Tag Archives: texas

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.

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.

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.

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.

: Gulls and Terns worked steadily for easy pickins of glass minnows and bay anchovies

Fly Fishing after-hours Tarpon

A few hours before sunset the crew of 3 jumped out of the truck onto the hot sand and grabbing their gear suited up for some after-hours tarpon fly-fishing.

bait ballz!

The usual sound of carbide tipped cleats scraping against the familiar yet awkward steps began to sing as we headed out onto the mass where so many animals live and call the underwater structures home.

“What fly to choose?” one of the fly fisherman asks himself out loud. He decides to limit himself to 5 casts per fly then change and repeat until something eats.

Intense anticipation builds as the flymen begin to search the depths, the action begins with the sights and sounds of a large tarpon breaching the water in an explosive manner and crashing back down into the darkening watery lair.

tarpon roll texas gulf mexico fly fishing guide

40-lb tarpon arent long but they are thick even in the tail

The excitement increases exponentially as we realize that one of us is connected to that fish which must have been 50+ inches.

We landed the fish and quickly released it for posterity (like the rest) but a quick scale sample was taken to give to the Marine Science Institute for age identification and year classification.

Over the next 4 hours, in the dark but under full moon, and with much surprise, we continue to hook, jump and release many highly respectable tarpon. On one occasion the three of us are connected to 3 healthy tarpon, a triple hookup!

fly fishing tarpon night texas gulf mexico

13wt getting bendo on an est. 60-lb tarpon.

During the melee, we had to jump over and crawl under each other several times to keep the fly lines tangle free and luckily all three tarpon were landed and released. One went 40 lbs, the other approximately 60 lbs and the third tarpon pushed close to 80lbs and over 5 feet. Very little time was spent to measure the fish’s length or even photograph the fish in order to reduce risk of mortality.

Another fish escaped when he cleared 80 feet of fly line and onto the reel in only 3 seconds when I realized the line was around my foot because these things happen at night too. I tried to clear the fly line but this massive 5-6 foot tarpon jumped for the third time and parted our way.

The final tally was 6 released between 40-80 pounds, and 20 others jumped with the largest being 100-lbs. At one moment, violent strikes from these hungry tarpon came on every 3rd cast. Now this is my kind of tarpon rodeo!

While it is exhilarating to jump any tarpon of any size during the daytime, it is absolutely thrilling to fish for big game species like the tarpon at night with minimal lighting. It is a spectacular experience and allows for the fisherman’s imagination to run wild, much like the tarpon who also swim wildly. It is also a crash course in honing one’s fly fishing senses.

silver king tarpon fly fishing texas night

Silver King on fly at night

The thrill is in the hunt, where a wide array of emotions are experienced. The satisfaction is in having a sense of relief once the fight is over and the fish swims away freely.

-Capt Ken

Nearshore Fly Fishing the Texas Gulf

fly fishing, jacks, port aransas, texas, gulf, mexico, guide

Feisty jack crevalle on fly

On the third day of a successful Texas Tarpon Hunt with a score of 1/6, the poon eluded me the 3rd day and just before a strong warm front hit. The full moon certainly have the seas roiled up and will be so for the next few days. Looks like the break from the winds will come Thursday and I am looking forward to getting back on the water.

Doubled up with jack crevalle blitz

Saturday afternoon’s clients absolutely tore up the jack crevalle fly fishing with top water popping flies and glass minnow or bay anchovy flies. The action was nonstop with many double hookups on these little young of year jacks. I absolutely lost count of how many fish we caught. Kudos to Eric and Dakota for not letting the wind get the best of them and holding fire until the boat was in good position! Their quick and short casts with few false casts had these guys hooked up constantly. It was great unhooking one fish from the port side then having another one to unhook already boat side on the starboard.

A few days prior the tarpon were feeding well, and 2 have been jumped while blind casting. Don’t hesitate to methodically and thoroughly work a likely area. You never know, a 4-footer might just surprise you! Also remember to check every hook for sharpness when you tie it onto your leader and check it frequently while fishing. Lost fish shouldn’t come from dull hooks!

