Corpusfishing.com

[noskunk]

Made a couple trips down PINS this fall. First one was 10/26 - 10/31. We hit an excellent weather window with clear skies and "acceptable" winds most of the days. The sub 20mph winds allowed us to focus on fly fishing for the entire trip. 2 out of the 4 in the group had never fished the Texas surf and had never landed anything bigger than a steelhead from out west.

Here's the truck loaded to the gills.





Here's some flies that were tied for the trip.






After picking up folks from the airport and making the drive down to PINS our first fish of the trip was a nice trout from the 20mm.



There were a few ladyfish around as well before we ran out of light.



Here we are getting ready for the morining bite the next day.











Unfortunately the fish weren't there so we packed up and headed to the jetty.

Camp life was good.



The spanish mackerel were ever present chasing the mullet trains as they traversed the rock gauntlet.







The mullet were getting smashed in less than 18 inches of water.





Even the freshwater guys could catch mullet in these conditions.



Throwing pancakes for lunch? Yes please.



We lot all the bait go after we had our fun. Honestly never needed it.

Now back to the original gameplan. 2 of us had never landed a tarpon much less a Texas tarpon off the jetty on the fly. We put in the time and cast enough to develop carpal tunnel, arthritis, and blisters. We found more than a few willing players and wound up landing 4 out of 13 tarpon that we jumped. We had 2 good size fish pull the hook while attempting to land them on the rocks in the dark in large waves. Here are a few of the fish we got photos of.











We made a little friend.



Ok, I guess he was never a real friend.



We found that the surf pocket at the base of the north jetty was holding a lot of snook.













We also found a few other random fish.













A few other photos displaying the beauty of the national seashore.











It was a great trip with some great people. Weather couldn't have been nicer unlike our November trip. More on that in the next trip report.



All fish were thrown back to be caught another day. That and we were too tired/lazy to fillet anything.

[Monkeychow33]

Congrats on an amazing trip. Your pictures are fantastic, thanks for posting.

[Blast-n-Cast]

Awesome pics! Looks like you guys had a blast. Did you sight cast those or just throwing blind?

[noskunk]

Thank you for the kind words. We sight fish when we can (clean water, high sun, low waves). Most fish are caught throwing at blowups and rolling fish. Some fish like tarpon at dusk are just the result of the fish deciding to eat. We know they are in the area but have no clue who's going to eat. Jacks are a whole different story. More on them in the next trip report.

[Jetty Rat]

nice pics and report man, I like how you took a picture of all the fish's heads at the end. Congrats on the tarpon

[PanamaYak]

While I have threatened to learn to fly fish many times, I haven't yet but your report is inspiring, informative, entertaining and impressively presented. You and Towboat Trash are master documentarians (if that's a word) and I appreciate your skills and artistry.

Hoo-Yah!

Bruce Steele - PanamaYak
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HooYah!
PanamaYak

[noskunk]

Thanks for the compliment PanamaYak.

Towboat Trash is the master. I still re-read his old trip reports (11/1-11/5 2010 is a particular favorite of mine) to stoke the flame for an upcoming trip. You can also learn a lot about the impact of the weather and water condition on the fish and fish species. Especially when cross referencing the barometric pressure changes and wind speed.

Best of luck picking up fly fishing. It takes work but it is very rewarding. I was forever ruined after landing my first tarpon on the fly this past June.

[ziacatcher]

Like everybody else said, awesome. Would love fly fishing like that. On my bucket list this winter is to catch a 30-plus inch pike out of the Rio Grande in New Mexico

[FoldCatOne]

I'll bet that Jack was a rodeo on a fly rod. No horsing him in.
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Gary J
NA3VY
Ham Radio and Fishing - Is There Anything Else??
I'm Ultra-Conservative - Rush is a Liberal

[Gotta Catchem All]

Digging up an old'ish post but I really like this one... I was wondering what camera you use? I feel like the salt spray would come into play a lot in choosing a camera in these conditions. And it seems like you got a few good pictures!
just to mention the bluefish pic and the tight loops pic

[snakecan2]

awesome report.. bet you and your buddies took home a lot of memories.
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Fish and Hunt Baby.... so tight lines and clear scopes.

[Tyler]

One of the best epic reports ever and on Flies!
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[noskunk]

Thanks Tyler and everyone else.

These pics were shot with Canon 30D, 5D, and 6D bodies depending on which one of us was shooting at the time. As you can imagine salt ruins everything in time. We all just try to prolong the inevitable whether it is a truck, a reel, or a camera.

[Towboat Trash]

Noskunk,

I read this report and loved it so much I was just telling Jeff all about it the other day on the beach. In fact, I was telling him that this report PROVES that myself and none of the rest of us can fish worth a toot. I've never seen such great photos and such great colors and such a good eye for shots in so many pics. Thanks for sharing. It's so much work but so many of us have enjoyed your post, including myself. Take care.
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[mesquitecountry]

You caught fish on fly that most flinging conventional wouldn't catch in a lifetime in one trip. Awesome stuff!!