Tag Archives: techniques

Early Season Redfish on the Texas Coast

red, drum, fly, fishing, texas, coast, gulf, mexico, dark, stormy, guide, trips, charters, beavertail, skiff, rl winston, rods, airflo, simms, hatch, outdoors, conservation, protect, port, aransas, pa, boron, plus, smith, optics, — Tailing Redfish in February

Winter hardly slows down these redfish and now that duck season is over and February is upon us the water temps are rising steadily again. There is great potential this time of year to see loads of redfish, drum and even some BIG trout in the shallows. They could be daisy-chaining along main shorelines or in lard wide schools whoppin’ and poppin’! Usually a day or two after a cold front the water and fish are back in action and even on cloudy days many redfish can be caught on the fly using sight casting and stalking techniques on foot as well as from the skiff.

simms, zipit, flats, booties, fly, fishing, beavertail, skiff, texas, gulf, coast, mexico, port, aransas, hatch, outdoors, airflo, lines, rl, winston, rod — Ready to Wet Wade the Texas Coast

red, drum, fly, fishing, saltwater, flats, texas, gulf, coast, mexico, guide, charters, skiff, boat, hatch, outdoors, airflo, tropical punch, winston, rod, company, lines, alpha, plus, r.l., beavertail, yamaha, f70, winston, fly, fishing, trips — 7 spot redfish

The forthcoming weeks of February (including March) are going to see some of the best fly fishing action the coast can offer. Tailing and cruising redfish can be expected and there are good chances to see redfish schools that rival the summer groups. We wet wade often times this time of year in 65-75F water temps to deal with a little bit of wind and or grey skies. This lets us get so very close to the fish that you cant miss them feeding right at your feet! Call Capt Kenjo direct @ 361-500-2552 or simply Book Online at your leisure! It is sure we will have a good time, you will learn many new things and become a better fly angler overall, and if you are nice to the fish, many of them will come out to play! We are still seeing lots of Whooping Cranes and Sandhill Cranes for those who love all types of wildlife.

Book Now

whooping, cranes, fly, fishing, port, aransas, st, josephs, beavertail, texas, gulf, coast, mexico, island, skiff, hatch, outdoors, airflo, lines, smith, optics, rl, winston, — A pair of Whooping Cranes feed along the shores of the barrier islands along the great Texas Coast.

Fall Run is beginning

port aransas, tailing, redfish, texas, fly fishing, guide, charter, beavertail, hatch outdoors, beulah, airflo, fall run, bull, school, trout, speck, rockport, corpus, christi, laguna madre

Baby Bull Released!

The weather has been a little stiff since early September when we got more than our annual amount of rainfall in about a 2 week period. This flooded the salt flats tremendously bringing life and nourishment to the little crabs and shrimps and called the fish that werent breeding into the lakes and ponds to munch on these tasty marine critters. Because the higher water levels were a little later in the year, not a ton of fish moved up into the way back lakes but we found’em in the skinny succulents as well as on the main edges.

This week’s Nor’wester is what we all have been waiting for and it has the water levels dropping rapidly and bait is seriously on the move now! Forget the forecast because the redfish party is starting! You dont want to miss the fall run this year, I expect to see quite a few HEFTY fish in the coming weeks and months!!!

Endless Possibilities

Even in the hardest conditions this cold front dished out, we found tailing redfish and some even had their backs out of the water. Just yesterday we wade-fished and had more tailing and backing reds, and every fish ate the fly when presented well.

Fortunately for us, there is a ton of freshwater heading south towards the coast from the mainland of Texas and this should help keep our water levels manageable and prolong the fall run through November at least. I also expect December to produce many great days of sight casting. Let go of your misconceptions that you cant see redfish without the sun, there are many techniques to apply to the day in order to “find” the fish when light is low or when the winds are blowing! And believe me, Capt Kenjo knows, because he goes fishing any day there isn’t a hurricane!

Another windy tailing redfish in hand!

So get your ducks in a row and Book NOW to view available dates for some awesome sight casting on the fly for Texas Redfish, they should be schooling up more and more as each day passes! Port Aransas has plenty of places to stay and their finest restaurants are open as well!

Bending the Bender

There are plenty more fish to be caught and the bigger ones should be moving up to the edges again soon. Just the other day I spotted a huge pig as she came up on the surface to slurp a big ole crab down the hatch! Call direct if you have any questions! – Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552

spring weather

Tuesday (tomorrow), Wednesday and Thursday this week are going to be golden. Give me a call ASAP to get on board for an excellent chance at sight fishing the South Texas Coast. P.S. Wednesday & Friday are booked.

fly fishing, black drum, redfish, guide, port aransas, rockport, corpus christi

pulling tricks with the blue crab fly

If you happen to watch the weather reports and try to plan your trips around that, it is certain you will go mad as the hatter, unless of course you are already as mad as the mad hatter. In those cases you probably watch multiple forecast sources, and then throw it all out the window. If you try to determine the perfect weather window on your own and schedule everything last minute you will most certainly drive your fly fishing guide completely mad. He already has enough things to juggle without trying to convince his guest anglers that they are not meteorologists and even they are dead wrong most of the time. Regardless, the best way to learn how to fish is to fish in all the conditions that might get tossed at us.

Caroline stuck several of these trout in spite of less than favorable conditions.

As a true fisherman and mature sportsman once put it, “the best time to go fishing is when the chance comes. And the way to go is with a free and hopeful mind and an eye quick to take note of things. There will be days when the fishing is better than even the most optimistic forecast, and days when things are far worse. Either is gain over staying home…”

Today while we fish in overcast skies and windy conditions we will focus on topwater fly techniques and maybe some subsurface blind casting methods while the winds howl at our efforts. nonetheless we will laugh and have a good tine and learn some new things while we are at it. I fear the day when I would rather sit at home watching to boob-tube I stead of going out into the elements to make another fishy discovery.

Remember, the best guides don’t quit just because there is a little wind. Down here in South Texas if the wind does stop blowing you will certainly pray for it to blow again because the heat and humidity can make it hard to breathe and the bugs will eat you. If you learn to fly fish in the wind, you can fly fish most anywhere, most anytime!

Hareline Dubbing Mullet Imitator

hareline dubbing, texas, saltwater, tarpon, mullet, fly fishing

Hareline Dubbing Baitfish Emulator Flash makes a great mullet imitator

Having recently discovered Hareline Dubbing’s Baitfish Emulator Flash I instantly knew it would work perfect for tying finger mullet patterns on the big gaped tarpon hooks made by Tiemco (600SP) in 1/0 & 2/0 sizes. These flies are sure to smell like fish. Its only a matter of time. Everybody hurts sometimes.

This particular pattern uses splayed tail hackles (4-6 hackles max) then hand blended some ice dubbing (also by Hareline) for the body using a dubbing loop to build the shoulders of the mullet. The dubbing is tapered in thickness as it is applied to the dubbing loop to give the bulk forward placement on the fly. The emulator flash is then tied in at the front like a collar and palmered in place 3 or 4 wraps then tied off. The bottom fibers can also be trimmed if desired.

Overall I am truly impressed with this material as it is a way to build the body of baitfish patterns with ease and cuts some time from behind the vice which can be a while for me. Over the next few days I will continue playing with this material to see what else can be tossed around.

Keep those hooks sharp,

Captain Ken Jones

Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters

Port Aransas TX

361-500-2552