Howdy all,

Me and the boys are heading down to Port A this weekend with my new bay boat. I know Baffin Bay is a hot spot, but here's the thing... I went down there alone last weekend on a recon mission and I spent most of my time in Baffin bay getting UNSTUCK. I had the jackplate all the way up and I STILL kept getting stuck. It was a bit nerve-racking. And I didn't catch any fish either (using dead shrimp). Granted, I spent most of my time screwing with the boat.

So for this weekend, I'm wondering, should I hassle with Baffin Bay again. I'll have five big dudes in my boat, not just me this time and I know for sure we'll get stuck with that much weight in the boat. I mean we can all get out and push, but I don't want to spend all my time messing with that.

OR, should we put in at the harbor and just fish the channels, CC bay, light house lakes, pelican island, jettis, etc.

What are your thoughts? Is Baffin Bay worth this hassle this weekend?

Thanks!
Stan

If you're gonna use dead shrimp, then absolutely no need to head to Baffin. You can catch the same species on dead shrimp elsewhere and not deal with running aground and spending boo-coo'es of money on fuel.

Forecast is fog, chance of rain, but not too windy. Actually a great forecast for fishing for large trout in Baffin.
Suggest you consider fish the Upper Laguna Madre stretch from the Boat Hole south to Emmords Hole. Would also suggest you use either live shrimp or some type artificial, maybe a Gulp to use utilize the best of both worlds.

If you're gonna use dead shrimp, try to get fresh dead, not frozen, and then I'd consider the Boat Hole area, and maybe the ICW proper looking for both drum species.

Not to step on any toes, but to use dead shrimp while on a boat is not utilizing the boat properly, but if that's what ya'll want to do, then the areas mentioned should be solid options to consider as a start. Might also consider the leeward side of Pelican Island if using dead bait. Water temps are still cool, the ULM will warm faster than the deeper water around the channels in the Port A area.

What type boat are you running? Got GPS? Rookies should run the Riveria channel from the ICM and then turn perpendicular to any shore line and approach shore slow.

I always fish with live shrimp because I always do well with it. But when I went down there I went to two bait shops and both said that there were no live shrimp to be had, it's still too cold. So that's why I went with dead. I did try some lures, but I don't usually do well with lures (lack of experience, or something). Although I'm going to try and change that this weekend.

My boat is is a 2007 Century 2202 inshore (used, but new to me). Yes I have GPS. Looks like the best way to get to Boat Hole is to put in at Packery Channel. Is that right? Don't know about Riviera Channel, where does that run?

Thanks for the tips!

Buy some 3" Gulp shrimp and fish them under a popping cork just like you would live and you will have almost as good results as with live shrimp. I like "new penny" but both colors work.

How'd the trip go?

Ditto on the New Penny Gulp shrimp. That's something you should keep in the bottom of your tacklebox at all times!

I thought I had set the forum to notify me when posts happened, but it didn't and I didn't see the post about gulp shrimp until now, wish I had!

There were five of us in the boat. We mostly got skunked. Early Sat. morning we put in at Clems and headed north about 4 miles, fishing that channel. We didn't get any bites, so we headed down to the mouth of Baffin Bay as it meets the Upper Laguna Madre. We fished all along that west shore line. One guy caught a nice size trout with a live mud minnow on a popping cork. The rest of us used dead shrimp on a popping cork, artificial shrimp on a popping cork, dead shrimp on the bottom, live mud minnows and mullet both on poppers and the bottom, and paddle tails and other soft lures. We didn't get anything though. We fished all day long in Baffin bay and then along the channel periodically on the way back.

On Sunday we fished the end of the jetties out of city harbor, we got a few good bites but didn't catch anything. Then we fished Pelican Island using all of the same bait and lures mentioned above. We didn't catch anything.

I wanted to hit Shamrock Cove on Sunday, but there was a very dense fog and I had to go slow, so even getting to Pelican Island took a long time, and we ended up skipping Shamrock.