Corpusfishing.com

[Jestnomen]

I've spent hundreds of dollars on new fishing equipment and even bought a fishing Kayak and I still can't catch a fish! I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but nothing I do seems to work in the last 10ish times out. The only thing I've caught are two very small reds and some really ugly bottom feeder looking creatures.

Things I have tried:

Gold spoon, plastic bass assassin type worm on red jig head, minolure, mullet (live/dead), piggy perch, rubber shrimp (doa and gulp)/live shrimp

I have tried fishing in 4 areas:

N/S Packery jetties, packery bridge area under 361, the surf by Bob Hall pier and on the south side of the causeway including humble channel.

Can anyone help me out with some suggestions? Am I in the wrong places? I'm about to go crazy.

[Bluffer]

Keep trying & take the yak to the powerlines by the Boathole. Launch at Demmit pier.
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-STAY THIRSTY MY FRIENDS!-

[kweber]

get a six-pack, pot of coffee, big iced tea, whatever you like, then search back thru this site and read. there's so much info here, that it'll take you mucho tiempo to go thru it all. to narrow it down, click on topics that name spots you know. read and go from there. wanna fish spoons? use the search feature and go from there.
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the creepy uncle that scares the kids....

[RedHead Fisher]

try shamrock cove area . even if you don't catch, it's a beautiful area to kayak . endless spots to try . . . hope that's not anyones secret spot . tried to be as general as possible

[OutCast]

Top three things imo to watch for to help you catch fish.
1. Tide/Current- gotta have something,still water is bad water usually.
2. Barometer- Can be tricky fish deep/slow when high(above 29.90) and normal when low (below 28.80)
3. Feeding/Moon phases- happen twice a day( moon overhead and moonunder foot)

These three things all happening together usually add up to fish in the box not Jack in the Box.

The places you are fishing generally hold good numbers of all types of fish.

Fishin is hard work...and some folks are still the chiefs and the rest of us mere indians.
The Golla's
IMS
TightLine
Just to name a few in no particular order.

Haven't humped any legs in a while, thats sic...

[ccbobber]

welcome to the board. i have learned the little i know by: fishing with others, going fishing with others, watching others and copying their equipment and learning to use it the way those catching fish use it.
ask questions but just as important is watch and learn.
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ccbobber

[ironmanstan]

Hi, this is ims, without knowing you or the gear you are using all we can do is shoot some advise at you. First I'm going to guess that you are being stealthy in your yak when approaching your fishing zone, and that someone has not been ahead of you sloshing around and spooking the fish. I'm going to assume that you are casting from your yak in a sitting posisition, which tells me you are down low which adds to the stealth thing. If you are bringing in all kinds of bottom feeders then your retrieve is not to fast but maybe a little slowish. I like mine to bounce just off the top of the grass just out of reach of the lizard fish. If i'm dragging in grass i'm to slow. If all i'm catching is trout i'm a little too fast for my redfish friends. I like using 8lb test with a 14 lb flourcarbon test leader no snaps or swivels, 1/8 oz jig head and bull minnows. The laguna is very forgiving on the lighter test line. One big thing is consistancy on the water. You can't get your game down if your not out there.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[snakecan2]

Welcome aboard.. and practice, practice, practice, and more practice.. cuz, you are in for a good time..
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Fish and Hunt Baby.... so tight lines and clear scopes.

[follr]

Key is not getting discouraged. This site and the people on it are very helpful. You came to the right place. Use the search function on the forum here, or do what I did when I fist got here. Go back to the first post and read through the posts. Note the times of years and what people were fishing with. Sometimes they give you a clue or two about where they were.

When the family and I started out, all we could catch was pin and piggy perch for about 2 months. We must have caught about 3 million of them. Then as we learned (moved around) we started catching more and more. Now, we’ve gone back to some of our older pin and piggy perch locations and we’ve pulled trout, reds and even a few other fish. Sure you’ll get that bottom feeding stuff sometimes.

I learned a lot from watching others fishing. Depending on what fish you’re targeting and where you’re fishing, you might try a different rig. Trout are hawks. They have good vision and can see terminal tackle very well. Redfish in the right situations will eat anything, including but not limited to: chewed bubble gum, jalapenos, and even a stinky old cigarette butt. The “key” is watching the details of the videos. The cast, the retrieve, the locations, etc. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

[frayed]

Jest, just remember:



I'm kidding: great group of folks here with lots practical advice and tips. I too am struggling a bit with only intermittent success, so I've taken up reading a lot when I'm not on the water. I've simplified my approach by sticking with live/dead baits for now and hope to grow out of them, since there's no thrill greater than a big speck blowing up a topwater.

