So who's ready for this run to start, I know i am just bought a new wilderness systems tarpon 120 rigged out and ready to get it on the water. Was thinking about heading out in 2 weeks to test it out and see if their is any sign of whitebass coming through might try for some crappie too. A buddy of mine from work has a lake house on lake and he's been telling me that after the fronts come through their slaying the crappie in the shallows around brush piles and now that the lake is high their is alot of standing brush coming out of the lake so should be a good crappie spawn this spring. Hey fellas might be a dumb question i've heard of alligators in the nueces personally i've never seen one will they bother me in my kayak or are they more scared of us and stay away just curious never been on a kayak in the river so any advice is appreciated. SEMPER FI!!!! HEY jimbo and wrkonit see yall on the river

I have been down the neuces from the airport road ramp and I have never seen one. But I have always been curious and cautious. You know they are that area. Walked kayaked, swam in that creek basically. I am looking forward to taking a trip down there as well, will proably head down there in 3 weeks so if we stagger the trips we can get a few reports going.

I will be heading down there around the second week of January. Getting my boat & gear ready as we speak. Speaking of alligators.I guess it was about 4 or 5 years ago I saw several gators down there one of them was about 6 or 7 feet long he was just sunning on the bank. Can't wait to get down there.

Heck yes. I'm also in the process of getting ready. I have been in withdrawals for a while now. I'll probably head down soon after ChiefMike. I can't tell you how badly I want to go. Kayaking from the airport should be great as long as the river is up from last years terrible condition. Look for rapid water over rocks and/or sandy bottoms. Li'l fishies, chartreuse roadrunners, tail spins are great for clear water, with live bait being better for stained water, IMO. If your gonna still fish for a while, throw yourself a tightline with some shrimp or nightcrawlers out and see if you can pick up a few gaspergoo or cats as well.

See ya on the river, marine.

We are getting ready as well. Got big boat, John boat, little boat with Trolling motor and kayaks all ready for whatever the water looks like. How deep is it at airport?

Hey there USMC, I'm winding down on my deer hunting and I just got a new RR for Christmas as if I need another, but I'm getting everything ready and will probably make a trip in the coming weeks when the weather settles down a bit.
I've fished down there years back when ice formed on the guides and you had to dip the rod into the water to thaw it so the line would slip through the eyes. We caught fish in those conditions and sometimes not, but I'm older and smarter these days.
As for the gators, they are in the river from the airport launch all the way up. I've seen three footers all the way up to 12 footers just a few yards from the ramp. One big one was sunning itself upriver on a sandy beach near a log jam about two miles up on the first hard right bend of the river, so yes, they are there. I usually don't see any until the water really gets warmed up and the really cold weather is over, usually late Feb to March, and then depending on very little boat traffic, and mostly during the week. You will know when the water is warm enough for the gators because you'll start spotting the snakes first.
Just stay away from rounding a blind corner close to the bank and you'll be OK. They'll leave you alone as long as you give them their space. I'd be more concerned with those aggressive cotton mouths than the gators in a kayak!
It's a good idea to use a small ice chest on board than to be dragging a stringer around behind that kayak. If anything, it puts your mind at ease, keeps your catch fresh and lets you concentrate on fishing should you spot one.

Sorry about the late replies fellas been busy with work and finishing up with the rest of this hunting season. Hey limp line everyday we cross the bridge going to work into geoge west the river looks really good nice and high should be no problem for the boats now and the water has a nice color to it not muddy anymore. Jimbo thanks for your advice and input, yeah your right about the cottonmouths i'll be sure to have an icechest with me instead of having the fish in the water just asking for trouble. Well I should be heading out to the river in another 2wks just to give it a try and see if i can provide a fishing report for the other fellow whitebass fanatics cause i know everyone is waiting for a good report. Lets try and make this page the main one for this whitebass season. BE PATIENT FELLAS WILL GIVE YOU A REAL UPDATE SOON.

Hey Jimbo. Hope your hunting season went well. Heres a funny one for you. about 2 years back I got a pm off one of my Nueces reports where I had said that I had killed a Water Moccasin down near the ramp. It was from someone claiming to be a herpetologist working for the TPWD and that the area we're talking about was outside the normal habitat range of these snakes and that he had never found one down there.

Can't wait to feel a few on the line. See ya later.

Hey Limp, just heard from a fella I know who works down there, who says that the river is up, and with some of the shifted trees and debris on the bottom, he recomends the Kayak or John Boat for best results. He thinks bigger boats would spend a lot of time hitting logs and sandbars.

FYI, for what it's worth.

That river from the airport upstream has always been rather shallow. It can go from five to six feet deep to long stretches of water around two to three feet and shallower near the sandbars where you have to be right up agains one of the banks in order to make it upstream. The flooding changes those sandbars and they can pop up where they haven't been, so the river constantly changes from one flood to the next.
I agree, I would not venture up in a large boat, or at least one that you can't easily get out and wade to get through a shallow part.
There is always a learning curve, even for us oldtimers especially now since it's been dry for so long, so it's a brand new river.
Since the river is full, I'll be taking the 14'er with the 15. You'll be able to go at least a couple miles up before you might get to the log jams and sandbars. At least that's what I'm thinking from past experience.
People always ask if they can put in with a full size boat, and the answer is yes, when it's full, but you'll find that it will be just a little too much boat for that narrow shallow river. You'll not be able to run on plane but for a very short distance at a time, and take a chance of hitting one of those sunken stumps. Also it's not very courteous to others who are in smaller craft like kayaks and jon boats with shallow drafts, and forcing them to have to make way for those bigger deep draft boats trying to muscle their way up river.

I'll be headed that way soon, but I go way downriver from the 59 ramp.
I've seen some huge gators down closer to the lake around Hailey Hollow area. Had to be at least 14 foot and bigger than anything I've ever seen at Choke.

Goodmorning fellas, well after work yesterday i stopped by the 59 ramp to take a look at the river it looks really good compared to last year and a real nice color to it , anyways their was man fishing under the bridge and was laying into the channel cats he had a nice stringer all over 18inches using punch bait. Here's the catch we started talking about whitebass and he said that guys have been coming in with limits of whitebass most of them were males with a mix of females at airport and 59 launching so how much of this true i dont know, guess i'll get the kayak in the water next week and give it a shot.

Need some input, i'm looking at google maps after the 3rd bend down river i noticed their is a creek that enters the nueces if that creek is full from the river being up could i possibly get into some crappie that might be holding up in their. Next question from airport launch how far is the rapids area everyone talks about which i know their will not be that much of a rapid with the water being up? Any advice is appreciated

I am wondering about these cold spells that we have had which have been colder than normal.Is it possible that it could trigger these fish to bite a lot earlier? Whats the earliest any of you guys have seen the white bass run?

Thanks for the report USMCGRUNT,thats good to here,been waiting to see if there is any action going on down there.Will try to make it down there by the end of the month,thats good enough for me,fishing time!