9/17 Bob Hall Closed for Repairs - The last word had it that Bob Hall would be closed at least until Friday 9/19 to repair damages caused by Ike. Major portions of the railing were destroyed and numerous 1500 pound cement blocks leading up to the pier were tossed around like legos. The parking lot is a mess as well. Picnic tables and shelters all gone.

9/9 Gib's Report - Night fishing at the pier continues to be difficult and challenging for the trout chasers due to water clarity, wind direction, and current.

This summer has seen perhaps some of the least productivity in several years. It did not help that over 5 weeks of the summer water was chocolate milk.

A couple of nights ago the trout were in and it took some time to figure out what they wanted with a current running north to south. The ticket was shad, but by the time this was discovered, 5 were brought in before the bite turned off like one would to a light switch.

Overall, this has been the year of the perch. Perch are generally a good go to bait, but this year has been more so.

Last night, the water was pretty churned up with a rough surf. Several gafftop were caught, and I did not see any trout or reds caught. Some sharks are being caught here and there.

Everything at the pier is going well with no serious problems to speak of. It is the best, along these lines, that I have witnessed in five years.

9/8 - 9/5 Bull Red report from Ladyfish - There Back,The water was beautiful today, Even with a north wind, the bait was everywere you name it it was there, Started out at the end of the pier the sharks were everywere we got 2-nice 36'' black tips so we were moving closer to the surf. About 1/2 mile north of the pier there was a cloud of dirt about 2 football fields in size as it moved closer then under the pier you could see thousands of cow nose rays and then the bull reds, there was several hook ups and a lot of broken lines, soon 3 were on the pier there color was unbeliveable dark red, Well ladyfish taged hers. the stomact was big real big as I cleaned this Sow i was shocked it was full of Sand Dollars I mean full, There was a few small smack, and blues caught up front a ton of skip jack and ribbon fish Looks like a good weekend coming up have a great day David and Nancy.

8/29 - 8/30 from Fishinglady - Went to the pier Friday and Sunday.....both times, there wasn't much biting or catching...just small sharks, lots of ribbonfish, as well as whiting and sandtrout. Bait fish were hard to find with a sabiki. By late Sunday, the water was calm and clearing in places, sandy in some other places. Several dolphins were around for a couple of hours on Sunday.

8/21 report from 8/18 Sorry about the lack of reports but the water has been offcolor for more than a month and if people are fishing they have not reported much other than hardheads Here is a report from Skillzzz9 from Monday - "Monday out at BHP was struck by the number of Menhaden at the pier. Cast my net a couple of times and filled the bait bucket. I then noticed the numbe of Tarpon rolling in the surf. Baited out for the with surface slide line, under a cork and on the bottom with live shad. Picked up three tarpon hits all missed, but the strange thing was the Gafftop (big ones) hit all three baits. (Slide, cork and bottom) Anyone else have slime monsters hit like that? "

Sorry no pics. Need another camera.

6/27 - Report via Joho5 - Big Reds were hot up until about dark. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th light. I got there about 30 min until dark and boxed a 26 in Red in the 2nd gut along with a Bonnet Head. When it got dark, didnt see any more Reds caught and was hoping for the Trout bite to start and it never really got hot. Came home with the Red, 1 Trout, and a Whiting. Fished for only about 2 hours. All caught on live shrimp.

Surfdragon had this report on 6/25 - My brother and i went on a surprise fishing trip, At least for me i hadnt been fishing in a while. Picked the right location today,It was bob hall and the water looked great! Got there around 8 am and the red fish started hitting at the T.With some small sharks,Black tips,Bonnets and some atlantic sharp nose? not sure on the name on that one. One large spanish mackeral on a slide line and even saw a 4 ft tarpon turning on top.
Bait of choice was water melon shad. And the reds were on fire almost all reds were slot and hefty.Not to many pics of fish just to busy fishing.
Heres a few shots of the day.



Water melon shad























Water was in good shape little sea weed,Bait was there and so were the fish.

6/20 David and Nancy report - Today finished a great week, With the full moon and tides the fishing turned on around 10:30 and was going strong still at 12:30, I have seen alot of Pompanos over the years this week brought some of the biggest most pier fishermen (and ladies) have seen in the 3-4 lb range, Smack up to 28'', Reds, Sharks and even a few Tarpon, and Ling. It was like going to the fish market , Bait of choice live Shrimp or a Mann-o-lure, Lemon rigs or free lining shrimp, no one wanted cut bait this week. Hope the weekend is good for all of you, I need the rest see you all on Monday
David and Nancy P.S. A lot of Trout night and early morning.

6/12 Ladyfish reported good action Tuesday - Fishing has been hot saw a 5 ft. Tarpon yesterday . We got 4 reds and 1 trout all on the bottom used piggy, and mullet, there were several limits caught .

