I went down south to Corpus Christi, Texas this past weekend to hang out with the family, relax, and do a little fishing. I had a good time hanging out with some of my family that I don’t get to see very often because they have since moved away from Corpus Christi area but they came into town for the extended weekend. I was also able to pick up a few paintings that my grandfather finished painting for me. As usual I think they turned out great.
Wading the Surf at Surfside (Photo Courtesy of Chris McLeod)
Original Photo by Chris McLeod
Manfield Jetties Sunrise
Original Photo By Me
Pelican Landing
Tailing Redfish and Fleeing Shrimp
I fished two out of the three mornings I was down there with fair to poor success. Not due to opportunities but because I was primarily using the fly rod to sight fish. I have made a concerted effort to become more proficient with the fly rod this year and the learning curve isn’t coming easily but I never expected it to. As with most things you get better with experience and practice, and I believe I’m getting better with buggy whip each passing day.
Conditions throughout my stay in the area were not ideal for what most people consider fly fishing conditions, but I made the best of what Mother Nature threw my way. Both mornings were overcast and the winds were blowing about 15 mph out of the northeast. I was determined to learn to fly fish in windy conditions, so I used the kayak to get to my destination and substituted a pair of wading boots for the kayak as my method of transportation. I also used the wind to my advantage by wading downwind.
The first morning I met up with David and fished a marsh that he’s had some recent success fly fishing. We both started out with conventional tackle throwing topwaters allowing the skies to brighten enough so we could sight fish. We both caught a few reds and trout in the early morning hours on topwaters. When the skies lightened enough allowing us to see tails or fish moving through the water we put up the conventional tackle and broke out the fly rods for the remainder of the day.
The first sight fishing opportunity that arose was a school of tailing redfish that I spotted 50 yds away that was working its way toward us. I pointed out the school to David, but it took him a few moments before he was able to spot the school. I grabbed my camera and we both waded toward the school until David got within casting range and he let it rip. After one misplaced cast that fell several feet to the left of the school his second cast was spot on and one of the fish out of the school charged his bait and took the fly.
Beautiful 11-Spot Redfish
We continued working the area looking for any signs of the school regrouping but they never showed themselves again. We decided to wade back to our kayaks and move to another part of the marsh we were fishing in hopes of spotting some more reds or black drum. One the way back David managed to accidently catch a nice keeper trout only a few feet away from his feet with his fly just dangling from the tip of his rod.
We made our way to the area that David wanted to fish and we went in different directions. In hindsight I took a wrong turn because I covered four times as much water as David did and only saw one black drum to sight cast to. I only caught one ladyfish on the fly while blind-casting. I met back up with David and he had already landed 3 black drum and another small slot redfish that he let go. He had also had a few hookups that came loose and saw many more fish. He had an impressive stringer considering all but one was caught on the fly rod and the lackluster conditions.
The second day I headed out solo in search of more sight fishing opportunities. Conditions were slightly worse than the previous day but again I made the most of the situation by wading. At first I decide to drift down the shoreline while standing in my kayak to use my elevated angle of vision to my advantage to spot fish from further away, but I was drifting way too fast. By the time I would see the fish and stop I would be too close or make too much noise trying to stop and the fish would spook away. I decided to beach the kayak and make a long wade with the wind at my back. I was able to get several shots at fish that were position right next to the shoreline but failed to get any of them to eat. Frustrating day but I can definitely tell that I’m getting better with fly tackle.
On the way back to the launch I managed to lose my fly box that contained my entire saltwater fly collection. I know it’s a long shot but if anyone finds a blue Scientific Anglers fly box (see attached picture below) full of flies (spoon flies, poppers, shrimp patterns, mullets patterns, crab flies, clousers, etc.) floating in the intracoastal waterway (ICW)near Aransas Pass I would really appreciate it back.
