Corpus Christi area

[FishingCoach]

I'm pretty new to the area. Where are the good winter fishing locations.
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[JimF]

Coach:

The answer to your question depends on whether you plan to fish salt or freshwater.

Email me at the address below and I'll give you some suggestions on the freshwater opportunities nearest you.

JF - [url "mailto:jimfiles@moment.net"]jimfiles@moment.net[/url]
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[ssor]

The C C area is one of my favorite fishing grounds for Saltwater shore fishing. There are so many great places to go it is hard to direct you with out knowing what type of fishing you want to do. There is wadeing in The LagonaMadre, Surffishing on Padre and Mustang Island, rock jetty fishing along verious sections of the shipchannel and fishing on public piers all over the place for some great day or night pier fishing. There are also some great private piers available all in the area. Give me an idea of what you want to catch and I will send you to one of the best spots in the Area. There might be better spots but what I will send you to will be a spot that I personaly have fished and had great results. Jim is a great guide and will give some great advice on the freshwater fishing in the area and just ask me for a saltwater fishing outting that will stay in your scraptbook of great adventures.
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[FishingCoach]

Since i've been here I have gone surf fishing, pier fishing, wade fishing, night fishing, boat fishing etc.... I have only been skunked twice. Once at Lake CC and once at Packery Channel.

Wife say's dinner is ready...I'll try to finish a complete thought later!
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[FishingCoach]

I'm back.
I have found a couple saltwater fishing holes that have treated me well. My first and biggest Redfish was a 43 3/4" lunker on a rod I was using to catch bait (6 lb test), the next biggest is a 27 1/2" fish I caught last weekend. The big specks have eluded me. I think it's because I can't keep the sand trout off my line.

I'd like like to try my hand at shark fishing...I had a close encounter last weekend! I'm not flying this weekend so I'm going to go give it hell. I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance!
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[ssor]

I am glad you located some nice locations. I have to agree that the sand trout can be a problem as they will even hit an empty hook if it is tossed at them at the right time and place. The best area I have found is the flats between Ingleside and Aransaspass at the north end of CC bay. It is only accessable by small boat. I have landed and seen landed some great lunkers in the area. My best catch was to toss my bait ( live peekie pearch) right infront of a school of small bait fish as they pass by. Just after they pass, be ready to set your hook as a biglunker is always in persute of the schools in the flats.
As the water worms the sand trout will head out to the gulfside of Padre and you will have better luck trying to land a keeper speck. Find the wormest waters in the bay and that is where you will find the bigger specks.
As for shark I recomend you give BobHall pier out on Padre Island a try as some nice shark come of the end of that pier on a regular basis. My best shark came off of BobHall about 18 years ago. It was a 6'3" hammerhead that weighed in at 127lb. I got to worn you that you better be in good shape if you hook into one like that as it will take hours to get it wore down enough to safely work it down the pier to shore without it using the pier pileons to break your line and swim away. I spent almost 5 hours bringing in that one and it was some of the best eating I ever had. If I remember correctly I used a dead trout around 2lb as my bait that day.
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[ssor]

I hope your weekend was a good one on the water.
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[FishingCoach]

The last two weekends were pretty good for me. I've been wade fishing. Two weeks ago I decided to keep a 27.5" Red and I had a close call with a shark. I was fishing off Padre and had the fish (and bait) on a cable/float. I saw something huge 4-5" out in front of me so I reeled in to put on fresh bait. I casted infront of it...about 12" away and tighteded the line waiting for the hit. It continued to swim away. As it swam up into a shallower area I saw about a 1 foot section of it's back. It was brown and it's dorsal had a black tip. I was in water just above the family jewels. I decided to call it a day!!! Is it common to see sharks in the intracoastal and what's the best way to target them?
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[ssor]

Yes the sharks are there but not to worry as they are sunning and not feeding in the shallow waters. I have tryed for years to get one to take the hook but no luck. I have tryed just about everything. The only way I think to land one in the shallow waters is to gaff or snag them. Blacktips are what you will see most along with the small sand shark in the shallows.I have seen Hammerhead around piers along the channel. My mother helped me host a BFT tournament down in Port Aransas a couple years back. She watched a large Hammer swim under the Brundet pier in PortA and was almost in shock. It looked to be at least 7-8 foot in length.It seemed to only explore as many tryed to get it to take some bait for about 30 min till it just swam away headed back to the gulf.
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