6/5 Tough Conditions with the winds lately. Here is a great report I got this week from a trip last Friday from Eduardo Montez - Eduardo wrote: "This is Justin Gomez of Beeville with a few pics from our trip Friday May 30th at Bob hall Pier. The reds hit mostly live bait we fished on the bottom. The king ate a live golden croaker under a float and the jack swallowed a pony mullet on a slide-line. The sharks are a bit of a nuisance as evident by the four footer that plucked my only thredfin from a slide. Sorry but the date is set wrong on the camera"

 

5/10 A Report from David and Nancy Novak - "We thought yesterday was pretty good fishing, when David got a Jack, and I had steel leaders cut in half, and a Circle Hook Straightened. I know that fish is in Houston by now.
Today just had to be the best since last year. The wind was strong, and alot of Gaftops, and Hardheads first, and as it broke daylight, a couple Rods got hit hard, and cut off. Then David's brought in a Stingray, then had a Red on, but was tangled in the net, and bouyes, on the pilon, we tried everything, including his Gaf, which is still hanging over the pier and caught up in the net, and finally got the Slot Red on the pier. Another rod went down, I had a Shark, which turned out be 48", with no Gaf to bring him up, and finally had to net him. My rod went down again, and I had a Bonnet Head Shark, that David couldn't believe how big he was, and brought him on the pier with the net, and it measured 45". Since he was short of the Record, we took pictures and released it, so it could continue to get bigger. After that I was getting a little tired, but couldn't resist grabbing the next rod that went down, and had a 27" Red. It really made up for not being able to fishm due to the weather. Everything we caught was on last years frozen mullet, and since David only brought 2 bags, we had to go home...lol

5/01 Bob Hall via Cowboy at the Pier - Weed is minimal and the catches the past few days have included Spanish Mackerel, Redfish, small sharks, and a few stingray. Water temp is near 75.

4/6 Bob Hall 4/05 via Rick - Lots of weed, lots of wind, water real dirty. Nothing being cought. I used live shrimp last night 04/05 could not lose a shrimp..

3/21 Lady fish reports - Finally a report from the pier, there a lot of fishermen on today there were a few small whitting and a lot of hard heads, We manage to put two nice reds in the box both 27'' one weighted 5.7oz and the other 7.1oz lost 2 other the surf was rough, water was dirty ,but the birds were working.

2/21 Still Tough and Sorry for the lack of updates but the winds and fronts have things looking a lot like this lately. Here is a report via Surfdragon and you can see why there have been no reports from Bob Hall - bob hall pier the surf was rough all the way to the T,Meaning
the surfers were out. Fishing was slow with whiting and catfish being caught. heres some photos of the surfers and people fishing,Surf was rough and dirty.

12/7 Lots of Whiting and some Reds - Here is the latest from Pier Regular Ladyfish "Whiting Whiting and more Whiting a few sharks, saw two bull reds caught out on the end its been real quiet with a lot of winter Texans fishing too!"

11/15 - Front hits - Look for Spanish Mackerel, Jacks, Pup Sharks when the weather settles. Chances are good for Bull Reds even in rough weather. Bigdawgdanny and his wife Sandi caught these 39 inchers on 11/9 along with some pup sharks. Four other Bull Reds were also landed.

 

10/31 - Good fishing for Bulls - Bigdawgdanny sent in this report from the weekend: "Fishing was real good this weekend at bob hall pier lots of reds 20"- 28" also some bull reds 36" - 44" some tagged some released. and unfortunately some taken illegally . However word was out that the game warden was there a couple of times this past week and issued plenty of citations to those not obeying the law. a big thank you to our game wardens for doing a great job. really appreciated by many locals and out of town visitors. here are a couple of pics from our fishing on Sunday night. myself with my first bull red ever caught 38" released to see another day. Josh Trevino catches and tags his @ around 40".

Danny

Josh

10/3 - Gib says - "Redfish are in with one being able to catch limit - live bait . Game Wardens have frequented the pier. Law Enforcement is walking the pier even "escorting" "unruly drunks" to a better location . Things are lookinhg up! " Here is a photo sent in from Bigdawgdanny of the recent Full Moon from the pier.

 

9/19 - Here's a fresh report from Gib from the message board: The reds continue to be caught on a regular basis at night off of the pier. It seems that live pin perch and live mullet are baits of choice for slot reds.

They are catching OVERsized reds at the "T" or near to it on large chunks of cut mullet. I do know the past two nights that over 17 bull reds have been hauled off the pier, and I do not mean back into the water.

These guys know what they are doing as they are almost at a run when exiting the pier, leaving for 10 to 20 minutes in vehicle, and then returning to start over.

It is against the law and it affects future fishing for the next generation. Question: The fish being carried off are over 40". We are not talking about a 30" or even 35" redfish. I have been told that the ones over 40" no longer breed or lay eggs as they are too old. Is this true?

Regardless, it is not right. One of the culprits loaded up into a truck with local company advertising on the side. I have contacted the company via letter to inform them of situation. Several indicated they would not be calling them for business. A bit drastic at this point as the owner may not even be aware of situation, or he may be the one. I choose to give him/her benefit of doubt at this point.

One of these days I will have pictures to post as I know everyone enjoys them just as I do, but I have to convince the wife, and I have to be taught. Right now, it would be like giving a 12 or 13 year old the keys to the car and saying have at it - a recipe for disaster. Upon these two major accomplishments, I have to learn how to get them in the computer and on this website.

