Going to padre
any info on how to fish b.h. and what to expect would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.

Hey Texsam. You fish the pier as you would the surf in general pretty much. Lots of folks use live shrimp, croakers etc for trout and redfish , flounder etc. Or you can use fresh dead shrimp. For trout I fish under a popping cork with a pretty small treble hook and split shot for weight. I usually fish at night on the piers. During the day the piggy perch steal your bait so fast it can be maddening. If you fish on the bottom you will most likely be plagued by hard-head catfish and crabs. So I stay off it myself. Out on the end of the pier is where the shark fishermen hang out. I tend to stay out of their way unless I am fishing for them myself. You don't have to fish any farther than the second gut during the day to catch some nice trout, and actually they are in the first gut at night. Then again so are the big fish with teeth ( which is why I curtail wade fishing the surf at night.) Sometimes this time of year you get lucky and the blue water comes in right off the T-head...and sometimes past it. When this happens you stand a good chance of catching some of the offshore species, such as kings and pompano. What a treat that is. Get you some small 50 cent size sand crabs and fish them with about a 3 foot leader on a short but heavy single barb hook for sheepshead. Fish it right next to the pier pylons. That's where they are actively feeding most of the day for barnacles and crabs. You can usually see them if you look. Fun as the devil to catch, hard to clean, but just about the best tasting fish out there. You can catch trout flounder and reds with plastic DOA shrimp, or bass assassins or those type lures. Glo in the dark , chartreuse and hot pink always work best for me. Mirrolures are awesome in the surf too. On your live bait. The big fish want big baits most of the time. You'll usually not catch trophy size trout for instance on a live shrimp...unless it's a really big jumbo. Try a live croaker or piggy perch instead. The regulars down there usually have one of those fancy nets to haul them up the long distance to the pier. At the very least have good stout line and equipment, That doesn't mean it has to be giant Penn reels and 12 foot poles, but you know what I mean. Pier is busy in the day, not so much after say 10:00 at night depending on time of year. Weekends of course are busier. I'm by no means a saltwater expert. But I have fished ol' Bob Hall off and on for over fifty years. Even fished it back when it was the longest pier in the U.S., before a couple of hurricanes took care of that title. Man it was cool back then. Good luck, Hope this help some.

Thanks davey
great info,

I was there in the early 80's when a new record hammer head was caught. 8'8" I believe off the end of the pier.
http://www.city-data.com/articles/Bob-Hall-Pier-Corpus-Christi-Texas.html#b

Catching trout under popping corks is fun. Plus the bonus Redfish on occasion will challenge your set ups.

I haven't got a recent report, but back in the 1950s the pier was noted for excellent big Tarpon fishing.
It was a real treat to see 4 or 5 of them in the air at once. Awesome fishing. Hope you do real well.

Fishing at BH and the Packery Channel have been excellent last week. Clear blue water moved in, no sea weed, and reds and drum are running. Fish BH at night for best results. North/East Tip of Packery jetties are producing solid reds/black drum. Water is clear so you an see bait fish schooling. Free line live shrimp for trout. Reds are hitting good on cut bait, avoid dead shrimp. That's the biggest mistake I see people making here. Bite has been excellent early (6-10) and late (5-8) Fair even at slack tide. If you're in the area anyway, fish CLEMS early. It's $2, but worth it. (It's under the bridge at the ICW) If you're targeting larger reds, try Crab.
No need to over do it on tackle, normal set ups will work.
Good Luck.

THIS is what I love about TFF helpful people giving good advice .I do
the same. Thanks to ALL.

These might be of interest to some...
Bob Hall Pier Fishing
Texas Fishing Piers

thanks for the info.
Me, mykids and grand kids spent 4 days on padre and had GOOD TIME.the 3 day pass at B.H. is worth the money.
We caught small to medium fish of several species.

Conditions look great there lately! I will be there in a few weeks and can't wait. Check out corpusfishing.com too. Tyler puts a video up nearly every morning from just north of Bob Hall.

You see any bigguns caught while you were there texsam? And how did the water look? Much seaweed?

Davey
Truth be known my grand kids were more intrested in the pool and sea shells.Ionly went about 4 times
for about 1 to2 hours. I fished the first and second gut.mid day .no night time or early morning.Asyou can see
it was mostly about the family.no biggies caught while Iwas there .but Ihad fun and thanks to ALL forthe helpful info.If I EVER learn anything of intrest I will return the favor.

DAVEY 2
sorry, water good ,clear and no seaweed.

I don't fish the piers or jetties anymore but reading about it makes me want to go again. We used to fish Horace Caldwell from 1:00 am to 3:00am every night and caught tons of trout and reds. We stopped going when the light over our hotspot went out and the county wouldn't replace it. 20 years ago now I wonder if it's back in action.