what kind of fish hang around the rigs. What would you expect to catch?

You can expect to catch kings, ling ,sharks and snapper.

I got a 24' center console and I am so ready to fish the rigs and bay this year, TX coast what's the best place to fish rigs etc?

Port A probably has the closest rigs and deep water..water conditions are pretty favorable there as well.. On the other hand... the short rigs out of sabine or calcasieu pass have a ton of trout and redsand ling

Don't forget the rigs south of PA with access from Packery Channel. Also expect to find some Ling and Jack Carvele.

The rigs out of packery are only about 3 or 4 miles

cant wait, Any tips for catching them? Also I enjoy trolling, king fish in the close?

You can catch kingfish near any near shore rig as long as the water is not off-colored. Clear water will hold lots of kings. You can also catch them and ling and sharks around the anchored ships off Port A. but that is an early bite and stops around 10 AM. Learn to make your own king rigs and use quality ribbonfish. I use king buster skirts in red/white or pink/white. A good quality number 6 octopus hook with two treble hooks below or two of the #6 octopus hooks on #6 wire. The heavier wire will be easier to work with. As you get the hang of twisting the wire you can go to a lighter wire. Keep some balloons on your boat as well to float your bait about 8 feet under the balloon well behind your boat if you decide to tie onto a rig. Ground frozen chum in a mesh bag tied to a stern cleat will bring the fish to you after a 45 minute soak.

Enjoy and take a kid(s) with you!

Thanks for all the great info KQT! I have heard about the ribbon fish, but do you have to catch them or can they be purchased?

You can buy them frozen and most of the time thats what I do. You want ones that are not too beat up from the shrimper nets. Most come from bycatch. Port A Outfitters and Fishermans Wharf on the island usually have nice baits as does Roy's in Corpus. You can catch them at night under lights and I do that from time to time if I am fishing a tournament. Fresh hook caught are the best. Sorry but I can't share where I catch them in Port A. I have a place that will let me fish but is a no-no to others.

Come down to Corpus/Port A. All the kings you want inside state waters.

-Poo

I understand, I can't wait.

I don't know about this time of year, but we went down there in June and hit the rigs 5 miles off the shore from Corpus. We did excellent. My buddy went back down 10 days later and blanked.

I got this ling there:



We had a limit of kings also and had some bull reds also. We free lined frozen ribbon fish and sardines.

Also have a video from that trip. We hooked a sting ray that was 7 feet wide. The power of this animal was unbelievable. Took three of us 45 minutes to get in to the boat. Cut it free once we got it to the boat. It looked way too large, angry and dangerous to mess with. A man has got to know his limitations.

JesseX thanks for the info, what kind of fishing rig were you using? Weights hooks etc?

Used a king fish rig for the ribbon fish. Looks just like this one:



Did not use any weight.

On the sardines, just hooked'em in the face through the nostril with a 6/0 hook and tossed them out. No weight.

All the reels had 80lb braided line. Did not use any leaders or things of that nature.

Just did a simple cast out the back of the boat about 40 feet and just kicked back and waited. It did not take long for the fun to start. No doubt when you had a bite since the rod would double over. Fish would hook themselves.

I hope you get some fish. Pictures required.