Fish On!!! Woop woop! Matthew got on’em back in May, even in the wind and clouds we were not discouraged! The fish were hungry then and the tailing schools of Texas Redfish are plentiful right now! August is seeing loads of tailing redfish on the flats, if you can float the flat! Let’s go get’em!
Winter doesn’t really settle into the Texas Coast until around February. But Tom from Colorado knows all too well that he can come down to Port Aransas for some great fly fishing action during the winter low tides.
We had multiple schools of cruising redfish to chase for hours. They were swimming in formation, evenly spaced like fighter jets. Tom connected with several quality redfish in the marsh. Managing to set his own personal best redfish record on the fly twice was icing on the cake.
Kissing a fish makes a lot of people feel disgusted, but every true fly fishing angler with good sportsmanship knows that kissing the fish before letting it go brings good karma!
Some also say that a fish with a big tail shows great potential in their DNA, somewhat like a child growing big feet early on in life… Do you ever wonder though where the blue sheen in a redfish’s tail comes from?
Additionally, with the winter low tides, April and May are already showing great promise with loads of baitfish moving into the bays and marsh areas to feed, and the redfish, trout and drum and feeding on them heartily as we breathe. Get on your calendars folks and book a fly fishing trip in Port Aransas with Capt Kenjo! The jack crevelle are right around the corner and hungry to put on the feed bags for ya’ll!!!
Its baseball season! Both my wonderful children are in Little League too! Grand Slams are rare in Little League baseball and the grand slam consists of 4 runs batted in. And while baseball is my favorite sport of all, fly fishing by sight is my absolute favorite method of fishing! To catch a True Texas Grand Slam (4 species, not 3) fly fishing saltwater, it is a very cherished moment!
Additionally, Evan came down from the mountains of Colorado recently for his first fly fishing trip in the saltwater. Little did we know that the super duper low tides would set us up. For him to catch a true Texas grand slam. Four species are needed (in my book) before an angler can claim he caught a grand slam. And Evan did just that! We caught top slot redfish, several black drum, couple speckled trout and a bonus flounder (while casting to redfish).
However, congratulations to Evan with his catches that day! And Hooray for completing a True Texas Grand Slam on your first saltwater trip! Let’s get back out there again soon! I’d like to see if we can get into some jack crevelle and other species! This is a great year to rack up the list even more! Kudos, my friend!
Finally, dates in April & May are available! The redfish are schooling up in tailing pods keeping every angler super satisfied fly fishing Port Aransas Texas. Additionally, each day we will be spending a little time searching for jack crevelle in the bay.
The red fishing in Port O’ Connor Texas can be amazing and on this day it was unbelievable. So many fish were caught that we lost count before noon, and the afternoon saw even better action from countless schools of tailing and podding Texas redfish. Fly fishing redfish in POC can be special and Capt Kenjo is here to take you sight-fishing on fly!
If you have ever wanted to get into saltwater fly fishing, now is a great time, and the year 2025 is expected to be a great boost in populations due to the fairly wet winter we are experiencing. The rain is beneficial to the ecosystem.
If you are a seasoned saltwater sight-fishing fly angler, then now is the perfect time to hire a guide! Capt Kenjo guides in Port Aransas, Rockport, Corpus Christi, Port O’ Connor and the Upper Laguna.
You can fish any of these destinations with Capt Ken. It is certain we will get in front of as many fish that you can see!
BOOK NOW!!! Or call direct: 361-500-2552
Absolutely love fishing with George (and Susie) on the Texas Coast out of Port Aransas. We had to use my @smithoptics Ignitor lenses due to the skies and the extreme tides from the last Super Blue Moon redfish coupled with the remnant storm surge from Hurricane Milton, but we found ourselves floating over cow paddies and in the cactus in search of hungry red drum.
This redfish, though!?!?! Man! George can tell ya! We spotted it 200 feet away when it was belly crawling over the succulents with its back out of the water. This redfish was whopping its next meal just as the Super Blue Moon was in its major solunar period. Just as we got within range, it came to rest in a 3ft diameter sand hole laid up on the closest edge facing the thick veggies. George’s second shot landed midship on the fish, and in an instant, it backed up turned and crushed the fly!!! The next thing we know, it barreled under the roughage grass, just trying to break us off, but the @trouthuntertippet 03x BIG Game tippet proved worth every penny as the redfish peeled line and beached itself on top of the succulents. Quickly, I tore off my tennis shoes and ran after the fish with the net to land it.
