Bait Until Dark
Where saltwater anglers go coastal.
Port Aransas (361-749-5919 or 800-452-6278; portaransas.org). Name your poison at Port A: From the northern tip of Mustang Island it's five minutes from the docks to the Gulf and deepwater angling for red snapper, mahimahi, amberjack, tuna, bonita, and wahoo. It's fifteen minutes by motorboat—a tad longer via sea kayak—to Aransas Bay, considered one of the most abundant sources for redfish on the planet; the bay is fly-fishing heaven when the winds are calm, and it has the only no-motor fishing zone in the state. Landlubbers can wet a line for speckled trout, pompano, and even the occasional shark standing in the surf and fishing off the rocks of the Port Aransas jetty (at the end of Cotter Street) or Horace Caldwell Pier (at the end of Beach Street), or angle in solitude by shuttling over to undeveloped San Jose Island across the channel from the state's one true coastal village (take the ferry at Woody's Sports Center, 136 Cotter Street; 361-749-5252 or 800-211-9227; $9.95 round trip, children 5 to 12 $4.95, under 5 free; call for schedule).
Port Mansfield (956-944-4000; port-mansfield.com). Like Port Isabel—South Padre, Port Mansfield, in the upper part of the Rio Grande Valley, offers easy access to both the Gulf of Mexico, nine miles east via the Port Mansfield Cut across Padre Island, and the hypersaline Laguna Madre. The Gulf is where you'll find the greatest abundance of sailfish, marlin, and even tarpon off the Texas coast, and the clear, shallow waters of Laguna Madre brim with specks, reds, and flounder. Unlike Port Isabel—South Padre, Port Mansfield is puro pescado: There's nothing else to do but fish—one in twenty residents is a fishing guide and almost every motel and home has its own pier—which suits locals and regular visitors just fine.
Port O'Connor (361-983-2898; tisd.net/~poccc). Ever since LaSalle ran aground at Pass Cavallo, the elements—usually hurricanes and storm surges—have thwarted Port O'Connor's dreams of prosperity. At one time or another it was a tourist resort, a farming and ranching center, and a military town. But winds and floods never blew away Port O's rep as a fishing town, and for good reason. In addition to the waters of the Gulf beyond, a shallow estuary system encompassing San Antonio, Matagorda, and Espiritu Santo bays and Cedar Bayou attracts almost every fishing and netting constituency known to Texas in search of everything from channel cats, blue crabs, and oysters to snapper, king, ling, and tuna. Parks and Wildlife operates a ferry to Matagorda Island State Park from Port O'Connor Thursday through Sunday (call 361-983-2215 for information).
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