deep. I wasn’t worried about the fish finding that one rock that sticks out further than all the others until I saw my leader and some flashy white coffee table sized fish below it. Hues of green, blue and silver radiated up from 6 feet below the water’s glistening surface, and then, just as I felt the line begin to scrape against that invisible rock, the drag was backed off and very little pressure was applied to the rod in an attempt to let Max Jack swim out but the fish was straight down, tail still thumping. Trying different angles, and reaching out over the water failed to free the line from it’s snare, suddenly I felt a little pop just as the line went slack. Raising my rod tip I found a keenly abraded tag end to the leader, roughed up but severed in two.

Goodbye Mr. Crevalle. I shall call you Max Jack from now on.

As the excitement subsided, I realized that fly worked like magic, but I had just lost my only one in that pattern. So, I headed to the truck and drove home to fashion two more while the tying recipe was still fresh in my mind.

Within an hour, a turkey sandwich fell victim along with a few handfuls of Fritos corn chips, I was back on the rocks with two new freshly tied red/white flies in my shirt pocket.

As I walked along the stony path, the sea conditions were not as favorable as I had hoped for but as I continued, I decided that the exercise was worth the walk even if I didn’t make a cast. Then sure enough, I noticed cleaner water on one side of the jetty than the other. Taking plenty of time to study the wave patterns, the easterly swell proved that while the waves sets looked small, the sea retained its powerful rhythms.  So, I found a familiar perch, and stripped out a lot of line onto the rock, then fed it back into my stripping basket to prepare for the first cast.

One cast… a little short based on my idea of the where is the strike zone.

Strip off a bit more line… recast for #2… Agh, but the wind caught the line as it descended on the water and put a big bend in the belly.

Recast again, looks good, and fly is in the zone… letting the line and fly sink a bit I worked the fly within a depth where the fly remained barely visible… Waves continue crushing the line of rocks as I setup for cast #3…

Good distance made here, the line zipped out of the casting basket during a brief lull in the wind and laid out nicely in front of me. Counting to 5 (one 1 thousand, two 1 thousand, three 1 thousand ect…) I began the retrieve…

king mackerel, texas, coast, port aransas, corpus christi, guide

Extreme Angles with a King on a Leash

Then it struck like lightning! 50 feet of line in the water, and 30 feet of line in the stripping basket, I pulled tight to set the hook with Airflo’s low stretch Tropical Intermediate line and on the second strip-set the fish’s adrenaline demanded even more line clearing all slack in the basket in half a heartbeat. I cheered for my fluorocarbon leader, as if encouraging the 30-lb tippet to hold fast, I checked the drag and found it nice and tight yet smooth as butter on Texas Toast.

She headed for the end, where I knew my odds of even seeing the fish were minus five to one, I jumped from my perch to the next, gaining as much line as possible and recovering the 30 feet of backing as well as some fly line that it had taken before the fly reel forced the fish to turn on its initial run. It turned sharply, and ran to the right, parallel to the rocks but still 40 feet out of sight. Jumping between perches, constantly changing angles and pulling low and hard to the sides, the fish finally succumbed to the relentless pressure that this fly gear was meant to serve to its opponents.

fly fishing, port aransas, jetties, guide, charters, king mackerel

Surf’s Up for King Mack!

And then, as if time was standing still, the waves sets calmed and aligned with my attempts to land the fish in a safety zone. One the second wave, I coerced the fish up onto a kind rock relatively safe from escape. This fish weighed in on certified scales at 21.8lbs and measured 50″ total length. 30-lb leader was used with 50-lb bite tippet.

fly fishing, guide, port aransas, jetty, charters, king, mackerel, texas, coast

GUITAR SOLO!!!!

Reflect on a few things here with me if you will…

Your equipment must be in perfect working condition. Inspecting your setup frequently helps identify flaws in the system. Your rod should match the quarry you seek. Your reel must have super smooth drags and your leaders tied with properly formed knots.

