Fished the surf today. Caught a 23" Redfish and lots of Whiting (kept the whiting and red), a few small Jack Cravelle and 2 Pompano (those were released) in 3 1/2 hours. Had a blast!! Took a good while to clean all the whiting we kept. Now ready for a big fish fry!!

Some folks look down on whiting , not me , i love them . great taste , just need a little size to them .

awesome!!!

If you do not mind, what was the bait?

I shelled and salted a pound of shrimp overnight from HEB and used them. Worked just great and stayed on my hook even with all the current of the surf!
Of course, the fish didn't give the shrimp time to come off the hook on it's own. They were too hungry.
http://photobucket.com/fishladyfishingpics

Caught 11 more Whiting yesterday, Tuesday. Lots of small 'Jacks' and Pompano were released. Having a blast!! YUM

Fl-Fishlady, are you feeling any red tide affects? I will be down there on the 22nd for a week and just wondering how it is.

Thanks.

No problem with red tide here as far as I know.

Went fishing today, Thursday for about 4 hours in the surf and caught 17 Whiting.

Fishlady,

Which beach access # do you go to if you don't mind me asking. I going take my kids surfishing this weekend and how do you rig it I'm noob on surfishing.

Tx,
Fishatwork

Welcome to the forum, Fishatwork!
Now to get down to business,,, I like #5 because it is the easiest for us without 4x4. The water level has been high and the roadway gets wet but it is a hard surface to drive on. Check with the ranger station as to whether there may be 'man of war' jellies on the beach and in the water as we were there yesterday and saw a few small ones about the size of a quarter. It would be a complete downer if the kids or grownups got in contact.
We just use a 'double drop' with the weight on the bottom.
Enjoy your day.

thanks for the info fishlady! appreciate your help.

Tide was really high last night, almost had you on the dunes in access 5. Helped push a car out and decided to head to the bay instead (2wd). a few small specks and sand-trout's, lots of baitfish action.

Another great few hours fishing the SPI surf. Caught a total of 34 today!! Eating so much fish, gonna grow fins and gills! lol
Certainly having a blast this year!!
http://photobucket.com/fishladyfishingpics

Where exactly were you fishing?

Fishing about 1/2 mile north of #5 beach access. Casting to the first cut. Using a bait I buy at H.E.B. in Port Isabel called "Fish Bites", shrimp flavor in pink, orange and green. I cut it to about 1" pieces and put the # 3/0 circle hook through once. I like to use a 2 oz. spider weight to hold the bottom when it's rough out there.
Went there today...Wednesday Nov. 23, only caught 2 whiting, 5 croakers and 1 huge Ladyfish in 2 1/2 hours. The surf was really rough today and the wind out of the north was blowing cool air which made me feel chilly in my wet clothes. Left earlier than planned. Plus the tide was really high..it flowed across the road almost up to where the car was parked alongside the trash cans

Great report. I wish I was there!

Was out fishing this morning and stayed until noonish. Caught 22 Whiting and the whiting are getting bigger!!! 12" - 16" was the norm for today's catch, Thursday Dec. 1. Way more volume of fillets than the day I caught 33!! There were aerosols from red tide evident at #5 beach access but no dead fish. We coughed most of the day while there. Used the "fish bites" artificial bait again. Works great!!

nice report

Fished farther north just past #6 but the fish did not comply today. Only one whiting for about 3 hours of effort. Goes to show, you just never know...

A group of us winter Texans have been fishing the surf near Isla Grande for a month and a half.

Lots of Pompano, whiting and a few black drum but little else. Have been fishing exclusively with dead shrimp. Is there a reasonable expectation of catching anything else this time of year? Are there different fish further north along the beach?

Thanks,
Harry

Harry,

What king of bait are you using and how far out are you fishing?

I have caught bull red year round from the beach. I've had best success with large chunks of mullet. If the mullet is big enough, cut off the head about and inch behind the gill plates. Stays on your hook, hard for the crabs and little fish to pick off, and the bull reds love it. It's hard to catch mullet this time of year. You'll probably need to buy them.

Good luck.
Matt

Hi Matt,

We've been using dead shrimp exclusively. I've bought some squid and FishBites and will likely try both in the next while. Also plan on chucking some hardware with a light spinning rod...that 12 footer gets heavy after a few hours.

We've been casting into the foam just behind the second sand bar (my side)out. When fishing has slowed down I've tried pretty close to shore and have caught some of my biggest fish there.

Any tips on size of mullet pieces and hook sizes? Or where in the surf you cast to?

Thanks,
Harry

Went fishing Thursday, 12th and caught a huge Pompano and 23 nice sized whiting. The bite turned on and off all day depending on when the schools came by. Casting 10 foot rods on the far side of the first cut.

I'll be heading back out surf fishin' on Saturday, and will let you know how things went. Should be a good day to fish.

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.