I also posted about this trip in the general forum, but thought the pirates might be able to help.
It looks like I will get a chance to fish on the gulf coast of Texas one day at the end of this month. I will be near Houston and may not even have a whole day. I have a sturdy 8wt and a decent real I have used in the salt before, but don’t know where or when (tides and time) to go and what to use. Will I need waders? Anything would help.
Thanks!!
Adam
vox clamantis in deserto
For the tides, go to our FEATURES section, scroll down to Tides…there are 20 some listings for Texas tides. Probably decent wading shoes at least, and long pants recommended. Fish usually feed on incoming and outgoing tides, or the hour or so on either side of the tide changes. Although you can get lucky nearly anytime. Check the archives in the Saltwater articles (FEATURES), there are some good articles on the Texas coast.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
try [url=http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com:de447]www.texaskayakfisherman.com[/url:de447] on the message board, specifically a guy named Scott aka “Let’s Go” who guides out of Galveston area. Sounds like you got the right equipment, but you’ll get helpful advice there from some people who can put you on fish…
Thanks Ladyfisher, sometimes I forget how much information is here.
Hojo, thanks for the tip Scott has been most helpful.
Adam
Here is a bit of “where to go” info as well [url=http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/pruett/txcoast/chpt4_1.htm:05b7d]http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/pruett/txcoast/chpt4_1.htm[/url:05b7d]
Go to the Galveston Bay areas, there are excellent directions and tips for fishing the area. In conjunction with the tides tables online here one ought to be able to put together a decent day of fishing.
RRhyne56
[url=http://www.robinscustomleadersandflies.com:05b7d]http://www.robinscustomleadersandflies.com[/url:05b7d]
IM = robinrhyne@hotmail.com
[This message has been edited by rrhyne56 (edited 14 January 2005).]
Thanks everyone for help. I absolutely loved how nice and warm the water was. I am a little worried about some of you Texans. While I wet waded; all others wore neoprene where I was at. You have a beautiful state full of nice people. I can’t wait to go back for fun. If anyone ever comes my way and wants a partner or help of any kind pease feel free to ask.
Sincerely,
Adam
PS Sorry this comes so late.
[This message has been edited by Helicopsyche (edited 01 March 2005).]
So how’d you do?
I saw some fish jump. Cast a lot. Caught myself in the head with an over zealous direction change in the wind. Saw lots of cool birds. Didn’t lose any flies. Enjoyed the scenery. Unfortunately, my hands and flies never got the stink of fish on them.
Adam
Go to the Coastal Kayak Angler board ( [url=http://www.coastalkayakfishing.com/):068d3]http://www.coastalkayakfishing.com/)[/url:068d3] and check out the tide tool site. You can also find help with where you plan to fish. There are a lot of home town posters on the site. Tight Lines, AC
I go down and fish for the Reds and Trout one or two times a year. My son lives down there so we visit and I fish. We are in the Port O’Conner area.
Don’t give up on the fishing down there it will take a time or two to understand how things work and to find good fishing spots. The tides are real important. I found that if you could find cuts and fish them when the tide is going or coming that you can catch fish in them. The fish hold there waiting for the bait to be washed to them. You can also rent Kayak’s down there and they sure help you cover water and find fish. Look for working birds or slicks on the water. You can see these at a distance and they will point you to fish.
I also might advise taking a guide a time or two. They will teach you a lot and you will learn spots to fish plus you will porbably catch some fish for dinner. I keep a few to eat while I am down there as they are sure good. I like flounder they are just great eating. I catch a lot of these fishing around some docks in one area were the channel comes up close to them. Just get the fly close to the bottom and keep it there.
One other thing for you to try is fishing piers at night under lights. You can do real well then to.
A book that you might like to read is “Fly Fishing the Taxas Coast” By Chuck Skates and Phil Shook. Good information and also a good read. You might also get a “Top Spot” map of the area you will be in. Lots of great information on those maps and they show places to fish and just about all the information for that area a person would need to fish that area.
If you need overhead pictures of the area you want to fish to get an idea of what it looks like let me know and I will post a site for you to get them. Hope this helps. Ron
your fishing trip sounds like many of mine 
i’m still learning, tho, and will look at the tide charts and weather patterns now. also, jumping fish mmay indicate larger predators on the prowl. i have a hard time not casting to those jumping fish since i used to fish a lot of trout streams. but the jumpy fish is a good sign. i guess it’s too late now, but stripping your fly slow seems to work. now i wanna fish again.
take him fishing
I wish I could say jumping mullet are a sign of predators… Now if you see a school of them “get up” in a hurry, yeah there might be some trout or something getting at them underwater. However, the intermittent big ol mullet taking flight and landing a big ol gainer is just a fish doing what it was programmed to do. I dont know why they do it…
Man all this talk of the coast is making me want to go BADLY!
Re: your wet wading experience, don’t worry about us. By July we’ll be down to breathables.
JB
[This message has been edited by JohnB (edited 07 March 2005).]
hmmm. i have seen little fish flutter across the surface a few times, but that’s rare for me. it’s gonna take a while for me to figure out how to ‘read the water’. better practice some more…
take him fishing
The flying mullet we’re referring to are not necessarily small. I’ve seen mullet up to four pounds making 12’ (long) leaps out of the water for no obvious reason.
There’s no failsafe way to tell the difference between small (rat) reds and mullet based on the top of the water. However, there is a sure-fire way to tell if you’ve just flushed a big red. There may not be a lot of noise or splashing, but if you see a depression in the surface of the water, a big red was probably there. Their bodies are big enough to create a hole in the water when they leave.
Also if you see a bow wake pushed up in front of a moving fish and a low spot behind it, that was most likely a big red.
There’s no reason to feel bad for casting to large mullet, we just want to help you not waste too much time.
I’ve got a friend-of-a-friend who’s a guide in Rockport and he jokes about how clients (non-fisher types) always ask him why mullet jump. He said he came up with lots of “reasons”, but that his best one was “to find out where they are”.
The real reason, as told to me by the intermediate friend, is that mullet have parasites that grow between their scales, and they are jumping to slap themselves on the water’s surface. Guess they gotta scratch the itch! (this person was studying aquatic biology) Maybe it’s BS, but it’s the best explanation I’ve heard so far.