Texas Hotspots Capt. Robert Brooks 361-729-7170 brooksfishingrockport@yahoo.com www.fishingrockport.com TIPS: The croaker retrieve: “Throw the croaker out, reel up the slack out until you feel the weight of the croaker, then more or less let him do his thing. If nothing is hitting him I’ll raise him up real lightly, not just jerk on him, but flip him up and down, try to bring him up off the bottom about a foot or two and then let him swim back down, settle down.”
LOWER GULF COAST
Mangrove Snapper Fit for a Queen by CALIXTO GONZALES and TOM BEHRENS LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Queen Isabella Causeway GPS: N 26 05.000 W 97 11.716 (26.08333, -97.195271) SPECIES: Mangrove snapper BEST BAITS: Live shrimp, live finger mullet. CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Fish in the shade of the Causeway for some chunky (many grow over 12 inches), feisty mangrove snapper. Free line a shrimp next to the pilings for best results. If you are feeling ambitions, flick a live finger mullet in the same area. You never know when a 5 or 6 pound fish might try and yank your rod out of your hands. LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Penascal Point Reef GPS: N 27 15.973 W 97 25.377 (27.266217, -97.42295) SPECIES: Speckled trout BEST BAITS: Skitter Walk topwaters; Saltwater Assassin soft plastics in New Morning or pearl/ chartreuse colors CONTACT: Capt. Brandon Barden 281-636-2675 brandonbarden361@yahoo.com www.baffinprocharters.com TIPS: If the fishing condition includes wind, Barden prefers a loud bait such as the Catch 5 in
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gold and chartreuse. “Throw it out there, twitch it, get that noise going, give them something to find.” LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Kleberg Point Rocks GPS: N 27 16.371 W 97 36.636 (27.27285, -97.6106) SPECIES: Speckled trout BEST BAITS: Skitter Walk topwaters; Saltwater Assassin soft plastics in New Morning or pearl/ chartreuse colors CONTACT: Capt. Brandon Barden 281-636-2675 brandonbarden361@yahoo.com www.baffinprocharters.com TIPS: Look for finger sized mullet flipping across the water. ”Big mullet is not the bait you want to see.” Capt. Brandon Barden LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Spoils GPS: N 27 14.655 W 97 24.843 (27.24425, -97.41405) SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Free lined live croaker or live shrimp under a popping cork CONTACT: Capt. Brandon Barden 281-636-2675 brandonbarden361@yahoo.com www.baffinprocharters.com TIPS: Barden’s popping cork method: “1-2 pops intermittently and then let it sit for 10-15 seconds, pop it once, wait 10-15 seconds, pop it 2 times… repeat the process…a decent pop, but not real hard. If you pop it too hard you are just throwing your bait off.” LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: White Bluff GPS: N 27 14.902 W 97 35.717 (27.248367, -97.595283) SPECIES: Speckled trout BEST BAITS: Free lined live croaker or live shrimp under a popping cork CONTACT: Capt. Brandon Barden 281-636-2675 brandonbarden361@yahoo.com www.baffinprocharters.com TIPS: In July, free lined croaker is going to be the better live bait. LOCATION: Baffin Bay F I S H
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HOTSPOT: Spoil Island of ICW GPS: N 27 15.095 W 97 24.761 (27.251583, -97.412683) SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Smaller Skitter Walks CONTACT: Capt. Brandon Barden 281-636-2675 brandonbarden361@yahoo.com www.baffinprocharters.com TIPS: “’Walk the dog’, with a short pause every now and then, a couple of quick twitches to kind of give it that injured look.” Capt. Brandon Barden. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Mexequita flats GPS: N 26 03.666 W 97 10.613 (26.0611, -97.176883) SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Gold spoons; soft plastics in red and white, cut ballyhoo, live shrimp/popping cork. CONTACT: Captain Carlos Garcia 956-433-8034 TIPS: Redfish roam this broad flat between the old Queen Isabella Causeway and the ICW. Fish the area on high tide (low tide makes this place a parking lot). Gold spoons are the old standby, but a DOA Shrimp or Norton’s Bull Minnow fished under a Cajun Thunder around the potholes is also very effective. Give the cork good jerk, and listen for the “click” when the bait has settled back underneath it before repeating. Live and cut bait are effective if fish are finicky. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Brazos Santiago Pass (bank access via Boca Chica jetties) GPS: N 26 03.934 W 97 09.229 (26.065573, -97.153816) SPECIES: Tarpon BEST BAITS: finger mullet, live pinfish; soft plastics in chartreuse, smoke, Rat-L-Traps in blue/ chrome, black back/gold. CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Tarpon roam close to the end of the jetties, where they hang near the bottom waiting for something tasty to happen by. Most fishermen prefer casting from the head of the hole with a free-lined or lightly weighted bait. They allow the presentation to naturally flow with the current. A large bucktail sweetened with a bait or a noisy crankbait are good choices if the fish are active. A A L M A N A C
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