Some dates are available for charters on the flats for big redfish with a single angler, or near shore trips up to 2 anglers using fly and spin gear as provided. Feel free to give me a call (361-500-2552) or email ([email protected]) for more information.

fly, fishing, texas, gulf, mexico, coast, saltwater, jack crevalle

Jack Crevalle Blitzing near shore the Texas Gulf Coast

Gulf of Mexico Tarpon

REPORT: Fly Fishing for Texas Tarpon Heats Up

fly fishing, bull, redfish, gulf, mexico, texas, coast, guide

12 wt getting BENT

The early morning was rainy and achy on the Gulf of Mexico near Port Aransas but on my second attempt to get out of the truck I was able to buckle my Korkers to my feet thanks to a seriously strong coffee brew. Within an hour or so, I hooked two tarpon and lost them both, landed a 32incher, jumped a fourth (about 4ft long) and as it flew 8 feet in the air it threw the hook.

Jetty, texas, gulf, mexico, fly fishing, tarpon, flies, guide

Fly caught 32″ Tarpon successfully released.

Then another schoolie tarpon eats my fly, jumps and is also free.

fly fishing, bull, red fish, texas, gulf of mexico, port aransas

41 inches on this 12wt fly rod! The Hatch Reel stopped this fish within 121 feet.

Huge Bull Redfish and mini jack crevalle were literally blitzing on menhaden balls and I managed to land a 41inch redfish out of the melee. Then of course, I turned my back on the bulls to try to hook another tarpon.

Dates are open for charters if anyone wants to fling some flies and take a shot at any of these fish plus more! -Kenjo 361-500-2552

jack crevalle, fly fishing, texas, gulf, mexico

Hungry Hungry Jack

Fishing Port Aransas Flats & Nearshore

Fly fishing the Gulf of Mexico

It has been “one of those times” …when you don’t get on the water as much as you want, and you know it would never be enough even if you did…

Big Bluefish for being this far South in the Gulf of Mexico

When this struggle begins, and its not all under your control, it is easy to be satisfied by using whatever kind of equipment falls into your hands for more than 15 minutes. There is great satisfaction in the simple action of merely catching a fish (alive), admiring how extremely vivid its coloration is, morally respecting the fish’s willingness to fight for its own existence, then releasing it (still alive) back to the water so it can continue its own adventurous life throughout the mighty seas that this brave fish calls home.

redfish, fly fishing, Corpus Christi, flats, saltwarer, poppers

The BIG one got away

A recent saltwater flats trip with a solo fly angler proved that there are some bigger than usual redfish in the 30inch class making good game in areas where only the skinny flats skiffs can reach them.

It is mandatory though that the fly be placed carefully near and in front of the fish.

No need to start a retrieve as these fish have been eating the fly instantly when it hits the water and certainly before you can recover the slack from overshooting the line. Any 10 minutes in your yard spent practice casting to improve efficiency, accuracy and stealth will prove to be more than worth the effort when a 30 inch redfish eats your fly at 30 feet faster than you can set the hook. When sight casting these fish it is best to only use 1 false cast and lay down a straight leader, and prepare for the strip strike just as the fly hits the water.

kingfish, mackerel, gulf of mexico, live bait

Birthday Girl gets a King as a Grand Prize!

Nearshore fishing has also been dependable with King Mackerel action taking the lead. Ling are still present and are suckers for live menhadden. Red snapper in the inshore state waters are present as well with some keepers in the mix. The False albacore (a.k.a. bonito) are also around with the spanish mackerel and if you haven’t caught a false albacore on fly you can’t appreciate the absolute speed these fish posses.

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED TALKING TARPON! Arghhhh!

These fish are here right outside my backdoor right now. The most commonly sighted tarpon are in the 10-40lbs class, BUT the larger fish are here too. The big ones just are not around the same habitat as the smaller ones. Only the most serious of fisherman posses the desire and patience required to spend an entire day scouting for that one fish that breaks their last personal best record. Find the bait and you will find the fish. I don’t know about you but I am certainly ready to put in several very long and consecutive days of hunting the Gulf’s monstrous Silver King.