The trout are still there, but it does not seem to be as many or as big. Water has been a little murky. I believe there is at least one more good opportunity for the trout bite this week and next before slowing and eventually shutting down for the year at the pier. This is not absolute, but it is generally a pattern every year.

9/6 David Sikes Article on Caller Times about Bob Hall Pier - Caller.com Corpus Christi News and Information
Bob Hall Pier cleans up after complaint
By David Sikes
Originally published 05:15 a.m., September 6, 2007
Updated 05:15 a.m., September 6, 2007

Earlier this year, Matthew Gibson's sons nearly stepped on the spiny dorsal of a hardhead catfish someone had left for dead on the planks of Bob Hall Pier.

By the way, leaving a hardhead for dead is against the law. But that's not my point. It was dark and lighting on the pier was poor.

Being a five-year pier regular, Gibson had become accustomed to poor maintenance at Bob Hall. But this incident sparked a sequence of events that put Gibson into the role of activist. There's a lesson here, a civics lesson with favorable results.

Pier regulars I've spoken with in recent years say their list of Bob Hall complaints included occasional unruly drunks, surfers/kayakers jumping off pier's end, anglers staking out a section of railing with way too many rods, poor maintenance/lighting, profanity, auto burglaries, overnight camping and inconsiderate anglers who toss castnets from the pier, which is against the rules.

Gibson said that initial attempts to address some of these concerns had failed. Part of the problem is that the people who lease the concession rights at the pier and manage operations there have no enforcement authority. The new managers out there tell me they intend to tell repeat offenders they're not welcome or they'll call the cops on egregious violations.

After the springtime hardhead incident, Gibson called the Nueces County Parks offices, but didn't receive immediate relief.

So he decided to make an end run by posting his complaints and a request for help on the popular Web site CorpusFishing.com. This began a chatroom thread that eventually attracted more than 4,000 online views and 83 responses as of Wednesday.

This response boiled down to about 20 legitimate comments regarding nagging pier issues as well as a suggestion to contact Nueces County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, whose district includes Padre Island.

Gibson called Cazalas and explained the problem, then followed up with an e-mail containing the online comments. Cazalas said he would look into it, and he forwarded the comments to the Nueces County Parks Board.

Then Gibson, along with about a dozen concerned anglers, attended a park board meeting in late-August to follow up, provide details and answer questions. Gibson said he was encouraged by the reception they received. Also at the meeting were representatives of the new pier management and restaurant owners.

Since then, Gibson said he's seen positive results.

"Things are getting done out there now," he said. "The pier is in the best shape I've seen it in five years. They've really stepped up to the plate on maintenance and cleanliness."

Despite this, Gibson said there is more that could be done to improve the pier, mostly involving enforcement of parking lot crime activity and violations of pier rules.

"About a month ago, I saw three or four anglers on the pier and 40 rods set out," Gibson said. "I'm not kidding. I'd be tickled to see someone from law enforcement once a week out there."

Part of the challenge, explains Jim Needham, a Nueces County Parks Board member, is that a while back the city annexed a lengthy section of the beach between Port Aransas and the Kleberg County line. This resulted in a drop in funds for the county in the form of hotel/motel tax revenue. The county no longer could afford as many park staffers, including park rangers.

Enforcement out there falls on the Corpus Christi Police Department, the Nueces County Sheriff's Department and Bobby Sherwood's crew of Nueces County Constables. Cazalas said he's begun talking to these folks, and Gibson tells me he's already seen a higher presence of law enforcement at the pier, particularly from Sherwood's officers.

Cazalas said he's hopeful that patrol officers who usually deal with crime and traffic violations on the beach and on the island will stop in and walk the pier from time to time.

Nueces County Parks Director Blake Pettis said that while poor weather may have prevented proper maintenance in recent months, he hopes that pier anglers continue to provide input on such issues. Perhaps they could become like a volunteer eyes and ears committee, he suggested. Gibson said that would be OK with him.

Maybe Pettis should post his phone number on the pier for convenience.

Meanwhile, the parks board, Cazalas and Pettis are seeking a consensus or at least a majority opinion from pier anglers on a variety of issues. If you want them to rescind the no-castnet rule, tell them. Or if you'd like to see the rod limit raised to four, let them know. Needham said the board will post any issue that rises to the top on the board's agenda for a vote.

See, the system works.

Outdoors writer David Sikes column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 886-3616 or sikesd@caller.com

 

8/30 Report from Nancy Novak - We fished Wednesday there were only 8 people from 6am until about the 11am it started to rain , and David thought he would melt lol, each caught a small black tip a little over 30'' there were several spanish mackerel caught, and small trout, talked to several leaving around 6am with some nice reds and trout, i guess night fishing is better. Fished Monday, water as been nice some weed near the surf, but clear, again only about 10 people on the mostly regulars one guy from san Angelo got skunked. he fished for 3 days nothing,Bait was small watermelon shad no finger mullet in the surf, some very large horse mullet18 to 20'' about 2lbs or more, hopefully Friday will be better. Nancy and David

Here is a picture of a spotted eagle ray caught and released by Juan

 

 

 

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