Your level of preparedness dictates your success. And… the best way to gain confidence in a fly pattern is to fish the hell out of it.

IT IS ON FOLKS!  Sharpen your skills as well as your hooks. Practice makes perfect. That’s why I fish in even the terrible conditions. Even if I don’t catch something I will have at least practiced the art of fly fishing. And that my friends, is what makes it all worthwhile. Train yourself in tough conditions, and you’ll be more than ready in excellent conditions. Every athlete knows this routine all too well.

Custom jetty trips can be arranged and dates in June on the flats for redfish are filling fast.

-Kenjo (361) 500-2552

fly fishing, extreme, king, mackerel, texas, coast, port aransas

Maximum tension and a quick hook-set kept this mouthful of razors from slicing the 50-lb bite tippet.

 

 

Quality Redfishing Continues

While the South winds are very welcome this time of year and are a promising sign of warmer weather, they were a tab-bit strong today and required some interesting adaptation to techniques in order to find the fish that would eat willingly. But, in the right place and at the right time, the redfish ate eagerly.

saltwater, fly fishing, texas, coast, guide

Dead Drifting Crab Flies Deadly on Redfish

Working an area thoroughly and methodically, since the choppy water had visibility low, the incoming tide was creating a nice flow of current and the small size 4 crab fly produced all the strikes today when cast quartering up current. Allowing the crab fly to bounce along the bottom in the current was the ticket, proving that even on the toughest of days when conditions seemed to be unfavorable, the right presentation, approach and working with the wind can still produce great results.

Massive Black Drum on the Loose

Just how BIG is a black drum when he is tailing in 3 feet of water? You can be sure to call them all THE BEAST!

We came around the point and began working a secondary grassy edge and from 100 yards away we saw it clearly. “Oh my gawd! Do you see that? NOW THAT’S a Hooge Foosh!!!”

Carefully approaching with the boat and working hard to keep the boat upwind and the fish down from us with the sun at our backs, the sun light began to shine bright lighting up the creatures colors and we let the skiff glide into position. On the approach, nerves grew tense but the angler was prepared and got off 4 excellent casts, landing the fly just two feet ahead of the fish each time. Somehow though the massive 4 foot black drum did not show any interest in this particular fly so we let the wind slip us off of the flat away from the giant as the brute glided himself into deeper more secure water. Knowing that this beast was grazing like a water buffalo we circled back upwind ahead of where we spotted the giant tailing and made sure to give the area wide berth and allow enough time for the massive fish to move back onto the narrow grass flat and resume the feeding ritual. While repositioning the boat I spoke of courage, and the need for a change of flies. Sure enough, the angler produced a good looker, and I assured him it would get him some attention.

black drum, fly fishing, saltwater, guides, charters

Little Beast Sliding By…

In short order the skiff slid into position again and slightly further down the grassy point, the white back and dorsal fins of the trophy black drum glowed white against the bottom and we saw it turn on its side while it worked the sea floor for some grub. Then as if on command, a large skillet-sized tail flared up and out of the water, waving like wet cellophane reflecting the now shining sunlight and I slowed the boat to a crawl despite the moderately stiff breeze.

“There! 11 o’clock, 60 feet and closing,..” I say with certainty. “Wait for it! Wait… wait…” I whisper, “50 feet now, then 40 feet. Go! Cast! He’s looking away and left and distance is closing!”

I see the fly land perfectly in front of the fish, we count for a few  seconds under our breaths for the fly to drop and then call out the cadence, “strip, pause, strip, pause, strip again, OH!!!! He’s looking!!!! Let it lie!” But then the next strip ends up moving the fly too far from the fish and the trophy black drum lost track and turned away.

