South Padre Jetty Fishing

Going next week to fish the south padre jetty’s. Never fished there before and usually only fish fresh water. Was wondering if anyone has been lately and knows what we might catch. 30 lb braid fine? Leader no leader? Any top water action? Any help or reports would be appreciated!

Water appears to clean right now and should stay that way for awhile. Should be some kings at the jetty. Braid is not the preferred line at the jetties because it nicks easily, but you should be fine if you just keep an eye out for nicks and retie, if needed. A one ounce silver Rattletrap will usually catch the kings if they are there. Need a 12” steel leader so they don’t cut you off. Might pick up a tarpon if you’re lucky. Need maybe 200-250 yards of line for kings, and a lot more if you hook a tarpon. You can also throw plastic jig heads (red with white tail is pretty safe bet) up next to the rocks for trout. Walk out 2/3 of the way and look for bait or birds. Kings are usually on the gulf side, tarpon on the channel side, and trout on either side, but that’s not absolute.

Awesome Thankyou! So if braid isn’t preferred out there, what is? I have 2 spinning rod set ups. One with braid to a 20. # Fluoro leader ( popping cork with jig head with live shrimp). And one with the same but a 1 oz spoon. Abort or try it?

Mono is more abrasion resistant against the rocks, but you will be fine with braid. Shrimp is hard to keep alive carrying it out on the jetty, never fooled with them. One ounce spoon will catch everything, but I bet a big Rattletrap will cast further, which is a big advantage throwing for kings. Go by Quik Stop or Angler’s Marine in Port Isabel, or even Walmart and they should have a decent selection, or ask the guys at the 2 smaller stores. But, I prefer to patronize QS or AM just because Walmart doesn’t need any more money and I like to support local small business.

Or if you are staying on the beach, watch out for flocks of birds chasing bait on the first or second sandbar, can be any time of day. Usually ladyfish, but a blast to catch.

I would watch out for the jettie rocks there. I lost 2 double drop rigs / sinkers when trying to pull them back out the water, they got stuck in the rocks.