Shoot me a message if you want to join in. Tight lines and keep your hooks sharp!

Captain Ken Jones ([email protected])

Redfish Action

It was the day before a scheduled fly charter which had already been rescheduled once due to bad weather. I decided to call the client mid-day Sunday and let her know that Monday’s weather was going to be absolutely perfect. A long shot for someone like me who watches weather reports more than most sports fanatics watch their favorite teams’ stats. “OK, lets do it!” she says and we set the pickup time for 7am.

The next morning I jump out of bed early to prep the skiff, checked the weather again, and luckily things were lining up nicely. After splashing the skiff I head over to the dock to pickup Mary in style and we are up and running after a quick safety briefing.

Soon we are on the flat after a short run, up on the bow she goes, trusty fly rod in hand with a freshly tied popping shrimp attached. “Ok Mary, lets pole over this direction and see if the fish will show themselves.” I say and sure enough once we got into an area where the water depth was right for the fish to show their tails, that is exactly what we saw up ahead. Quietly I whisper to Mary that there are two fish at the 11 o’clock position, one closer than the other and to cast to the closest fish. Once we are within casting range she fires off a gentle and precise cast with a beautiful loop and the fly lands 1.5 feet ahead and just to the right of the redfish. “Strip… strip… strip” I say to start the cadence, and the fish turns in pursuit of the fly then charges! “Keep stripping, don’t stop Mary!” The fish eats, and Mary sets the hook into a fine redfish, measuring in at 21 inches. In all the excitement I manage to stutter the word “Bravo!” as this was a fantastic and exciting event that had just unfolded before our eyes.

redfish, sunrise, fly fishing, texas, coastal bend, port aransas

Early morning delights

These are the times that every fly angler dreams about, the stuff you read about in books, in some calm and serene setting where red-headed egrets, tri-color herons and roseate spoonbills line the shoreline almost as spectators and seemingly fans of one of the most honest games known to man. Fly-fishing.

popping shrimp fly, redfish, flats, texas, fly fishing, coastal bend

Howdy Mrs. Redfish!

The calm before the storm

Waking up this morning, Austin of Salt396 and I start to chat and scratch our heads wondering what to do today. We’ve got 4 hours before punishing winds start gusting from the north… Its now or never… Well, at least for the next day or two until this short Norther passes through. OK, back on track, the clock is ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock… The boat is loaded with safety gear in a heartbeat. Now, what fly rods to bring? Well, we’ve only got 4 hours, so we’ll keep the arsenal down to 2 rods. Hooked up boat and trailer to the truck and within 8 minutes we are fueled up and the boat is dockside while the truck and trailer are being parked.

Within another 5 minutes, we are outside of Port Aransas Harbor and up on plane heading towards an infamous spot where jack crevalle are known to frequent. On the second drift the fish appear crushing large baitfish on the surface at speeds upwards of what seems to be a racing 10kts spraying baitfish in all directions.

Hmmm, no strikes from these fish! Suddenly, we back out of the drift into safer waters where a fly change can be made with less stress, circle back and start another drift through the area. There! Cast! Cast! Cast! Oh damn! Why didn’t they eat?

saltwater fly fishing, jacks, texas, coastal bend

There! 9 O’Clock! Cast! Cast! Cast!

We switch to a topwater popper, make another drift and again, the jack crevalle don’t seem interested in our offerings. We switch flies again, to a prototype which is yet to be named and has evolved several times in the last week, the tail secret of this fly is what has me confident that our next drift will finally produce the jack fish we have been seeking. With the off-color water and sea grasses stirred up, I mention that we are going to start the drift a little further up-current in hopes to intercept a cruising jack, one that isn’t in an ambush mode and more likely to feed at anything that passes nearby. Sure enough, with a well placed cast, the line goes tight as if the fly were hung on a rock that moves. I throw the boat in reverse to help clear the line from the deck and to prevent the current from pushing us into the rocks, we get tight on the reel with the fish while jack runs circles deep below the skiff. Keeping the rod tip in the water, never bringing the butt section above the horizontal plane, intense pressure is put on the fish.

jack, crevalle, crevelle, fly, fishing, mullet, baitfish, texas, coastal bend, port aransas

That’s a dandy!

