I am headed to new water in late August. Specifically Port Mansfield. I have seen Harbor bait & tackle on the internet and was thinking of staying there. It's right on the water with boat slips available. Since this is my first trip to the area I was wondering if anyone here had stayed there before and what your opinion was of these hotels and marina....Also on the fishing front..I do NOT have a tunnel hull..20 ft. Kenner to be exact and I know lots of the bay is extremely shallow. We had planned to do alot of wading but if anyone could point me to an area or two that tends to do well I would sure appreciate it. I have my Top Spot map complete with GPS.

Do u have a trolling motor.the problen is u can get to the flats but once u stop u can't plain back out u might be able to get out with ur trol mo .the place ur talking about is good but don't expect to find a 4 star

Barstow, here are a few recommendations. Most of the deeper water (that you will be able to access without a tunnel)is north of the harbor. I would start out running due north and stop at a very long grassy bar that Top Spot calls the "community bar". You can anchor on the leeward side of the bar and wade it. early in the morning is best. I usually throw top dogs or other walking topwater baits. From there, you can continue north along the west side which is the "King Ranch" shoreline. Look for good water clarity and working birds. You can also wade along the edge of the shoreline and often find reds working the shore in pods with their tails out of the water. Later in the day, you can work back south to the channel that runs from the harbor out to the jetties which is called the "East Cut". Just in side the mouth of the jetties on the north side is a little cove. On the west side of the cove is a small point and a pretty sharp drop off. I have caught alot of reds on that drop off with live shrimp. You can catch anything at the jetties from jack crevalles to sharks and spanish mackerel.

You can also run south out of the PM harbor and get into the Intercoastal Waterway. Once you get to about Mile Marker 165, the ICW becomes very well defined with very shallow flats on either side. If you try to run up on the flats too far, you will get stuck. There is another really nice bar you can wade on the west side of the ICW. It is very long and runs from mile marker 145 all the way down to about mile marker 161. I have routinely seen monster sow trout on this bar. It is only about a hundred yards west of the ICW. If you anchor on the southern end of the bar, you can wade down wind. Fish the east side of the bar...its deeper and the prevailing south east wind pushes bait up against that side. Also, if all else fails, head further south to where the ICW is really well defined and walk the edge of the drop off or drift fish the "Saucer". Hope this helps.

Lou

Thanks Fellas,

That is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I really appreciate your time. Tight Lines!