I am currently in Port Aransas spending time with the family and was looking to get a little bay action while I'm here. I went down this morning to the Mustang Island Park and fished the "fish pass" on the north side, about 200 yards short of the bay. I was using fat boy corkys, live shrimp rigged under a cork and bass assassins in electric chicken color and shrimp in electric chicken as well. I was there for 5 hours and was note able to get a single bite, only had my live shrimp stolen a couple of times, even though i saw trout jumping about every 5 seconds all around me. This is the first time I fish the bay and am pretty sure I am doing something wrong. Any help will be appreciated as I am only going off things I have read online.

or any spots where I could fish the bay from the shore or wade it would be great also.

Those were mullet jumping, not trout.

Go try the area just north of Fish Pass, known as Wilson's Cut.

Try the surf if it's calm enough.

Try Packery Channel. Both the jetties and area around the backside of the island.

Try Charlie's Pasture

Try the JFK Causeway

Try the Port A/Aransas Pass Causeway.

Good luck.

What kind of bait or lure should I be using, What type of structure should I be casting at. I have been fishing for bass quite a while, do the same principles apply, fish the structure, drop offs, etc..? I have seen people fishing the small shallow pools that form around the pass, is that a good spot? Basically what should I look for, sorry for the questions I am just hoping to make this a permanent hobby now that I have recently acquired a kayak and would like to fish the bays more often. Thanks in advance.

Pm sent

Try shallow water early and move deeper as the sun rises. By 10-11 AM you should be fishing 4'-8' water depth.

Reds will tend to stay shallower and feed. Trout will tend to go deeper. The hot water of the shallows lacks the oxygen that the deeper, cooler water has.

Use live shrimp, mullet, croaker, pinfish, piggie perch. My experience is that trout prefer live bait over dead bait or cut bait. Popping corks, fish finder/Carolina rigs, free lined are generally best.

Reds will eat it all.

For lures: start with topwaters early and then switch to soft plastics on 1/16 to 1/8 oz jig heads. Gulp Alive Shrimp, Trout Killers, Saltwater Assassins, paddle tails, sand eels, etc. Various hard plastics work well too. Suspending lures, rattle-traps, spinner baits, spoons. They all catch fish.

I thought piggie perch and pinfish were the same thing?

They're often called the same thing but in reality they are two different fish.

Also add glass minnows and menhaden into the list.

Haven't been able to hit the bay again, been spending time with the family but I did go to the pier last night and found a great way to keep my nephews entertained with a sabiki rig and some small pieces of cut up shrimp and squid. As soon as that thing hit the water the fish were biting, even though they were only bait fish they still had a great time, now I can't stop them from bugging me to take them back. Hopefully I'll be able to hit the bay tommorow in the afternoon for some real action. Thanks for y'alls tips as bay fishing is a completely new thing for me.

I have fun with a sabiki. Its a good way to catch free bait fish. Depending on size use them live or cut.