Coastal Bend Fishing flourishes no matter what season

As summer heats up, flounder, trout and red drum can be snagged almost anywhere

  It's difficult to pin anglers down to a favorite time of year. That's particularly true in the Coastal Bend, where, to borrow a slogan from Port Aransas, "They bite every day."

  The fish might not bite for you every day. But somewhere between San Antonio and Baffin bays, fish are being caught at any given time, day or night.
   Freshwater anglers might say spring is best, generally when bass and crappie spawn at nearby Lake Corpus Christi, Choke Canyon Reservoir and Coleto Creek Reservoir.
   Some saltwater anglers might agree because of the convergence of such annual events as the arrival of kingfish, tarpon, ling, shark and other pelagic species to near-shore gulf waters, coupled with the high tides of March and April infusing area bays with speckled trout.
   But the most ardent anglers simply believe the best fishing times don't depend on external factors. It's all about opportunity and taking advantage of what's offered.
   This thinking fits perfectly with fishing the Coastal Bend, where methods change with the seasons to maintain fairly steady catch rates year-round.

SEASONAL SUCCESS

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   During January's chill - if there is one - anglers stick to the deep holes in open water, the channel side of the jetties and the deep channels such as the Intracoastal Waterway and canals in bayside subdivisions. Surf fishing also tends to pick up after a cold snap.
   Other favorite wintertime spots include California Hole, the Boat Hole, Morris Cumming Cut, Humble Channel, Land Cut, Corpus Christi Ship Channel, Mission River and other similar areas.
   Fall and winter also promise runs of flounder, redfish and drum in the passes, channels and guts of the Coastal Bend, though mild winters in recent years have resulted in runs with less zeal than old-timers remember.
   When water temperatures dip below 50, anglers adjust by fishing slowly with natural bait or natural-looking lures. When the sun first comes out behind a front, anglers target the sandy bottoms, where fish come to warm themselves. Later, warmer water and foraging fish can be found near dark grassy or muddy bottoms, which hold heat.
   Cooler waters also negate the common nuisance of bait-stealing perch and hardheads.
   The Coastal Bend hasn't seen a true winter fishing pattern for some time. But that doesn't lessen angling prospects; it only serves to make winter fishing more comfortable.

SNAPPER ALTERNATIVES

   Time was - and may be again - that winter in the Coastal Bend meant red snapper. But federal regulations have put a stop to that in recent years because of a perceived dip in snapper stocks.
   Not to worry. Party boat outfits in Port Aransas have managed nicely, thanks to tropical temperatures during snapper closures. Sharks, kingfish, tuna, amberjack and other pelagic species replaced snapper action and kept the head boats running.
   The months of February, March and April are when trout are fattest and most likely to attack anything from live shrimp to a twitching broken-back or topwater plug. It's also the period when trophy trout are most likely to be caught in the fabled waters of the Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay.
   Beaches along the John F. Kennedy Causeway and docks beneath the bridge, which spans the Laguna Madre, have long been popular, easily accessible spots for anglers. Reds, trout, flounder and drum are yanked out of the water in healthy numbers.

FABLED BAFFIN

   A wade angler in Baffin Bay caught the current state record speck -13 pounds 11 ounces - in February 1996. The fish fell for a slow-sinking chartreuse Corky, a soft plastic mullet imitation, in the longtime tradition of fair game chase.
   In April, Baffin Bay begins to share the spotlight with Corpus Christi, Nueces, Redfish, Mesquite, Carlos, San Antonio and Aransas bays as well as the waters of the gulf surf, where croaker is the preferred bait for trout. Fishing with croaker is a pretty sure bet. Using croaker, perch or shad also all-but eliminates the hassle of losing baitshrimp to perch and hardheads.
   But the absence of these warm-water mainstays would be bad news indeed to anglers. Along with springtime's high winds is an explosion of underwater activity.

BIRDWATCHING

   But the feeding and procreating isn't confined to below the surface. The sky also is alive with voracity, giving anglers one more reason to rejoice.
   Fishing under the birds - sea gulls, that is - makes everyone an expert angler. All that's required is a boat and knowing the difference between a gull and a tern. Feeding gulls - and pelicans for that matter - can signal schooling fish. Typically, a shrimp under an Alameda rattling float or soft plastic lures thrown near diving or floating birds will result in hookups of trout, redfish or both.
   On the other hand, casting to a flock of terns, AKA liar birds, usually results in frustration. Terns have earned this reputation for dishonesty because they fool anglers into believing game fish are near, when, in fact, this is rarely the case.

SUMMER HEAT

   As temperatures rise, anglers switch to summer patterns of fishing.
   In the Coastal Bend, this means fishing shallow early or late, and deeper in the midday sun.
   When water temperatures reach the 80-degree mark or warmer, oxygen levels plummet and fish become sluggish. But this condition isn't necessarily bad for anglers.
   The condition forces fish to seek oxygen-rich spots, which generally can be found where water is moving or deeper and therefore cooler. This helps narrow an angler's search by eliminating unproductive areas of warm, slow, oxygen-depleted water.
   In the northern bay systems of the Coastal Bend - waters from Nueces Bay northward - anglers live and die by a moving tide. Savvy anglers stake out the many oyster reefs and sand bars - particularly the breaks in these linear structures - for feeding game fish.
   The sloughs behind Matagorda and San Jose islands also are good spots when water is moving in or out. As always, though, find the bait fish and more often than not game fish are near.
   Not rare under these circumstances are catches of flounder, trout and red drum - the big three for Coastal Bend anglers.

NO BOAT? NO PROBLEM

   Summertime wading is popular with anglers, with and without boats.
   Behind San Jose Island, the Aransas Bay system includes the waters of Copano, Redfish, St. Charles and South bays, each with noteworthy fishing opportunities.
   In Aransas Bay proper, wade fishermen can target shallow shorelines and numerous shallow back lakes behind San Jose Island, as well as many oyster reefs. The bay also holds fish near its oil wells in the deeper waters.
   Both South Bay and Redfish Bay are known for their large areas of shallow, grass flats ideal for drift fishing and wading, while sheltered Copano Bay is known for its wealth of oyster reefs.
   The Corpus Christi Bay system also features numerous fish-attracting reefs in its small ''back bay" of Nueces Bay. As the deepest of Coastal Bend bays, the bowl-shaped Corpus Christi Bay is better known for its ring of shallow shorelines.
   Parts of Oso Bay hold similar opportunities, as do the shorelines of Baffin and Alazan bays.
   The mainland side of the Corpus Christi bay, however, can also boast shallow beaches where the fish are known to roam. These include the beaches along the city's Ocean Drive, the Nueces Bay Causeway, the Portland shoreline and the beaches of the spoil islands between Ingleside and Aransas Pass.
   Off the gulf shores of Port Aransas, warm weather favorites include light-tackle fishing for king mackerel or tarpon, though the latter aren't as plentiful as they once were. Both can be caught in the blue-green waters of the gulf near the jetties at Port Aransas.