As we watch the beast glide away, I heard a little sigh let out by the bravest of anglers. The sound of that sigh seemed to have several emotions behind it, including the one of relief that the pressure was finally off. We laugh out loud, already in a state of reminiscence, and protest that the excitement was enough for now, we felt as successful as if we had actually hooked it and landed it because in fact, we moved that fish a good distance by changing our fly, making a good presentation and repeating the steps we took to get off more than one excellent shot at this monster of a fish. That was success enough for sure and not even a minute later as the salt water buffalo disappeared, we saw a dolphin surface in extreme close proximity and as it begin working the same area as us we knew that our chances had ended for the day and agreed to head to the marina.

All in all, we stalked 9 individual black drum all averaging 25-40 pounds, (with half of them easily breaking the 30-lb mark and all were at least between 3 and 4 feet long, maybe the biggest of them were more than 4 feet. Of the 9 fish we stalked, the Angler of the Day managed to produce eight fantastic casts at these fish with perfect fly placement. These monster saltwater brutes are well known for their tenacity and sluggishness in feeding, and the degree of difficulty of even hooking a fish of this caliber on the fly is enormous not to mention how difficult it is to even get them to show interest in a fly! Great respect is deserving for the angler today for his endurance and great exercise of patience while searching for and tracking the massive beasts that prove to even the best angler to be a fair match.

black drum, fly fishing, guides, charters, texas, coast

This one not even a fraction of the size of the monster’s we were actually targeting today.

Fortunately, tomorrow is another day to fish, and another day to even the scores, or at least the chance to take at least one more shot at the gregarious beasts.

There are still a few dates open for guided trips to hunt these massive black drum although the weather window may be closing fast with a strong south blow in the lineup.

Call now for your shot at a monster black drum on the fly with Captain Kenjo 361-500-2552

 

 

Redfish and Black Drum on the Texas Coast

redfish, fly fishing, spinning, tackle, charter, guide, saltwater, port aransas, corpus christi

Last catch of the day

We chased hundreds of black drum and redfish today while the weather conditions shifted from a hard North blow at 15kts to less than 5kts in the afternoon with flat seas. The tides also turned’em on good for us and proved good numbers of fish are here! A few charter dates are open over the next 5 days and with the weather forecast looking good, now is a good time to hop on board and take the countless shots at all these black drum and redfish that we are getting. Call me direct ASAP while the fishing is hot and before another Norther shuts it down! Hundreds of fish were spotted in small to medium sized schools and they just kept on coming. Tim did a great job sticking it out with artificial lures and his determination brought him the best fish of the day, a fat 32.5-inch redfish safely released after this quick photo op with the full moon in the background!

catch & release, redfish, fishing, port aransas, Texas, Coast, Gulf of Mexico

Tim pauses to admire this fine 32.5 inch redfish before releasing it to swim again!

And, now that the weather has changed for the better, the fish will get back into their normal feeding routine and many more fish are expected to come to hand with both fly rods and spinning gear over the next few days!

Keeping the Hooks Sharp,
Capt KenJo
361-500-2552

Schooling Redfish

redfish, on, fly, port aransas, guide, flyfishing, saltwater

First one to hand and ate well even before the sun came out to warm us.

While the winter cold fronts blow through in between these fronts the fishing can be very good in Port Aransas.

Yesterday saw temps in the low 40’s but the sun came out around noon, the winds calmed just enough, and with temps reaching 65F we took the opportunity to go hunt some redfish. We found several large schools of fish and the redfish were eating both flies and soft plastics with reckless abandon. Early tide changes helped keep the action going through most of the day.

redfish, fly fishing, port aransas, corpus christi, saltwater, flats

Pulled this nice redfish from a school of 100+ fish!

Many quality redfish came to the boat today with most of them 20-28 inches.

The next few days are open for charters if anyone wants to take advantage of the hot fishing and moderate winds. Give me a call asap to get on board!

