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Bonefish in Texas / Want RARE - YOU GOT IT

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    #31
    Cool Stuff Rob

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      #32
      Originally posted by Dale Moser View Post
      Are bonefish regulated, or protected in any way in Texas?
      I don't believe they're regulated in Texas.

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        #33
        Incredible!
        Congrats on the catch!

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          #34
          Nice!!

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            #35
            That's pretty cool

            Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

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              #36
              Interesting, never seen one before, but have seen pictures of them. Cool catch. From reading the comments, sounds like you caught it on a fly rod. I have wanted to try fly fishing salt water. I don't get to fish much at all anymore, definitely don't have the time to figure out fly fishing saltwater. Would be nice to figure it out, and get to where I could catch stuff regularly. If you caught a bone fish on a fly rod in Texas waters, you basically won the super lotto.

              I do find it interesting the way the fish that inhabit the Texas Gulf Coast changes over times.

              When I was a kid in the 70s, the fish I knew of in the bays around Corpus area, were, specks, sand trout, croaker, reds, flounder, sheepshead, black drum, gafftop, mullet, piggy perch, some type of saltwater gar. Then I once saw a school of flying fish. Then sting rays and hard heads, what we called oyster fish or dog fish, brown with a big fat head, wide mouth, sharp teeth and strong jaws, kind of a saltwater pit bull. Oh, I forgot, can't leave out those skip jacks, those things will tear up your tackle quickly, if you get into a school of big ones.

              Then at some point in the late 80s or early 90s, I kept hearing about people catching whiting. I had never heard of them before, never seen one before, had no idea what they looked like. Usually when I first started hearing of them, people were catching them on Oso Pier or other piers in southern half of the Corpus coast line, closer to the base. Then eventually started hearing about them being caught on Bob Hall Pier and Horace Caldwell Piers, in the surf. Then some point in the early 90s, I caught a fish, I had never seen before, kind of looked like a red/drum/croaker/?. I had no idea, I asked, someone said it was a whiting. I probably caught four or five of them total on a couple trips, never seen one since. By that point in time, you hardly ever heard of anyone catching sand trout. I have not heard of anyone catching a sand trout, since probably the mid 90s. I am sure they are around, just not very common. Even up into the mid 80s, we could go out catch 20 specs and six sandies, on a trip. That was pretty typical ratio of the trout in the area. Then at times, we would catch three or four croaker, sometimes we might catch 25 to 30 croaker and nothing else. They are good eating. I guess now they get caught and sold as bait, so you don't see eating size croaker anymore.

              Then sometime probably fifteen years ago, or so, I started hearing of people catching tarpon in the bays around Corpus, again. I think the last time people were catching tarpon in the area was the 50s, before my time. I have heard multiple stories of guys catching grouper in the ship channel, in Port A., back in the 50s.

              Then about 8 years ago or so, I started hearing about people catching snook, but rarely. Then watching Lone Star Law, seems like every time they pull up a gill net out of the Rio Grande, they remove multiple snook from the net. The thought of snook in the Rio Grande, still blows me away. I keep hearing about more people catching snook farther up the coast around Corpus area. I have never heard stories from the old timers, of anyone catching snook in Texas. I never knew that they ever lived anywhere near Texas waters. That is something I really want to catch some day.

              I would guess about five years ago, my wife caught some strange looking fish near Bird Island, that I had never seen before. I was told it is a cigar fish. Being on multiple fishing groups. I have since seen seen numerous people post up pictures of the same type of fish, asking what it is. On our last trip down there, we were doing some floundering, and found quite a few of those cigar fish, when floundering. I have fished and floundered that area a lot since I was about five years old in the mid 70s, never saw one of those critters, till my wife caught that first one, on a spec rig. First fish she ever caught on a lure.

              I have seen bone fish on charts, listing types of fish found along the Texas Gulf Coast, but never heard of anyone catching one. I wonder if those things are gong to make a come back.

              I would like to land a tarpon or two in Texas waters, then it sure would be cool, to start catching snook in Texas waters.

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                #37
                Definitely a bone. What rig did you catch it on?

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                  #38
                  That’s awesome!

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                    #39
                    I would like to land a tarpon or two in Texas waters, then it sure would be cool, to start catching snook in Texas waters
                    Corpus to Port Isabel - snook can be had - which August - is a wonderful month to start!

                    Port Mansfield - rock hoping and working old school plugs - the Mirrolure of choice, still in her lips - this one was a bit over 28"
                    This was 2003 or maybe 2004? I lost one there, that went close to 40" - same lure but, 10lb Ande clear isn't made for fish like that - no net and about 100 yards of rock to sand to hope to make a beach - broke off in the process. She was a release though - just couldn't touch her - unless I wanted to fall off into the surf to do so.




                    Mid coast Texas tarpon - 2019. I hooked and lost 5 or 6 since 1970 here in Texas. In 2019 - I caught and released 3 and Glen had another one for a 4 Texas Tarpon weekend.

                    So many years with so many close calls - two just recently hooked up in Nighthawk Bay. Laguna Madre after Harvey blew thru, casting at what I thought was redfish on the flat - back to back tarpon, jumping and pulling drag fun till they came unbuttoned. The closer to the boat things got, the worse it became and I was alone without someone to help me leader them.

                    2019 - broke the ice

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                      #40
                      Thanks guys - fishing for beeliners - never know what's gonna bite the line. Love fishing Texas because, we truly don't know what we really have. I do - and by god there's more of this left to find out about here!

