Although the typical Coastal Bend angler fishes from a boat, bank and pier fishermen also enjoy good fishing opportunity.

They can choose among publicly accessible piers and bank fishing areas along the Corpus Christi beachfront, along the JFK, Nueces Bay and Aransas Pass causeways and along the Port Aransas waterfront.

A special option in Port Aransas is the opportunity to fish the jetty where anglers can hook trout or redfish, as well as sharks, tarpon, jack crevalle and large stingrays.

The South Jetty is accessible by foot, while the North Jetty can be reached via a shuttle boat out of Woody's Sport Center.

The surf might be considered the wild card among the choices because between Port Aransas and Port Mansfield to the south there are approximately 150 miles of Gulf beach from which anglers catch speckled trout, redfish, black drum, Spanish mackerel, pompano, whiting, bluefish and sharks.

There are also two piers on the Gulf beach, Bob Hall Pier on the northern end of Padre Island and Horace Caldwell Pier near the South Jetty in Port Aransas.

Port Aransas is also the embarkation point for daring anglers seeking heavy-weight action in the Gulf of Mexico.