Capt Kenjo (361)500-2552

 

fly fishing, redfish, flies, saltwater

Articulated Bunnies – Redfish Love’em

Harbor Island Planning Zoning Commission

Great Step by Planning Zoning Commission today, and more great steps needed by the Port Aransas City Council at 5pm.

port of cc, port aransas, planning, zoning, commission, harbor island, rezoning

Port Aransas Planning & Zoning Commissioners hearing from Port of Corpus Christi member Al Jones

The Port Aransas Planning & Zoning Commission met this afternoon at Port Aransas City Hall and after hearing open comment from its citizens decided to vote for approved and disapproved land uses. In all, approximately 50 people were in attendance, including local news station Kiii-TV 3 as well as a journalist from the Caller Times.

James King, who helped the Texas Land Conservancy acquire Shamrock Island, commented on behalf of all nature lovers out there and it was good to see another long time citizen of this area continuing their efforts to keep Port Aransas’ natural resources alive & beautiful. I hope to speak with him further to see what we can do about getting more sea grass areas designated as Walk, Push, Pole, or Troll areas. We need more of these too!

Back on track, two commentators in attendance are Port of Corpus Christi members and both expressed that they do not want a fractionator installed on Harbor Island either. They DID suggest that negotiations be made between Port Aransas, Port of CC, and Martin Midstream in order to find an agreeable solution and while this is certainly a compromise for the Port of CC, it seems to be only a small offer laid on the table as I am fairly certain the Martin Midstream isn’t in the business of building recreational and eco-tourism sites. Although, that wouldn’t be a bad way for a petroleum conglomerate to give back to nature in a way what it has taken from it.

So, I’ll leave it at that. A counter offer from a Port Aransas citizen to Martin Midstream. Make Harbor Island The Premier Eco-Tourism Center of Texas. Please.

Keep the hooks sharp,  Captain Ken Jones   361-500-2552
 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Fly Fishers!

Sitting here this evening I am reminiscent of all the fishing adventures throughout the seasons and know that none of it would have been possible without each of you. In the last 20 years of using the fly rod, I am thankful for the many comrades and mentors who have fished with me. I’ve learned many great things from all of you over the years and look forward to making more fishy memories and continuing to learn much more!

fly fishing, texas, gulf, coast, port aransas,

2013 Thanksgiving Sheepshead on fly

The Fall season seems to have skipped us almost entirely, and after this last five day cold front it seems we are jumping head first into winter this year. There are still plenty of redfish to be caught. Flounder are making a showing and the trout can be found. And wouldn’t you know it? The sheepshead are beginning to return to the flats. These sticklers present an even greater challenge with the long rod. Surprisingly, this fine fish ate in muddy water with the Cottontail Crab dragged at an inching slow pace.

Don’t pack the gear away yet though! There are plenty more bluebird days out there to stalk redfish, and they will be tailing again soon now that the last norther has blown alot of the flood tides out of the bay. This will certainly help fish get into a feeding pattern. Fly fishing for redfish, trout, flounder and sheepshead really picks up this time of year and a careful watch on the weather will keep you poised to strike on short notice! Look for me on Facebook where I will be posting last minute openings to fish prime times!

Keeping the hooks sharp,Captain Ken Jones

Harbor Island Town Meeting

Harbor Island Update as of November 21st, 2013

The city council meeting went well, and I was impressed with the showing of local citizens to make comment on the Harbor Island Refinery situation. The parking lot was full and last minute guests had to park a block away.

city, port aransas, harbor island, moratorium

City Hall meets re: Harbor Island

In a unanimous decision and a smart move towards better land use designation for Harbor Island, the city put a moratorium on issuing permits for this property which prevents the landowners from building anything. It’s the best move they could make at this time. The next step is for the city to go through the re-zoning process which can take 60-90 days normally with public notice given 3 times. But they also have to decide what type of land use the property will be re-zoned for such as tourist & recreational use, or residential use, etc… One citizen suggested using the property as a cruise ship terminal. My vote is for the land to be designated for tourist and recreational use which a lot of it is used for those reasons currently.

port aransas, texas, gulf, city hall, harbor island, meeting

Packed outside and inside

With the cruise ship idea I admit that I am not fond of the thought. Mostly because of the sizes of the ships, and imagine that in addition to the recent increase in oil industry marine traffic, it could be a catastrophic situation as well. Port Aransas is only a medium sized pass from the Gulf. It would be a tight fit to say the least.

