Corpusfishing.com

[awesum]

Will be June 1 to October 26 for the for hire group. I can't help but think the recreational season will be longer too. Catches have declined the past couple of years. Any thoughts on this?

I get that this is not an offshore group here ... but WTH

[kweber]

I aint been offshore in many yrs, but 3 things Ive heard is...
1... the open season was the roughest seas for a long while, so people quit going...
2... then theres complaints of so many snaps, you cant get a bait to grouper or AJ's..
3... Rsnap and AJ seasons are diff now and usually requires 2 trips which is a
deal-breaker to many espesh w/a 2 snap limit...
going on a private charter late July, so I'll see
_________________
the creepy uncle that scares the kids....

[awesum]

Well, the problem here out of Port A is party boat red snapper trips have become a tourist affair. At all three docks. Long gone are the days that I'd fish every Wednesday with John Brennan on the Pelican 12 hr trip. Over half of the boat was fishermen and ladies with their own gear. And we knew John would find the biggest snapper, Or you could do the same with Fred Hedeman on the Gulf Eagle.

Now they load the boats and you don't see nearly as many fishermen carrying their own rod/reel as you used to. They park over structure that holds a lot of snapper and sit back while folks catch their 2 16" fish. Watching the webcams at the docks (DSH and DD) will verify this. The one exception I've found is Capt. Jake Medley on the Kingfisher.

The DF trip you're on with Capt. Matt on the Bluefin is a different story. It's a private charter not an open boat trip. Matt will find you solid snapper. I'd be on that trip too if it weren't for domestic responsibilities at home.

BTW .... red snapper and AJ seasons overlapped last year and it appears they might this year as well.


Here is a quote from Capt. Matt from the 360 site:

"I hate to say it but our fishery is not in a good place right now, by mid season it’s going to get tough. It’s going to be similar to the early 2000s. I have not measured a Red Snapper in 10 years but I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to bust out the measuring stick by the end of it."

[TexasJim]

I went out several times on DD's state water boat 8 hour trips. You can keep four red Snappers in state waters. But the big ones are further out in federal waters. From what I can tell, they mostly do four hour trips now, which is mostly boat riding and little fishing. Pass. Two trips = double tips, less diesel burned.
I read once that the commission that sets the recreational red snapper season is made up mostly of commercial snapper fishermen. ? Like having Col. Sanders baby-sit your chicks.
TexasJim
_________________
TexasJim
"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

[awesum]