Corpusfishing.com

[Bent]

First, Happy New Year to all.

I would like to hear your thoughts on what happened in 2018 to make this year a poor one for the ULM.
Our trout fishing was poor all year long, the flounder and red run was super weak and duck season in the area has been a flop.

Did we over fish it? Did the hurricane and flooding this year hurt us that bad?
Is TP&W going to have to change regulations to help us out of this hole?

Thoughts?

[ziacatcher]

I have to respectfully disagree with you on the trout. As far as the red run I haven't seen that this year like in the past and the Ducks are definitely low. I remember driving around in a boat and being in a tunnel of ducks flying around and now there's just a small flock here and there in my area

[Shalor]

I usually fish further south than Zia, but 2018 was bad for me. 2017 Was pretty darn good...no answers as to what happen, but there sure are a lot of people out there taking a lot of fish. Four years after the five trout limit change and with good rain the last several years, I really thought things would be a lot better. Hoping for better things in 2019

[hickroots07]

[Central Scrutinizer]

[Johninaustin]

Did very well on trout this year, better than most years. Esp surf trout. Keeper reds were really scarce. Did not catch a single flounder or mangrove.

Offshore really sucked this year, mostly because the weather on my days off made trips really unpleasant or flat out impossible. Four times I dragged the boat down only to find 6' or worse seas outside the jetties.

[Salt On the Brain]

I will throw my vote in with the guys who mentioned weather.
I got invited to brutalize the endangered red snapper three times this year.
Those happened to be the days I planned on chasing trout in the surf.
Weather and work always conspired against me and I do not remember getting to fish a single decent day this year.
I slayed them last year, though.
Oh, and I bought a boat which only breaks down on weekends and after 5pm and when the weather is nice.
I did well yesterday in the ULM, as usual.
Weird winds, tides, rain, and weather have made me have to learn new tricks every trip, though.
Wind, moon, tide, etc., all say one thing and when you get out there the tide is still rising several hours after it should have turned, or it is still higher or lower than expected and I have to wing it.
You might try evolving a little more quickly.
That Tyson quote comes to mind.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Just get out there and find the fish and figure out what they want.
Do all your honey dos early and plan on staying out a little longer.
You will learn a lot more paying dues than reeling in fish.
_________________
Take it outside!

[reallifetexan]

Despite not getting to fish as much in 2018 as in prior years (a true tragedy of epic proportions, I might add), we did really well in 2018. Things were definitely different - our normal, go-to holes were either inconsistent at best or didn't produce at all. We had to seek out new areas and ended up finding some good ones that really paid off in good catches. This applies to both trout and redfish, although we never seemed to catch both at the same time - it was either all trout, or all redfish/drum. Of the small amount of time we fished, we also had plenty of days getting skunked, so not trying to say we're experts or even know what we're doing most of the time, but it was, overall, a good year for us.

One more note - the fish we caught in 2018 seemed to be, on average, well fed. I caught more large trout in 2018 than I can ever remember. We just got some nice redfish over the Christmas break, and it was obvious they hadn't missed many meals in a long time - they were truly fat. This isn't a scientifically relevant observation, just an opinion.

Can't wait to see what fishing drama 2019 has in store for us all...

[lifeaquatic]

I'm thinking its not so much of a lack of fish, rather a conditions thing. 2018 felt to me as having more periods of high water and those periods lasting longer. Combine that with clear water and expanding grass and rain and lots of bait there should be plenty of well fed scattered fish not very interested. That's just me optimistically speculating.

It does seem as summer winds down every year it gets to slim pickins for quality fish as the croaker season winds down. I read somewhere (think it was related to setting limits) where it was mentioned how small the Laguna fishery actually is compared to the upper coast because it doesn't have all the bayous and the related estuary complex. That caught my attention.
_________________
kick your shoes off and cast a line

[bd0202]

My totally uneducated guess and worthless two cents...