Within a few more minutes, the dandy jack surfaces and is boated quickly for a photo shoot and then safe release. It is a Dandy Fish! INDEED.

With only 1.5 hours remaining before the horrific & frigid North winds blow upwards of 30mph, we race off to nearby flats, slide into polling position and start scanning the water’s edge for signs of redfish. Within a few minutes, a tail is spotted and Kenjo Fly slips into casting position. One. Two. Three, the ginger-pop flies into a hole and instantly gets a strong follow.

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

And the Release!

Cast again I say, there is another fish in there, and once again, the fly gets attention from an even heftier fish and slurps the ginger-pop down. A short tug-o-war ensues, and a colorful redfish is slid back into its watery home, just in time to seek shelter before the looming storm loosens its fury on the air stricken world.

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Capt Ken at the helm

Turning tail, we jump the skiff up on top and under full power we haul ass off the flat sliding back into the channel, then into the safe harbor of Port Aransas Marina. Safe and sound and only a little wet from the wild ride in, we load up the boat and head to the house to dry off and go get the meal we had waited for all morning. Its chow time for the humans and hard earned nonetheless!

Port Aransas South Texas Jetty Fly Fishing

South Texas Fly Fishing is heating up as expected…

While I await the arrival of my new flats boat from Ankona on April 12th, the fly fishing action at the jetty in Port Aransas is getting the blood pumping from the fantastic fly fishing action!

Colorful Critter

No need for spin gear and it is not necessary to carry loads of gear with you out there. When the jack crevelle show, they are in close to the rocks and any 9/10wt intermediate line with 2-3inch sink rate will be more than sufficient. Fly selection should be fairly large, in the 4-7 inch range as these powerful jack’s are feeding predominately on finger mullet and shad. The main factor in a successful day on the jetty is that the water must be clean, not stirred up with sediment from the bay if it is an outgoing tide and windy.

jack attack, sea habit fly, port aransas south jetty

Got color!

While this fish was not cast to nor hooked from the location shown on these rocks, Korkers are essential and mandatory for safely getting into a good landing position so that unnecessary injury to yourself and to the fish can be avoided. On this particular day the surf was low and wave sets relatively even and constant. Take note that very little time is spent down low on these rocks even during good conditions. At any given time a larger than average wave could roll in and knock a person off their feet. Keeping a vigilant watch and timing is crucial requiring excellent judgement of the wave sets is critical to staying safe. If you don’t feel comfortable in a particular moment, then that is the best indicator to get to higher ground and safety immediately.

fly fishing, texas, port aransas, jetty, jack, crevale, king, spanish, mackerel,

On Point

Scouting from higher vantage points gives the safety needed and sight advantage to determine where along the low underwater rock ledges these fish are cruising and chasing bait. Locate a good casting rock, preferably one that is fairly level and where the waves are not breaking over the rock and usually it can be a rewarding perch for a fly angler with keen eyesight.

Having gone through many different fly patterns in the last week trying to figure out which fly these fish simply cannot resist, I decided to tie up some of Trey Combs’ Sea Habits using yak hair in a 5inch size range.

sea habit, trey combs, kenjo flies, yak hair

Sea Habit tied by Capt Kenjo

Color schemes include the ever popular chartreuse over white, red over white, and green over white. Many other patterns are effective such as 4 inch grey over white mullet patterns which can be found in most local fly shops.

jack crevelle, port aransas, south jetty, fly fishing, texas

Persistence pays off with a large jack crevalle

Finally, if the conditions don’t seem good and you are especially hungry to eat some fish, the Spanish mackerel are great table fare in limited quantities and especially feisty on the fly. They will eat any Clouser thrown in front of them and will continue to hit it even after it has been shredded by their gnarly and razor sharp teeth. Be sure to use at least twelve inches of 50-lb bite tippet when attaching the fly because they will certainly chew through anything smaller before you can get them to hand.