And that folks, was the catch of the day, week, and most spectacular of the month, maybe! Book Now for your shot in November!
The cold fronts are coming (this week in fact), and that will turn them on even more and encourage the tides to really shape up! Dates in November are open, so get booked with KenjoFly Fishing Charters, Port Aransas Texas ASAP!!!
Walter caught redfish and black drum on the fly. He did better than Hodgie. Book Now with Capt Kenjo. 361-500-2552 Port Aransas Texas
Not everyone catches their first Texas redfish on the fly, but we did catch a poor man’s tarpon (a.k.a. ladyfish) while working on casting skills! Nonetheless, we got shots at backing redfish in the thick matted grass beds. We also found some floating redfish. And with these fish you have to get the fly in front of them ASAP before the sink back down out of sight! It was an amazing day where these Gents were able to learn a lot of new skills and adapt quickly.
There was this pod of about 20 tailing redfish, which we only thought to be less than 5 fish, but when they flushed from the cast we could easily see about two dozen reds.
Congrats to Jonny and Andrew for enduring the heat and learning their cast so fast. Their willingness to return this fall to give it another go is awesome! See ya soon, fellas! Kudos to you for taking that first saltwater leap of faith! The sky is the new limit! Soon enough though we will get Jonny and Andrew their First Texas Redfish on the fly!
Fly Rod: TFO Mangrove Coast 7wt | Reel (put your investment here for longevity): Hatch Iconic 5wt or 7wt | Fly Lines (for finesse and distance): Airflo Fly Lines: Flats Technical Taper (formerly known as the Bonefish Taper, in 7wt size). This recommended gear is intended for year round use in most all situations. It is preferred for its close and long range accuracy, as well as for its stealth. The Gulf Coast fly Line is very good for applications where the fish are eating larger flies or when you can hit the fish on the head and they still still eat instead of spooking.
Practicing your casts with this equipment can certainly help you get better shots at your first Texas redfish on the fly.
Get it ASAP, and lets go fly fishing!
Army Corps Green Lights 80 Foot Dredge:The public received notice last week that the Army Corps green lights 80 foot dredge. The Corps of Engineers has authorized the Port of Corpus Christi to dredge the Aransas Ship Channel to 80 feet and out into the Gulf of Mexico for 10 miles. This includes moving 47 Million cubic yards of material out of the channel and Gulf and onto Port Aransas beaches and other local spoil areas. [LINK] Thoughts from Capt Kenjo (full-time Port A resident since 2012): What does this mean for you as a visitor or resident to Port Aransas beaches and bays? As a recreational fisherman, pro guide, nearby and newly established fly fishing lodge and outfitter in Rockport or Corpus Christi??? It means a lot if you don’t want to swim or go fishing in a mud puddle. It means shitloads of sediment laden salt water, too dirty for marine life to survive long, and too sediment stricken to want to breathe it in. It also means water so stirred up it looks like chocolate milk. Additionally, it means that our beautiful clear water that is usually excellent for sight-fishing, will become horrible water for sight fishing. That industrial impact will also continue for the next 15-20 years. If you were around during the 5-6 years of dredging from the 45′ to the 54′ mark after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, you already know that it made the waters surrounding Port Aransas, Corpus, Rockport, Aransas Pass, and all of its bays and channels, very dirty and extremely difficult to sight-fish. We managed but the fishing was though then even though the fisheries populations hadn’t declined just yet. That was also about the same time that the jack crevelle fishing in the bay pretty much ended. Please also know that Rockport or Corpus Christi and the Laguna Madre will too be affected by this long-term dredging! Additionally, if you do some simple math, it took the Port of CC approximately 5 years to deepen the Corpus Ship Channel only 9ft, and therefore, dredging it an additional 26 feet will take much much longer. This is long enough for all of the seagrass in the State Protected area of Redfish Bay to be totally dead because the suspended (dredge) particles will prevent photosynthesis from occurring, which is necessary for the seagrasses to grow, which is also essential habitat for the food sources of our precious gamefish species such as Speckled Trout, Redfish as well as flounder, black drum, sheepshead etc.. Imagine this then: Think of the numbers of bay, bait, and fly guides as well as recreational fisherman and pleasure boaters that it would displace. Now imagine those same numbers showing up to work, fish, and recreate in Baffin Bay, the upper Laguna Madre, Port O’Connor, Seadrift, Mesquite Bays, Copano, so forth and so on. Now how is that going to effect your own “locally hallowed waters”? Are those