I believe Harvey probably did some serious unseen (underwater) re-shaping to a lot of places other than the Packery and Port A jetties that may or may not have affected fish populations in general. Not being a biologist, I don't know how well our more common species are able to adapt and evolve to sudden, abrupt changes to formerly familiar territory to them. Maybe it just takes a while for fish populations to recover from hurricanes, just like it does for humans and other animals on land.

Now, for my more probable part of the theory: This year we saw a hell of a lot more rainfall than we did in the last few years not associated with hurricane and tropical storm remnants. Add to that most of said rainfall came all at one time - one week-long downpour in May and another two-week long downpour in October/November. Then, after both of those flood events, we continued to get enough rain off and on to prevent hardly any drying on land or in the rivers. In fact, before I went on medical leave last month, there was still standing water in several places on our land from the October/November event and the additions thereafter (which I bet is still there when I return next week). If this amount of rainfall can affect land in the way it did, I am 99% certain (again, not a biologist, meteorologist, or anything-ologist) that it would have a long-lasting effect in our waters as well (particularly with salinity). Saltwater fish don't want to try and survive in what is mostly freshwater I would bet, so they just aren't around as much. As for the ducks, I can't speak for them. I am not a big hunter so I don't really know their behavior - but it would seem the conditions we experienced towards the end of last year would have been more favorable just from what I've read about them.

All that being said, I'm nowhere near as good as some of you but 2018 was a decent fishing year for me. I caught some nice fish last year (especially in the surf) when I was able to dodge the crazy weather, and I'm not too disappointed at all. I even got to experience my first true shark frenzy (and the resulting loss of $$$ tackle). And speaking of the redfish run, it may not have been noted by all, but I sure noticed a major spike in reports in the September/October time frame on here and everywhere that sure sounded like the usual redfish run to me. I believe there was some minor concerns of "The Unspeakable" towards the end of that run that may have curtailed it some, but I'm pretty certain just from reading and hearing reports from friends that the redfish run DID happen. Also, sounds like trout and flounder both have been steadily picking up since last month. Give it a few more weeks, we may be trout central! (I caught a few dinks just two days ago.)

Anyway, all that aside, I look forward to what 2019 has in store and was glad to be out fishing on the first day of the year (even if it was bone-chilling cold).
_________________
All things will pass. Have a Blessed day.

[BayFly]

Well, for one who did not fish at all during 2018, I can't determine from these reports if I missed anything or not. May everyone, including me have a better fishing experience in 2019.

[bulldog1935]

I think the biggest factor this year in fishing has been the overabundance of fall rain and freshwater coming into the bays.
Didn't make a problem for us chasing redfish, but was a factor as far down as LLM for the spec population.
People fishing Matagorda had good reports all year into the winter.
A S. Padre resident on TKF has really been getting big specs this winter fishing close to the drops there.

[Shalor]

From what I understand from biologist, freshwater is generally a very good thing for the Laguna Madre and Baffin. ULM/Baffin has such little fresh water in flow that if anything it gets too salty for trout to have a good spawn at times. I think all this fresh water may have temporarily hurt fishing but overall is a very good thing. Now I do think it got to fresh in places like Nueces Bay for periods of time, for trout to like it. But I think overall it will be good for all of these places. Did it get fresh enough for some oysters to die North of corpus in the Coastal bend area, unsure. I unfortunately think the pressure on the Laguna and Baffin and continues to grow, and we all have to work to help preserve this great resource. Starting my 2019 trout survey next Saturday to Wednesday. Hoping for better results.

[CaptPatrick]

Looking back in my book the obvious change occurred in April. Not only did it rain significantly it got cold with repeated hard north winds three weeks in a row. Before that there where many days with good catches of trout reds and of course drum. After that it was apparent that there has been some successful trout spawn. But by August it got hot enough to deplete oxygen levels. Saw enough dead shad and perch I was convinced. All of which are uncomfortable living conditions. When all was right there where very good trout days. When it wasn't there is always drum. With as many growing dinks out there
I think this year will have high catch rares . With big ones showing around the full moons.
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Adrift on the Mother Lagoon

[Jettybandit]