This spring was tough, some days REALLY tough, and it began to look like it was going to be a hard year. Blame the freeze/fish kill, the high salinity, whatever, but fish were hard to find and tough to catch. Luckily in the last 3 weeks the Coastal Bend has received over 15 inches of much needed rain, and it has made all the difference. I am forever preaching about the importance of rain in an estuary such as ours, how it is the life blood of our fishery. Just when we needed it most, the skies opened up and so did the fish mouths. The tides are high, the salinity is low, and the fish seem to be everywhere they weren’t just a month ago.
Although we should be deep into croaker season by now, the best action is coming on live shrimp under corks and we are catching reds, trout, drum and flounder in the creek drains and flooded grass and shell beds throughout the bay system. I have dabbled with croakers, and they have worked sporadically, but they are still small and the conditions have not been optimal yet. Everything seems to be a month or so behind, but that means the best fishing is ahead of us, and the fishery seems to be in much better condition than many feared. I want to thank many of my guests over the past several months who participated in catch and release, putting the fishery on the fast track to recovery. I have a few days left in June and July, so if you are planning a trip to the coast lets get something on the books before it is too late.
