Many thanks to the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce for choosing me as their Partner of the Week last July. It has been a pleasure to have been a member for 10 years and their contribution to our tourism in Port Aransas is no doubt, Great!
An experience on the water with Capt Kenjo is full of useful information about this flora fauna as well as the history this area has to offer.
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Spring is the time to be fly fishing for seasoned black drum and sunshine is NOT required! All along the Texas Coast black drum are moving and feeding, despite fog, rain, wind and bluebird skies. I highly recommend we wade fish for these “siphons of the flats” to be most effective in catching as many as possible and to keep from displacing the school of drum from their own dining areas.
While sunshine is not required to sight fish for black drum, and even redfish, one thing that helps a fly angler most on the Texas Coast is having a clean, quiet and straight cast paired with a smooth retrieve of the fly. If you can make the drum chase your fly you can get them to eat it. Game on! Fish ON!
There are still a few dates available next week for fly fishing trips in Port A! So if you want to fly fish the Texas saltwater marsh on foot for seasoned black drum, sunshine is not required! Simply book online or give me a call asap to get some black drum in your hands despite the weatherman being such a sour-puss.
Call Capt Kenjo immediately at 361-500-2552 or reserve online at your convenience with the button below!
If you care to harvest some drum, you can prepare your seasoned drum blackened style it like Emeril.
I will be Fly Fishing Texas Forever… It is January and water temps are 50F. Chums has commissioned us to endure filming during a frigid Texas Winter. The water is muddy but that is just from how many redfish are stirring it up. The calm morning is welcome with full sun but strong wind gusts kick up before noon. Tides are so low that TxDOT wouldn’t let us on the ferry with the skiff… This is what fly fishing the Texas coast in Winter can deliver. This is why. We fished in 3 locations and filmed in 4 locations over 2 very long days. Was it worth all the numb hands, noses and toes? Was it worth the physical pain and psychological angst to bring this all together? You bet your ass it was!
The camaraderie of guiding great sportsmen and anglers is what makes it all priceless to me. That is how and why this film was named “Texas Forever“. Thank you Chums for seeing my passion and choosing me to share it through your products which are also just as passionate.
Its not about the money. God knows fly fishing guides don’t make enough of that for a vacation. Do what you love. Period. Nothing else matters. We live in our own version of paradise already, working our asses off to help you reach your fly fishing goals. Our true reward is the smile on your faces, the aura of relaxation as you finally catch your first sight-cast redfish. Helping you achieve your personal best, or your first, “on the fly”. That is where a fly fishing guides sense of accomplishment stems from. Its not about getting rich. It is about helping people see the true beauty and art of nature through the many fly fishing challenges of the saltwater environment. Fly Fishing Texas Forever is for me and for you too if you want it bad enough. Creating success in the face of constant adversity.
There are many hardships an angler must endure in fly fishing the Texas Coast. Wind is probably the most prevalent. That will require skill and determination. Extreme temps of the water and air are also a big swing between winter and summer patterns. You would be surprised though how much you can observe and how many fish you can see even under poor visibility and cloudy conditions. You just have to know how to observe and not just look.
Additionally, any fly fishing angler on the Texas Coast worth his weight in salt has learned how to overcome the difficult casts required when it is windy, and the super stealthy casts demanded by intelligent redfish when it is dead calm. Overcast skies present another sight challenge. Fishing through all of these ever changing conditions will certainly make you become a better angler and fly fisherman. Many have said after sight casting the Texas Coast on the fly, that if you can do it here successfully, you can fly fish just about anywhere.
The Texas Summer has been hot that is for sure. Water temperatures were a bit above average this year. But lately the weather has helped it begin to drop. The fishing has been hot as well! The black drum and redfish have been plentiful and in schools, tailing most times and eating flies for just about everyone! The action in September should continue to increase, with larger than average fish showing up soon!
When Mark and his son Joe got on a butt-load of hefty black drum, they took advantage of the pirate’s bounty on their half-day trip with their new fly rods. Needless to say, that gear is now well-christened, salty, and feeling lucky. Shouldn’t we all feel lucky to have and keep such a grand and diverse fishery in our backyards!?!?!? Its worthwhile to slow down. Try turning off the engine for more than 30 minutes. Let the fish be the ones to break your silence.