of you on the fringes of all this damage going to happily accept the multitudes of displaced fisherman searching for cleaner water? Continued notes from PAC: The EIS and the entire Permit is flawed, as the Port staff and Commission have publicly said they have no plans to build a VLCC Oil Export Terminal on Harbor Island, which is the purpose of the 80 ft. dredge. The fact that the Oil Terminal was not part of this EIS defies federal law and common sense. The Port has indicated that they will temporarily shelve this Permit and pull it out in the future when they dream up a new Purpose. If you say “Beneficial Use” over and over as the Port advertises, does the other damaging effects of deep dredge get ignored? The Permit is a boondoggle and a slap in the face to Port Aransas and its many visitors from across the country. Port Aransas Conservancy will be meeting with its attorneys to explore its legal options. James King |
Port Aransas Conservancy
Please DonatePAC’s team of attorneys is heavily engaged with both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contesting PCCA’s various (nefarious?) plans for Harbor Island. This is crunch time. We have an outstanding legal team but they do need to get paid–and it’s gotten very expensive. Please click HERE to make a donation, no matter how small (large is OK too). We really could use the help. |
The current Texas state fly record for tripletail was caught only a few years ago, offshore in 2023. And, as luck would have it this summer, we almost literally ran over this fine specimen of a Tripletail in Aransas Bay as we cruised around the open bay in search of any fair game. This tripletail that Randy caught was 25.75 inches, the biggest I have observed in the waters surrounding Port Aransas & Rockport area.
Massive Tripletail caught in waters of Port Aransas, Texas
Congrats to the fine anglers that week who expertly caught this fish on its 6th cast while dodging the doublewide triple deep barge/tug with me!
This surprise tripletail measured 25.75 inches and was released.
Once we had hooked this fish, we were being approached by a barge/tugboat in the channel, so we had to move ourselves out of their way quickly with the engine to avoid collision with the barge. Using the engine to idle us out of the channel, we played the tripletail deep in to the backing. Praying that the massive fish and line did not get chopped up under the tug boat Randy played the fish keenly, bringing it boat-side to be photographed, and subsequently, released alive. I was so happy my guests agreed to release this extremely large specimen!
Who knows what Texas State Fly Record we might encounter next? If you are interested in fly fishing the Rockport, Port Aransas, or Corpus Christi areas, give Capt Kenjo a call to book a trip! Or simply Book Online Now!
Ladies and Gents! To any and all with whom I haven’t spoken in a while, I want to wish you all a Happy New Years, Merry Christmas and HappyThanksgiving! I pray that all has been well with you and yours! It has been quite some time having posted anything so it is certainly time to give everyone a Captains Annual Fishing Update!
The fishing during the fall run of 2023 was pretty great. There were plenty of days to struggle finding fish, but there were quite a few days when we were astonished at having seen so many in one place. The key was finding the niche places that the numbers tend to hold this time of year. Not as many places held decent populations of fish but we pressed on each time, locating fish, getting shots and making catches. That’s just the name of the game in sight fishing with a fly in the salt..
Some of you are aware that I have been planning to take some time off from guiding in order to have some surgeries. Unfortunately these plans have now changed no thanks to some failed handshakes in the healthcare industry. So, back to square 1 in regards to starting this process all over again. If any of you readers have a great spine surgeon referral in Texas please don’t hesitate to share!
As this news goes, the most excellent news is that I get to keep guiding this year! Or at least until I can find another surgeon. Spring is approaching fast. But don’t forget! The captains annual fishing update says, “We are not done with our winter fishing yet!” Next week forecast looks rained out but the last few days of January forecast can been great! And February still has promise too! What is certain right now is that the fish are hungry after this cold front and if we can get out there to hunt them, we will have a good chance trying to feed them if we can adapt!
We all now how it goes, we wake up one morning with no plans to go fishing, look outside, see the blue skies with no wind and say, “Dang it! I should have gone fishing today!” Well, stop right there and give me a call at 7am if you want to hop on the boat for last minute trips typically starting at 9am this time of year! Half day trips are $600 this year. Please note: Payment in full is required for last minute trips and for late night calls! -Capt Kenjo 361-500-2552