I think the books on this site are good reads and may help you out a bit. They have for me.
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Jeff

Get Busy

[GoinCoastal]

If you really want to LEARN

1. then you need to go with people who KNOW... friends, forum members, etc.

BUT the best way is is to hire a guide. And there are several here on this board that can teach you a lot. Capt Mike & Bayslammer to mention a couple.

And, I will also offer this to you. Capt Dean Thomas, who specializes in kayak fishing, offers a 3-day Kayak Fishing School with both classroom & on-the-water instruction there in Aransas Pass. It will bring you up to speed much faster than plugging away on your own. It is reasonably priced and he covers some really good info including some of the biology of your prey. Check it out @ http://www.texaskayakfishingschool.com/

2. Keep a log!!!! I wish I had years ago. But I never did. Now, I've done it so long, I pretty much know where & what produces given certain conditions (after repeating many of bad things over & over ...dumb supple bum!!). But starting out..... a detailed fishing log of every trip good or bad can be one of your best tools. You need to record location, weather, tide, water clarity, depths, lure used, what worked, what didn't (patterns), and of course, your catch. This data will help you to figure out the whats & whens that you will need to know. When you find one that works, try to repeat it and try to repeat it somewhere else that has similar conditions.. Likewise don't be afraid to try something that didn't work in different conditions. BUT KEEP RECORDS OF ALL OF IT!!!!!

3. Go as often as you can and just keep trying

[texmike]

Welcome to the board. I'm going to give it to you straight. If Capt. Paw Paw and IMS would stay off the water for just one day the rest of us would have a chance. Couple of the best dang fishermen I've known. There are others but I don't really know them like I do these guy's.

This is a great bunch here, don't be affraid to ask anything. You might get razzed a little, just ask IMS, but all in all a good group.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock.
Will Rogers

[2salty4U]

Welcome to the board. Just this past weekend my wife and I learned some stuff. And it was our umpteenth time out. Price per fish has finally dropped below $500 and still falling!

In other words, take that 11th trip and enjoy it. The advice I've read on this thread is as good as it gets - and I appreciate your asking for it - it helps all of us.

[Damo]

Try Fish Pass Jetties in Mustang Island State Park.
Fish the surf side of the south jetty on the park side.
Cast net up some mullet. Try free lining, a lemon rig, fish finder rig on the bottom, under a cork, whatever you find works.
I've had times when I couldn't get a sniff on really good looking live finger mullet but would catch slot reds when I cut the bait in half and fished on the bottom. Go figure.
Try the end before the rocks jut up, the middle where the rocks stick out, and the pocket at the base. Don't be put off that the wade gut is knee high. Pull your bait off the edge into the deeper water at the base and let the rip bounce the bait back up the pocket running adjacent to the rocks.
Plastics like TTF trout and red killers in pumpkinseed / chartreuse work if you have no bait.
Good luck. You'll find 'em sooner or later.
Damo
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Don't let your meat loaf - Cheech Marin

[Ol Sanch]

I would agree that you shouldn't get discouraged, but I also understand it's discouraging not catching fish. Maybe what I suggest will be helpful to you.

If you insist on using soft plastics, topwaters, etc. Then the fishing is likely to be a little tougher for someone who is new to it. So, I would suggest you hire a guide, as someone else suggested. They can give you lots of information on line, presentation, etc, etc. All the high tech stuff.

If you just want to catch some fish so you won't be frustrated, then TO ME, the easiest way is to fish with live shrimp either under a poping cork or freelined, at the jetties. Any jetties, really, but apparently Packery is hot right now. You will catch all sorts of stuff, which will help you learn your gear and help you learn to id various fish. You will need lots of tackle because you will loose some on the rocks, and you will need a bubbler, not a bait bucket you put in the water, but one that makes bubbles. Not the one you hook up to a car battery but the kind that run on D batteries. Don't put your hand in the water, use a net to get the shrimp. Sunscreen kills them.

Good luck. And remember to be thankful you can even go fishing. For me its been way too long.

Ol Sanch