Gail got to play with her first ever Texas Redfish on the fly and was in wonder at the magnificence of such an amazing aquatic creature. Even with partly cloudy skies and hurricane tides the fish gave them a good show too!
Corbin’s casting skills paid off on a multi-day trip. His relentlessness helped him catch multiple species of fish during a tough few days. Everything seemed to disappear and transition out of the shallows when he arrived but it didnt stop us from having a great time. He’s one hell of a skiff-mate and rode the horse like nobody’s business! Bombing casts to the end of his fly line helped alot. We had also gotten to sight cast to some spectacularly sized trout. Trophies by anyone’s standard. Others got good looks but that lucky angler has yet to break the 25 inch mark. Hooking a big sighted trout is the hardest part. Could this be you? Can you keep your cool when that big ‘ole gator trout appears out of nowhere? Lets give it a try and see what happens!
Get on board this Texas Skiff and wander about the middle coast to take your shots in a target-rich environment for Redfish, Black drum and Speckled Trout. You never know if and when we will get those perfect seas when we can sneak out front of the jetties and fish the surf zone for tarpon, jacks, bonita or more!!!
Oftentimes, I get asked, “What tides are best? What are your favorite water temps? What is your favorite time of year to fish?” And I always tell them, “Right NOW!” (they’re usually already on the boat with me) and that is true for several reasons. Now is your time to fish, Now is the time you have put aside to do some fly fishing, and NOW is where we are, doing what we are doing! The best time to go fishing is when you have given yourself the time… Why not learn something new about how to find and catch fish during whatever time and weather conditions you get for the day? Why not learn how to cast better? Why not learn some trick casts for catching those more “difficult” fish? Why not enjoy the moment and the experience and the serenity that you are really looking for? And conversely, Why do most people want that “film tour” type of day and only book if you promise them the stairway to heaven, mecca?
Hell, I have been fly fishing personally for 26 years exclusively and guiding many fine people for 10 years in saltwater. Even still, I too dream of those “cherry days” when the fish just hook up on every cast or those days when you get multiple shots (or even one shot) at a trophy or “personal best” fish. You know how every single awesome fishing story starts with, “You should have been here yesterday”… but I always have thought to myself and tell everyone, “Yesterday could be your tomorrow and you better be there [tomorrow]!!!” How many times is the weatherman wrong? What do they know about fishing anyways?
While I guide folks in all sorts of environment variables with all levels of skill and abilities, as your guide I certainly work my butt off starting early and/or finishing late just trying to use what assets you brought to the boat so I can show you the fish you want to hunt and if Lady Luck is on our side and you can keep Murphy from jumping on your back, then we will get to play hooky with some of the coolest fish the Texas Coast has to offer.
Our water temps are just now getting into the PRIME RANGE, and while the onset of the next cold front might chill the water a bit the fish still have to eat. The bluebird skies forecast after this next front are looking fabulous and consecutive. Massive amounts of redfish, trout, drum and sheepshead are going to blitz the shallows all thru next week. Give me a call direct or book anything online using the button below! I look forward to exercising your fly fishing skills and stretching you to be the best you can be for the day with me. Certainly, I will do everything humanly possibly to get you the “fish of your life”! Every cast counts, every opportunity can be seized even in tough conditions unless you stay on the couch watching the weather all pissed off because it was foggy or windy or cloudy.
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.
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.
…Jacks attack. In Wolfe Packs. And they’re HAULING ASS! With Port Aransas behind them and Aransas Pass on their right, the Pack of jacks keep moving with their fins exposed on the surface of the water…
Teamwork Wins
“HOLD ON!!!” The water is frothy from the giant group of marauding jack crevelle but their presence is still overshadowing by the howling winds, open bay and huge whitecaps.
As we approach at charging speeds you begin to think… Can we get that fly in the water fast enough? Can I keep the line tight to make the oversized foam head POP!?!?!?!? Yes!?!? NO!!!! Wait a second… “FISH ON!!!!!”
In this short moment of the feed and hookup, serious thoughts parse our minds of everyday mundane worries and we think clearly, knowing the answers, yet still so much unknown… Confident yet humble…
The Angler wonders silently while being sprayed by the massive thrashing beast in the water… “Will the leader chaffe? What test is it? “Wait, What hook are we using?” So many things can go wrong in a split second its not funny, except it is, considering all that we try to do, sometimes 1 star may not be in alignment and the leader breaks, or the hook straightens… Or the hook pulls through flesh, sometimes the fish’s, sometimes ours.
