There is a good chance that I will be spending several months in the Harlingen area for work. If so, I'll be dragging my boat down for some bay fishing. It's been a long time since I've fished that bay around South Padre and I'm not very familiar with the water in that area. Does anyone have any advice as far as fishing spots and tackle go?
Thanks,
Casey

You will be limited unless you have a tunnel hull. Without a tunnel hull you will probably need to stay on the loweer part of the bay or in the IC Waterway. The jetties will be holding almost everything from trout to tarpon until Fall. The Brownsville ship channel has snook and mutton snapper. You can fish the Long Bar area with any kind of boat. Get a map and study it or better yet, get a guide for a half day trip to show you where you can safely fish and travel. I usually fish with spinning tackle and 8 lb. test line with a short piece of 20 lb. shock leader. Good luck.

Thanks skeeter.

I have a 19' bay stealth. It's not a tunnel hull but it runs pretty shallow. I can remember being on that bay as a kid in a 24' pontoon boat and not having too many problems. Granted we did drag bottom several times. Is Jim's pier still in business?

Jim's Pier is open as far as I kinow. You should have plenty of areas to fish, but be aware, the bottom changes quickly and it is very easy to run aground when you are outside of the ICW, especially the farther north that you go. This time of year, the tides start to get low, the water is hot and the fish seem to like the deeper water in the ICW.

Sorry for the confusion, I meant mangrove snapper, not mutton snapper in my original post.

Hey Striper- Do you have a jack plate on your motor?

Running shallow is good, but when you kick off the big motor to drift, getting up is where you'll have problems.

skeeter's right, it gets real skinny, real fast and without any obvious signs ( except at low tide, you can see where you don't want to go!).

I've had to walk a 16 foot scooter out about 1/2 mile after stopping in some off-color water that I couldn't tell was only about 10"!

Good luck and take a drift anchor!

No jack plate but I have a trolling motor. Not the best way to get around but it beats walking the boat out. I'm pretty sure my boat will float in about 6" with the big motor pulled up out of the water. I had it in CC Bay last winter and whatever the mud flats down by the university are called I had no problems with.

what kind of fishing do u whant to do spec,red, flownder,sandtrout,whitee,mangrovesnaper,sheephead

In order by priority:
1. Reds
2. Specs
3. Flounder
4. Sheepshead

I can make it a little outside the jetty's in my boat but I'm not interested in going very far out by myself, nor in a 19' boat. That being said, I wouldn't mind getting into some kingfish, mahi, snapper, shark or tuna somewhere near the island if possible.

u can do it two ways 1 is two call up a friend of mine and pay him about 350$ he will put you on the fish or i will tell u what to do and try ur luck.U don't have to go to the getties

If your staying in Harlingen, Arroyo City is probably alot closer to get in the water, and the fishing is just as good. You might want to look into using the ramps there at thomae park.

Casey,
these guys are right. You really do need a tunnel hull and jack plate to access 95% of the prime fishing. I grew up in the Valley and have fished the LLM since 1978. I have been stuck many, many times on this bay...even with a shallow sport. If you want to shoot me an email, I will give you my phone number and would be happy to share with you what you CAN access in your boat. lepurvis@tx.rr.com Another option is to get a kayak and put it in your boat, anchor up in the intercoastal waterway and paddle the flats. The fishing patterns are very predictable this time of year. Lots of sightfishing if you know where to look. Also, surfer dude is right, Adolph Thomae park in Arroyo City has a boat ramp. If you follow the Arroyo out to the bay, it dumps you out right in the middle of the bay with easy access to prime spots north and south. Its alot better than launching on the island and making a long run to the fish. I heard Jim's Pier has been sold and will be torn down for a real estate development along with Louie's and a bunch of other places there on the water front. One more piece of advice, Scott Sparrow has a great website, www.lagunamadre.net with really detailed fishing reports. Sparrow is probably the best guide I have ever fished with on the LLM. Hope this helps.

Lou

Bottom line is I want to catch reds first and foremost. If I have to walk to the fish I will do it. If I put in at Arroyo will it put me near enough that I can do some fishing without much trouble?

Striper,
I grew up in the Valley. Your 19' Bay Stealth will do fine even without a tunnel. You can fish from the Causeway in Port Isabel up to Gas Well flats from the ICW to back side of the Island. From Gas Well flats, which is on the south side of the "Three Islands" area, to the Saucer area, just south of Port Mansfield, is mostly very shallow flats. You will see lots of flats boats running down there. The problem with most of the guides fishing out of S. Padre Island is that they fish flats boats and run across areas you can't in your boat. You will catch fish with those guides but you won't learn where to fish in your boat. Look for a guide who fishes deeper water. Better yet, ask if they will guide you in your boat, like Roy Greer does on Lake Fork. Then he will take you only to places you know you can go in your boat. The cost will be about half if you find one who will do that.

One of the best areas to fish is the deeper flats just north of the Causeway and just east of the ICW. Look for areas that have clear pockets in the grass. You will be in about 3' to 5' of water and the trout like to hang on the edges of the pockets. Early morning they will be shallow, then they move out with the heat of the morning. There are lots of other areas to fish with your rig which you can reach by running in the ICW than motoring into the flats. The wind blows all summer long from the SE, so set up your drifts up-wind so you drift back to the channel, then run back up and do it again. Shallow water it a problem around and above Three Islands, so concentrate on the areas south of there. Lots of good water to fish.

In the summer months, the surf can get very calm and the blue water can come in as close as one mile off the end of the jetties. Look for tarpon off the north jetty channel side early in the morning. Look for spanish mackeral schooling under the birds south of the south jetty. On good days you will find king mackeral within 3 miles of the south jetty.
Good luck

Thanks for the info Fluke! That's the best news I've heard all day.

The first and only Mahi I've caught was on a ribbon fish inside the jetties. Good times!