Bigger underlying negative effects of such large ships (and its happening now) is that these massive ships cause an enormous amount of water displacement. In our area, tides are moderate but a single passing tanker ship can change the direction of the tides. It disrupts the natural ebbs and flows of the tides and the water exchange process is certainly influenced. These extreme underwater effects can cause natural vegetation to be uprooted, and even in specific places shoreline erosion is extreme and has to be abated by the installation of new bulkheads, rip-raps and other modern methods to prevent excessive erosion.

tankers, sinkhole, wake, ships, wave

Charlie’s Pasture already takes a beating from big commercial ships. This is a sinkhole that has formed behind the bulkhead.

Of course erosion naturally occurs but normally at a much slower pace, and as the habitat changes, the animals that live in it also adapt. If the change in habitat is too fast, then the animals that live there cannot adapt fast enough and they will either leave, or in some cases if they cannot leave the area quickly enough, the organisms can perish.

So we don’t necessarily want cruise ships in here too, We have already started to have more large commercial traffic now that Corpus Christi is exporting oil as well as importing oil. This move has made a noticeable increase in marine traffic in Port Aransas.

Additionally interrupted are the many runs of marine life that occurs in an inlet setting. These “runs” are where many species of baitfish and gamefish move between the nurseries, marshes, tidal wetlands and open Gulf through the Aransas Pass Jetties as a part of their natural life-cycles and feeding cycles. If any of you have observed large ships or barges running the inlets, channels or passes, you might also notice a flock of birds following the vessel.

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Warning Sign
Metaphorically & Literally

They are most certainly feeding on baitfish that is dislocated along its path or wounded from the turbulence and props. While this may seem like a minor consequence, but it is also proof that a large amount of water is being stirred up, from the very bottom of the channel where depths can reach 70ft, all the way to the surface over a wide area. This extreme exchange of water tables result in extremely differences in environment variables such as oxygen, temperatures and pressure. When the environment variables so drastically swing over short periods, it disrupts the natural flow of marine life in those areas. The marine life depends on a certain amount of water exchange, but too much is also detrimental to the ecosystems.

The Port of Corpus Christi undoubtedly wants to sell the 250 acres. It is up to the City of Port Aransas to determine what it can be used for because the property is within City Limits. Hopefully it will focus potential buyers from a better more eco-friendly industry such as tourism or maybe even the State of Texas will find good use for it as a park.

redfish, sea, grass, fly fishing, port aransas

South Bay Lakes & sloughs with matted floating widgeon grass where redfish were prowling.

Our city’s leaders are still faced with practicing good stewardship and principals of the resources here, and will determine the outcome and future for the Town of Port Aransas and its culture and community. Quite everything that Port Aransas currently has to offer to the people who live here and visit here is hanging in the balance of the re-zoning proposal.

Ideally, seeing this valuable land become an eco-park or similar would be certain reprieve from how the land has been treated and abused over the past history by other heavy industries. In the meantime lets enjoy our time fishing and digging shells around what we currently know as Harbor Island and hopefully one day we will see “Welcome” signs instead of “Keep OUT – DANGEROUS” signs.

Keeping the hooks sharp,Captain Ken Jones
Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters
Port Aransas, Texas

Prone Stones

calm, seas, gulf, mexico, fly, fishing, tarpon, scouting,

Calm Seas in the Gulf of Mexico

The jetty is his treadmill

Fly rod a tool fore & aft the heel

Rock show many scars.

Of carbide laced treads.

For the Gilled One he leaps.

It is the silver king which he seeks.

oil tanker, inlet, port aransas, gulf, mexico, texas, fly, fishing

bay, anchovy, minnows, terns, gulls, fly, fishing, guide, charters, Port Aransas, Texas
Gulls and Terns worked steadily for easy pickins of glass minnows and bay anchovies