After 2 blistering runs over a quarter mile of chase, the hefty jack crevelle succumbs to tension and decides to hang under the boat into a strong current, heading upwind towards Corpus Christi Bay… For 15 minutes… “Steady now, keep pressure!” You hear the captain speak calmly… Thats it, she dont like the boat but we’re gonna land this one guys!
Jack on Deck
Two wraps on the leader and Chris knows he’s got 8ft to go and with a nearly 4ft Jack at the other end it is only a matter of reaching for the tail in depths unknown and feel for contact… “You got it NOW, PULL!!!!! HAUL that fish into the cockpit! ” Yee-haw’s and Ooooh-OUI’s are exchanged. Hugs are generously given to and from everyone on the boat, just as the fish gave to you in your experience. Revive it, let it go, and the hunt can resume.
Call Captain Kenjo for prime dates and availability. June has a few dates open and July as well. Get on board NOW 361-500-2552 or email: ken@kenjofly.com
Spring-time weather varies and one thing is certain, the wind blows. And then, once every few weeks, she tuckers out and lays down, which is what should happen MON-FRI next week. The forecast is looking AWESOME for sure, so call NOW to book your weekday of sight casting fish under bluebird skies and with feeding fish as far as you can see! 361-500-2552
Wet wading wide open spaces
For the last few weeks, the fishing has been exceptional, despite raging winds and overcast skies. We adapt our techniques and application of fly gear depending on the weather and it has certainly produced some fine fish (see pics below)!
Redfish have been in such shallow water they cant keep their backs wet… I guess they are putting on their summer suntans early!
Keep’em wet
Regardless of tides we are finding fish in very diversified locales which keeps the hunt extremely interesting!
Lawrence personal best trout!
Big healthy sea trout have been plentiful and are hold eggs for their spawn. Please keep’em wet and let them go so they can make BABIES!
Flounder Pounder
When going low and slow, flounder have also been coming to hand as surprise catches for the patient sportsmen!
Bonus fish have been oversized redfish in deeper holes (many thanks to Mark and Wolfe for insisting that I cast 60ft into a 35kt headwind) I owe ya’ll big-time for this fish!!!
Bull Redfish Release
AGAIN, the weather next week is forecast to be exceptional, and I expect the fishing to be eye-opening! CALL NOW to reserve your dates for next week!
Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552
Texas redfish on Fly
Redhot redfish action today and non-stop for several hours! Landed 3 bonus keeper trout to boot!
Matchin the hatch meant alot though! The redfish were popping and crushing baitfish and throwing wakes coming up onto the edge then circling back around for their next ambush but if you werent imitating the prey they were after they wouldn’t respond positively at all. It didnt take long to realize what they were eating and it was pretty cool to see the red drum thrashing themselves into the grass to annihilate their prey and see baitfish spraying in all directions while a red drum cartwheeled in a sloppy attempt to turn around and get back in the water!
Dont miss out on another weather window! The forecast looks solid through the rest of the week/end and there is plenty of room on the flats these days! Give me a call to get on board and experience some aggressive spring run saltwater fly fishing in Port Aransas Texas!
There are loads of jacks in the bay too and we will be checking prime locations routinely between redfish flats / The 11wt is rigged and on the boat ready to do battle!
Back on’em tomorrow! CALL ASAP! 361-500-2552
Capt Kenjo
27 inch redfish
During this past few weeks of charters we have experienced some awesome fishing and some of the best personal trout fishing to date. Those who know me know that I don’t intentionally target trout, but as the schools of large redfish moved in and out of the honey hole from one day to the next and the clouds covered our sunshine every other day, it seemed as though the healthy and good sized speckled trout replaced the reds on the cloudy days.
“OMG! This is the warmest fish I have ever held in my hands!” Pac Norwesterner Justin exclaimed!
We got many of them on top water flies, which is most fun, but we also caught them on suspending and sinking flies when the bite wasn’t on top…
Texas seatrout on sinking flies
The seasons are a changing and this has the fish transitioning from some areas into others. Went back to some of my early stomping grounds where I cut my teeth poling a skiff and there are some upper slot fish in that neighborhood!
Lettin her rest after a fun fight!
There are plenty of dates available in March.
Give me a call ASAP to book your trip and get on some exciting Spring Time redfish and trout action on the fly! Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552