                      African Pompano - not Florida Pompano our native pomp - run the surf in South Texas along the outside 3rd and beyond sandbars. I've caught and released one, kayak trolling that zone on PINS - during the early 2000s. Silver small Kastmaster spoon - 1/8 ounce size - that kind of lure these other fish seem to bite and so small, no one fishes them. Bonefish would hit a bait like this in that zone - must think like that to see them I suppose. Certainly not doing what everyone else is doing, may be the right direction, cuz so far, it's not happening - regularly?

                      My bet, Port Aransas ship channel and the deep sandy flats that border that zone? Pompano spawn there by the hundreds each year yet not many, know this and or know how to target them there as well. And most certainly, Port Isabel ship channel feeding up deep with those sandy bordering flats that funnel water off of them at each outgoing high tide = the time to try to find them is this time. We did that in Florida when I lived down there - same deal here - just need folks to try.

                      Tarpon and Snook need freshwater - brine mix zones - to spawn each year. Nueces River - dumping into Nueces Bay and then further down to Ingleside and Corpus Christi Bay = TARPON AND SNOOK BREED HERE EACH YEAR.

                      My flats boat was previously owned by the guy who holds the fly rod river records for tarpon, snook and redfish at the Nueces River mouth. They are there breeding - in a very small window with local knowledge to deliver.

                      Rio Grande River - same thing, they need fresh to spawn - tarpon and snook - as long as the Mexicans don't destroy that zone.
                      Last edited by AtTheWall; 07-29-2021, 01:38 PM.

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                        #41
                        These are from the canals in Flour Bluff after a hard freeze a couple of years ago.
                        Attached Files

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                          #42
                          Where you been hiding Rob........nice catch

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                            #43
                            Originally posted by bowhuntertex View Post
                            Where you been hiding Rob........nice catch
                            I'm chasing some tall challenges in salt Will - from Pacific to Atlantic and all sections in between!!!!!

                            I talked about this, for years...........and it's just getting started!

                            Thanks Will - holler if you want to chase some dreams in the suds......what I'm doing needs teamwork!

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                              #44
                              Originally posted by Walker View Post
                              These are from the canals in Flour Bluff after a hard freeze a couple of years ago.
                              The pair I jumped, fishing Nighthawk a couple years ago, were around the 3ft juvi length. Which is roughly 3 - 4 miles from those Flour Bluff inner canals. And this class of tarpon, frequent the Kenedy/King Ranch shorelines - with a scattered annual hookup report from anglers casting for redfish and trout, working that western shoreline thru there.

                              I've spotted 30 lb jackfish, schools of them, boiling and feeding the Upper Laguna Madre - dead center in the old natural channel from Pita Island down to Bird Island. Bull reds - jackfish and tarpon - all summer long and unless you target them in that zone, many never see or hook them cause it's deeper and out of the red/speck primary zone - up in that 2-4ft region. The old channel runs 6-10ft in sections - narrow and long - they zip up and down it during this time of the year on feeds.

                              Another area, where consistent Tarpon spottings for me, have been out in front of Ingleside, mid to late summer. Smaller schools work thru some of the channels and flats that border the deeper water of the open bay. And there are times thru this zone, cobia and tripletail will bounce on a lure, as well as these tarpon.

                              I took an old dear elderly friend of mine fishing these flats, a few years ago. We witnessed a solid 5ft tarpon slash up onto a skinny 1ft deep flat, tearing thru a school of late summer menhaden - which had them all scattered flying in all directions when that liquid bomb went off. My friend kept yelling "bullreds" and I knew better, tarpon slash with way more speed on flats with directional control versus a redfish - and this tarpon and the flashing of silver and the explosiveness of the attack, had speed well over a bullreds best swimming speed with slashing directional cuts.

                              As fast as it happened it went quiet. And we didn't have anything rigged to handle that class of tarpon on the boat.
                              Last edited by AtTheWall; 08-01-2021, 07:38 AM.

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                                #45
                                Originally posted by AtTheWall View Post
                                The pair I jumped, fishing Nighthawk a couple years ago, were around the 3ft juvi length. Which is roughly 3 - 4 miles from those Flour Bluff inner canals. And this class of tarpon, frequent the Kenedy/King Ranch shorelines - with a scattered annual hookup report from anglers casting for redfish and trout, working that western shoreline thru there.

                                I've spotted 30 lb jackfish, schools of them, boiling and feeding the Upper Laguna Madre - dead center in the old natural channel from Pita Island down to Bird Island. Bull reds - jackfish and tarpon - all summer long and unless you target them in that zone, many never see or hook them cause it's deeper and out of the red/speck primary zone - up in that 2-4ft region. The old channel runs 6-10ft in sections - narrow and long - they zip up and down it during this time of the year on feeds.

                                Another area, where consistent Tarpon spottings for me, have been out in front of Ingleside, mid to late summer. Smaller schools work thru some of the channels and flats that border the deeper water of the open bay. And there are times thru this zone, cobia and tripletail will bounce on a lure, as well as these tarpon.

                                I took an old dear elderly friend of mine fishing these flats, a few years ago. We witnessed a solid 5ft tarpon slash up onto a skinny 1ft deep flat, tearing thru a school of late summer menhaden - which had them all scattered flying in all directions when that liquid bomb went off. My friend kept yelling "bullreds" and I knew better, tarpon slash with way more speed on flats with directional control versus a redfish - and this tarpon and the flashing of silver and the explosiveness of the attack, had speed well over a bullreds best swimming speed with slashing directional cuts.

                                As fast as it happened it went quiet. And we didn't have anything rigged to handle that class of tarpon on the boat.
                                I caught two bones on fly down South. I've jumped three large tarpon and landed medium(almost 4') tarpon further North. We went out of Port Aransas last month caught a dead calm day. We went out side and saw dozen different tarpon or groups of tarpon. We never got close that day but the water was so calm it made it easy to see them rolling.

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