TillamookChinook
10-13-2005, 01:22 PM
I did manage a couple of half-days for flyfishing while in Corpus Christi last week. My internet research found "wade fishing for redfish and speckled trout" to be an interesting sounding option. I posted on www.teamoso.com (http://www.teamoso.com) (similar to IFish for Corpus area) and hooked up with a local flyfisher who needed an afternoon off work and took me to one spot and showed me another for my solo the next day. The redfish have large scales and a black spot by the tail. The speckled trout looks like a speckled trout (imagine that!). Both are predators and will feed in shallow water on bait fish. Redfish over 30" are caught and they are sometimes found in schools. The real thrill is when the tails of the redfish can be seen when they are feeding in the shallows (kind of like casting to a rising trout).
Our conditions were not ideal. Hurricane Rita missed Corpus, but Hurrican Stan (far away in Central America) pushed a "bull tide" into the Corpus area and raised the tides about a foot. And the wind was blowing about 20 mph. But it was the only time we had available. We fished on the laguna (mainland) side of Padre Island, wading out several hundred yards into a bay so we could cast with the wind as we waded parallel to the shore. We had to hike in nearly a mile because the dirt road was underwater. Even with the "bull tide" the water in the bay was only crotch deep when stepping into a hole, and usually about mid-thigh deep. It was warm enough for comfortable wading in shorts.
My host gave me a "green slider", which is a streamer pattern about 3" long with dumbbell eyes. It was definitely "chuck and duck" with that heavy fly, but I could use the wind to blow the cast sideways and didn't smack myself too often. The technique was to cast and strip, blindly since the wind waves precluded seeing any fish. Oh, and don't forget to shuffle your feet when moving so you don't step on top of a stingray.
After catching a couple of shiner perch I finally hooked into something that was definitely stronger. It was a redfish of about 16" and it fought about like a trout of the same size. A little later I landed a redfish of about 18" which made a couple of runs against the reel. All in all, a successful introduction to wade fishing in Texas.
The next day I went to the other bay my host pointed out to me which did not require a long hike in. My wife came along to look at the Texas shorebirds. I joined up with a gear fisher who was also stepping into the bay there and we fished together. The wind was gone and the water was about 6" lower than the day before. Without the wind, it was much easier to smack myself with the heavy fly. Fortunately, it only bounced off and never stuck in.
In a few minutes, the other guy caught an 18" speckled trout on a spoon. I got a few shiner perch and a 10" redfish, but no real lunkers. I did see two stingrays swimming by about 10' from me.
Some of the local fishers use open kayaks to navigate the bays, either fishing from the kayak or stepping out when they get to the shallows. (The web had pictures of kayak fishers landing giant grouper in Florida.)
It was certainly different from any waters we fish in Oregon (warm and shallow for as far out as you want to wade). I appreciated the local hospitality and promise to "pay it forward" in the future.
TC
Our conditions were not ideal. Hurricane Rita missed Corpus, but Hurrican Stan (far away in Central America) pushed a "bull tide" into the Corpus area and raised the tides about a foot. And the wind was blowing about 20 mph. But it was the only time we had available. We fished on the laguna (mainland) side of Padre Island, wading out several hundred yards into a bay so we could cast with the wind as we waded parallel to the shore. We had to hike in nearly a mile because the dirt road was underwater. Even with the "bull tide" the water in the bay was only crotch deep when stepping into a hole, and usually about mid-thigh deep. It was warm enough for comfortable wading in shorts.
My host gave me a "green slider", which is a streamer pattern about 3" long with dumbbell eyes. It was definitely "chuck and duck" with that heavy fly, but I could use the wind to blow the cast sideways and didn't smack myself too often. The technique was to cast and strip, blindly since the wind waves precluded seeing any fish. Oh, and don't forget to shuffle your feet when moving so you don't step on top of a stingray.
After catching a couple of shiner perch I finally hooked into something that was definitely stronger. It was a redfish of about 16" and it fought about like a trout of the same size. A little later I landed a redfish of about 18" which made a couple of runs against the reel. All in all, a successful introduction to wade fishing in Texas.
The next day I went to the other bay my host pointed out to me which did not require a long hike in. My wife came along to look at the Texas shorebirds. I joined up with a gear fisher who was also stepping into the bay there and we fished together. The wind was gone and the water was about 6" lower than the day before. Without the wind, it was much easier to smack myself with the heavy fly. Fortunately, it only bounced off and never stuck in.
In a few minutes, the other guy caught an 18" speckled trout on a spoon. I got a few shiner perch and a 10" redfish, but no real lunkers. I did see two stingrays swimming by about 10' from me.
Some of the local fishers use open kayaks to navigate the bays, either fishing from the kayak or stepping out when they get to the shallows. (The web had pictures of kayak fishers landing giant grouper in Florida.)
It was certainly different from any waters we fish in Oregon (warm and shallow for as far out as you want to wade). I appreciated the local hospitality and promise to "pay it forward" in the future.
TC