Corpusfishing.com

[FishingFamilyinCC]

My Wife and I are new to Fishing, and were looking for advice. We havent caught anything in the last 2 weeks. We do understand its been windy and its alot more difficult in the wind. Heres where we went, Oso Bay Turnaround, Under JFK Causeway, in two spots in packery, and off Red Dot Pier. We have used a popping cork with gulp and a large hook (Under causeway), tried popping cork with a treble and a smaller gulp (Packery), live shrimp bait, dead shrimp fishing off the bottom (Red Dot). We are learning and enjoy it, but we would like advice in a way to catch ANY kind of fish...LOL Thanks Guys..
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Robert and Rebecca

[ironmanstan]

keep fishing...don't give up. Read,read ,read, such books as the ones you can get on this forum. Ask questions. There are lots of great fishermen and fisherwomen on this board. Welcome.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[ziacatcher]

From your list of locations it looks like you are into staying dry while fishing, as opposed to wading. I find the piers usually produce better at night than in the day. An area that has been producing some fish lately is the Packery channel right off SPID across from the liquor store. Try freelining live shrimp or mullet for trout and flounder. I was also out at the jetty the other day and water was gorgeous and producing a few more fish of late. Good luck

[FishingFamilyinCC]

I did wade in about knee deep at the Packery, but we entered where the big tree with the birds is at, so I think we may move a little back towards across the st from that liquor store. Were not gonna give up, we like it. It would be cool if we could tag along with someone from the Board once. Thanks!! By the way what is freelining???
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Robert and Rebecca

[ironmanstan]

free lining is no weight. just a hook and a shrimp. no snaps, no swivels, no split shot. Let the shrimp or the bait do the work. If needed reel sloooowly. You'll get the hang of it.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[ccbobber]

there is not a person on this board that didn't learn from someone. i have learned something from every person i have ever fished with, some good & some bad. be patient, watch what other are doing, and what tackle/bait/bobber they are using. you may be using too heavy a line for the type of fishing you are trying. imitate what the "catchers" are doing and BAM, you'll get the first one.
good luck and don't give up.
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ccbobber

[FishingFamilyinCC]

Thanks guys.....
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Robert and Rebecca

[gotmullet?]

Welcome to the board

In the meantime when your out fishing just enjoy it.
It sure beats being at home watching the idiot tube
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"Do not call my Jeep a Car ever again "

[Ol Sanch]

I'm going to try and help the best I can. I don't know what type of equipment your using or what your budget is but good equipment always helps. I would recommend a Falcon or Castaway 7ft rod with a Shimano 2500 spinning reel of some sort. That set up will run you about $120 bucks or so. If you don't want to spend the money then don't it's just that if your using the $35 dollar set up from Wal-Mart (and there isn't a damm thing wrong with that if you are) it's going to be less sensitive to gentle bites and bottom structure then the set up I described. This is an all around good set up for catfish, bass, trout, and redfish, in my opinion, so if you think you will continue to fish its a good investment. If you don't want to do this then disregard but still spool with 20lb power pro. Tie a swivel to the end and attach a 30lb fluorocarbon or mono leader, to which you should tie a 1/0 (one-ought) or 2/0 hook kahle hook. This is your basic set up for "free lining".

Purchase either fresh-dead or live shrimp. Go to the Port Aransas jetties. It is easiest to start on the south jetty because you won't have to contend with the jetty boat. But which jetty your on depends on the wind direction which lately is a big deal. If it's from the south south east you can fish the surf side of the North Jetty with your back to the wind or the channel side of the south jetty. If it's from the north then reverse. Generally speaking you want to cast with the wind at your back (it's easier). Thread on a peeled fresh-dead shrimp and cast out about 15 or 20 yards. It doesn't have to be far. Repeat all the way down the side of the jetty. If you don't catch at least a sheepshead doing this I'll poo-poo my pants. If you want to try some live shrimp, hook the shrimp just under the horn right before the black spot that is the brain. Use a small net to draw the shrimp out of the live well because sun block will kill them. Cast out as far as comfortable and let the shrimp drift to the bottom. If there is current you can use some small split shot to get the shrimp to the bottom a little quicker. Work your way down the side of the jetty. If you don't catch something doing one of these two things, try the poping cork with live shrimp underneath at the jetty.

Clearly, you don't have a boat. You might consider purchasing Ray Crawford's book, Wade and Kayak Fishing on the Coastal Bend of Texas. Wind direction, tide direction, force of tide, moon phase, pressure systems, are all important but I go when I can. Get out there at dawn or at sunset, mid-day isn't prime time, generally speaking.

I was at the Aransas Jetties this weekend and there are fish there. Have fun.

Ol Sanch
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Do you even fish, Bro?

[FoldCatOne]

X2 on the Wade and Kayak fishing the Texas Coastal Bend book. Its the best there is out there.

For "catching" something - if you fish at Red Dot pier see if you can get the spot just to the right of the High bridge on the pier. The high bridge goes over a small channel. There is also a BIG SPOOL on the pier right where you want to get - right in the corner. Fish with bottom rigs straight out along the side of that channel towards where it intersects the Humble Channel which is about 30 yards out. Humble Channel is the channel the boats are in which comes under the PI Causeway Bridge. Fishing here with fresh dead shrimp on a bottom rig will get you sand trout, croaker, whiting, and other bottom fish. If you want to catch your own small fish for bait get a Sabiki Rig with about size 6 hooks, tip them with shrimp or cut bait and you will catch all of the small piggy and pin perch you will ever need for cut bait. You will catch a few small croaker that way too which can be free lined out for trout and reds.

Once you get into the catching part of fishing and get your confidence up switch to Bob Hall Pier. If you want to catch whiting and other fish including reds and trout (sand and speckled) fish on the left hand side of the pier, but much closer in to the shore than you think. The area you are trying to fish for these fish in is the area between the shore breaking waves and the next set of waves breaking out towards the gulf. This calm(er) water area is known as the First Gut or Wade Gut. You wouldn't think of this place as the likeliest place for fish, but the fish are there eating sand crabs, and bait fish that get caught in this area and disoriented by the waves. My favorite times to fish anywhere in the Corpus area are the 1st two hours of the incoming tide and the last two hours of the outgoing tide. You want to be fishing when the tide is moving. At full high and full low tides the water stops moving and the fish stop eating.

Tides in the Corpus area are also affected by the winds (it never blows in Corpus - Hah). Strong E to SE winds tend to fill the bays up with water and make the tides less apparent. Strong W to NW winds tend to blow the water out of the bays, doing the same, just in reverse of the strong SE winds. Lately there have been very strong SE winds. These winds tend to crud up the water making fishing somewhat more difficult.

Finding a pier that is sheltered from the wind, that has bright lights shining on the water can bring in the Speckled and sand trout to feed under the lights. Free lining Gulp shrimp, live shrimp and/or using the artificial GLOW type shrimp/pogies/shad are the ticket to catching these fish. I like to take one of these glow type artificials and shine my flashlight on them to intensify their glow. Cast them along the edges of the light. The bigger fish stay just outside the light in the edge of the dark and pick off bait that gets too close to the light edge. The dark is like cover for them.

Have Fun. I wish I lived closer to Corpus to fish there more.

[FoldCatOne]

BTW, a fishing charter for learning to fish the surf on Padre island with Capt billy Sandifer is worth all of its cost. If you want to share a charter with Billy Private Message me and I would be more than willing to come down and split the charter cost. I might even bring my wife or a friend along for a 4 person group. I have been trying to get out with Capt Billy for a long time. He will teach you everything you need to catch fish in the surf.