Hi Harry,

Sorry for the delayed response. If you want to catch a big red it's best to use big bait and a big hook. The mullet pieces I use are about the size of a computer mouse. As for hooks, I use circle only, about two inches or a little more in diameter.

I've caught big reds close in and way, way out. In general, I seem to have more luck the farther out I can cast. Try to get your bait into the deepest water you can. If that doesn't work after an hour or so, try moving it in 30 or 40yds and letting it soak a while longer.

Good luck! Hope you catch something big. And if you do, I'd like to hear about it here.

Matt

One of our group went north a few miles a few days ago and caught a 26" red...his first ever. He caught it on shrimp, along with a nice pompano and a few whiting. We caught almost nothing here that day. This morning was lousy too, just a few whiting but made a nice breakfast.

Would it be legal to use a chunk of whiting for bait? Couldn't find anything on whiting in the fishing regulations.

Thanks,
Harry

Whiting is not considered a "game fish" so it would be fine for bait.

Use the whole dang whiting. Cut it's tail to put blood and smell in the water.

Went fishin' Saturday and today, Sunday at #5. The catch was a few small whiting both times. Not a great catch at all. Lots of fishermen fishing. Some were using fresh caught sand shrimp pumped from the beach. For those of you that stayed home, you did good!

Fished the Spi #5 on the beach yesterday. Caught only small Whiting and put them back. The wind was very strong and the waves got progressively worse as time went on. I think we stayed longer than all, because when we finally left, there were no other fishermen fishing. Not a good day to fish!

Ugh, fighting wind and waves all day is not fun, especially if you're not catching anything.

I'm hoping to go Super Bowl weekend. Will probably drive all the way to the jetties try to net some live bait. Hope to pull some big reds and maybe some nice whiting. Hope weather cooperates.

Friend of mine is out at High Island tonight, sent this pic

Pic & full details

WOW, that's a beaut!! Making my heart pound! Looks like he needs a tag.

Did some fishing one day last week out on the surf of South Padre Island just above #5 beach access. The waves were crashing on shore and it was hard to hold the bottom...had to use a 'spider' weight which did the job nicely. The tide was pretty high, came across the road almost to where the car was parked near the garbage bins. In fact, we had to leave earlier than planned due to the rise of the water. No big deal apparently, since we didn't do very well in the fishing department anyway. The 4 Whiting we did catch were too small to keep!! I'm hoping something is gonna give and the fish will come back...seems like when the red tide left us alone, so did the fish.

Went fishing today, Monday Feb 20!!
The beach was littered with seaweed. Tide was coming in all the while I fished. Had to wear my chest waders because there were "Man o War" jellyfish also on the beach. First cast I caught a 19" Pomoano!! It had been attacked by something while I was reeling it in to shore and had a chunk out of it's back to prove it. Used the "FISH BITES" bait to catch another lot of Whiting. We were getting 2 at a time for awhile. Kept 12 real nice ones and threw the smaller ones back.
It was a good day at the surf, the fish have come back from their vacation!!!

Fishlady, I was surf fishing on the 24th and caught some decent whiting, I am new to saltwater fishing, I couldn't find any info in the texas fishing rules about pompano, is there a legal size limit? How do you cook whiting?

No rules on Pompano that I know of here in TX. As for cooking Whiting, I just dust the fillets in fish fry and drop 'em in hot oil for a few minutes. A very few minutes, as you want the fish to remain moist and not dry. Whiting tends to cook quickly and it will continue to cook even while out of the oil and sitting on the paper towels used to soak up the excess oil. The Pompano is cleaned like a flounder. You will get 4 fillets out of it when done. Cut the meat out as close to the bone as possible. Remove all the red meat from the fillet. You can also deep fry those fillets the same way, but it will need a minute or two more to cook through. The texture of the cooked Pompano is very different from Whiting.
Enjoy your treasure!!

Nice reports,FL-Fishlady. I miss fishing down there.

I hear the fishing has improved. Whiting are still being caught. I will be going again tomorrow and will give my report of the situation. Wish me luck!

Ive been fishin off bob hall for the past 2 days. We filled a cooler full of whiting, caught 6 pompano, 5 rays, a 8lbs sheephead, an a 23" red. Bout to head out to PINS for a week, going after shark using everything we caught at bob hall but the red for bait.

Went to South Padre Island to do some surf fishing for the last time this season. The beach was cluttered with weed, not the leafy kind, but the grapevine kind (don't know the name). We were the only ones fishing as far as I could see. The tide was really high and had to use 4# Spider Weights to hold the bottom. Kept getting caught on weeds that would drag the line. There were many Man O War Jellies littered on the sand also. In the midst of all this, I ended up with 6 nice Whiting for my efforts.

Good luck to all !!! Hope to get this way again. You will hear from me when I get to Aransas Pass and begin fishing there.

Big Cat Hunter thanks for the report on the Corpus Christi area you did great!! I'll be headed that direction come march 15. Hope to do well there too.