Well took off to the nueces river, Started fishing in george west first no white bass their. So took off to swinney switch,tx , and started fishing for whites well let me tell you i found them, only bagged 4 males on a rattle trap, and a pink crappie jig, saw a few working the top next week should be good.

Thanks for the report !
Rio

Sounds good! I got my introduction to Texas fishing on the Nueces two years ago during the run. The water was low and the area around the airport launch was producing really well. I don't know where swinney switch is in relation to the airport launch but hopefully it will be the same as two years ago. I am going to make a trip or two down there again this year. I have a canoe so the low water is perfect for me.

I'll be heading out in the morning should be alittle warmer maybe them sandies will bite better. Might have to get the kayak in the water caught all those males fishing from the bank.I'll out another report out tomorrow.

Hey Guy's, How is the water level at the hwy 59 bridge? I have been getting my boat ready (2004 Nitro Bay Boat 18 ft). This is the time of year I live for I can't wait to get into some whites.

Dude, it is Waaaay Low! I hope that boat of yours has an incredibly shallow draft or you'll be scraping hard on logs and detritus. Kayak or john boat is the only way to go right this minute.

yeah he's right dude, leave the boat at home little john boat or kayak is the way to go, hell i caught them from shore. Yeah i'll be out their bright and early on monday weather is looking promising. Goin to be fishing under the bridge in swinney switch,tx alot of stumps and trees that's where i caught the stringer of white bass.

Is there any place to launch a kayak at bridge in Swinney Switch,Tx? Or is there a boat launch near by?

I checked it out a couple weeks back and there is no way to launch anything bigger than a jon boat. There are ripples about 50 yards downriver from the ramp! Looks like this year will be 100% Choke for me...

I checked the reservior levels and Choke appears to be right at 12' low which means 99 should be down to pretty much river channel.

I've had the best luck in the past at Choke when the water level was restricted to the channel, and it makes finding the whites a little easier.

What lake do these whites come from?

If you are asking about the Nueces whites, they come up from lake Corpus Christi aka Mathis lake.

Something else to consider. In years past I've always caught more fish From the airport ramp and 59 bridge, BUT, I've caught bigger fish out of choke. Quantity versus Quality.

I've been fishing the Nueces (downriver from 59) for over 30 years and we caught the biggest we've ever caught last year. It was early and we filled the livewell with about 35 that were all over a pound and 4 that were over 2 lbs! We could have caught our limits, but not enough room!
Historically, Choke has produced bigger fish for us but we've had a problem finding them the past couple years. As mentioned before, maybe the lake being down may help a little this year.

Last year was a good year with the water level was as high as it's ever been and you could go all the way up to the traditional shallow riffles up river.

We also caught our biggest fish that we ever caught on three trips in a row where we limited out on huge whites.

A typical two man limit of 50 whites will fill a standard igloo with a bag of ice and still have room to close the lid, but last year on those three trips we had to use two regular igloos to those two limits of whites, which were the biggest I've ever caught out of that river in 30 years.

It's a shame the water is so low this year but it's worth a try.

Last year, the water level was high and you had to go several miles upriver from airport launch to reach prime spots to catch limits of whites. However, year before last the water level was low and you could catch limits just a few hundred yards upriver from airport launch. So, the low water level may not be all bad.

What size jon boat & motor would work best? Could I launch a jon boat off a trailer from the hwy 59 ramp or would I be better off getting a canoe and focus on fishing up river from the airport ramp? I don't want to miss the white bass run. I love fishing these river.

Checked the recent lake level, and it shows Lake Corpus Christi to be at 82.48 below the pool level of 94.00 so that's 11 1/2 feet low.

Since the depth of the water at the launch last year when it was full was at the most maybe 6' to 7' deep, that means what water is there is going to be in the deeper pools, with a lot of riffles seperating those pools.

It's going to depend on how far those whites will be able travel upstream going from pool to pool, and that will depend on the depth of the shallow riffles between those pools.

Not having eyeballed the river yet, I would only say a small light weight jon boat or aluminum rig, that one man can easily handle launching alone, and a canoe or kayak would be you next best choice.

I say small because you will probably be doing a lot of pulling and pushing that boat over those shallow sand bars and gravel bars to get from pool to pool.

If anyone goes out this weekend please report back. I got 9 year old twins dying to get into the white bass. Fished the run the last couple of years and we had a blast. I have a 10' Pelican mini bass boat, I should'nt have any problem with any of the launches. Just need help finding them because the kid's attention spans are short and get they fustrated easy with no fish biting.
Thanks in advance for any reports me and the kids appeciate it.

I think a lot of you are over anticipating how much water is there. Like Jimbo said the river level is dependent on the lake level of Lake Corpus Christi-currently 82.48 ft. The run two years ago in 2010 when the water was low, the lake was at 88.0 ft. This makes a huge difference. The other factor is the river flow, currently the flow is 34 cfs which is standard low flow from choke. The river flow during 2010 during the peak run was 100-120 cfs.

Where the first set of riffles occur coming upstream of the lake will be the spot to be. Unfortunately I would guess that this is much farther down river of the 59 bridge, but I really don't know.

All this being said without me even seeing the river in person.

You are correct, and year before last that 120 cfs was just a little more than a trickle and I had to drag my kayak across some pretty shallow areas that only had a small area near the bank that a fish could swim upstream without getting a sunburn.

I'd hate to think what it would be now with that low a flow.

There will be water there since there are plenty of deep holes that as long as there is somewhat of a flow they will fill up and hold standing water and some fish.

Going south from 59 are some holes that were 20 to 25 feet deep but there are plenty of shallow areas also further downstream that with the low flow right now might not be passable for the fish.

I'd hate the taste of crow so don't anyone take my word for it, and it's best to check yourself, and be sure to have a plan B,C, and D.

The Alternate plans are already in the works for next weekend: B. go to the airport ramp and see how far my 14 ft jon boat can make it up river, if no fish after half a day, C. go to 59 bridge and work down from there with said jon boat, then D. go home skunked if necessary (hopefully not).

So has anyone been out since i posted the reports, 2 more days and i'll be on the river if anyone heads out to airport let me know how you do but my opinion i dont think the whites will be that far this year and i might be wrong.

Hey wrknonit, What size motor do your have on your jon boat? Do you trailer it or just throw it in the back of a pickup?