Summertime In Port Aransas – Fishing Report
Most anglers know that current, water temperature, light level and moon phase can affect the bite, but there’s another factor that often goes overlooked. Although barometric pressure can’t be predicted as easily as the other factors, it has a major influence on how the fish behave. And so it was with tropical storm Cindy. It’s rare when we go to one of our hot spots and have trouble getting Red Snapper in the boat, but T.S. Cindy definitely affected the snapper bite for several days after it passed through. Fortunately for the fish – and fishermen – low pressure doesn’t usually last long. We still caught limits, but we had to work for them. Rough sea conditions also made it difficult to reach blue water until last week.
Kingfish are out there in numbers. We’re finding them anywhere from the jetties to the rocks offshore. Once you locate them, limits are easily caught. We’re still catching big kings trolling artificials, ribbon fish and blue runners.
Ling (Cobia) swing in close to shore during the summer months. May through September we have good numbers of Ling. We’re catching most of them around any type of structure from the rocks offshore to floating debris and anchored ships. The past two weeks, we haven’t seen big numbers of Ling, but were able to bring in some solid fish up to 60 lbs.
In the world of offshore fishing, trolling ranks as one of the most preparation intensive methods anglers can tackle. From choosing components such as lures, leader and hooks, to rigging ballyhoo and catching live bait, we drill down to the essential details that offer the greatest opportunity for success that day. Wahoo, sailfish, dorado, marlin and tuna are all species we troll for.
Wahoo are still around if you’re willing to put the time in trolling long rips. You have to cover a lot of ground to find those fish and it’s really a game of patience. If you can put your efforts on some key areas and be patient, they are out there.
Sailfish are also known to follow the same patterns. You never know when one will show up but when they do they put on an amazing fight with their jumps and runs.
It seems the Dorado (Mahi) bite is finally coming back in decent numbers and sizes. Find the rips or floating debris and more than likely you’ll find the fish. The birds overhead are a great way to help find these patches.
Scattered Blackfin Tuna made their appearance last week. We haven’t seen a lot yet, but the ones we have caught are a good sign of things to come with shrimping season opening July 15th. During shrimping season, jumbo Blackfin are likely to be found schooling behind any working shrimp boats which provide easy feeding for them. Sometimes shrimpers can be as close in as 15 miles, or as far out as 50 miles or more, but if you can get on a school it’s a blast hauling in those Blackfin and occasional Yellowfin.
Finally, last weekend, the Port Aransas Boatmen Association hosted the 82nd Annual Deep Sea Roundup. 7 Blue Marlin, 5 White Marlin and 45 Sailfish were caught and released along with nice catches of Dorado, Wahoo, Yellowfin and Blackfin Tuna in the offshore division. The turnout was great along with the fishing! Summer has arrived with great offshore fishing conditions and this is prime time to catch a trophy and fill your freezer!