In celebration of completing law school and tackling the bar exam (hopefully for the first and only time), my wife and I went with another couple down to Port Aransas, Texas.

We stayed at Port Royal. While the girls enjoyed the pool and the beach, my buddy and I went fishing our first morning there. It was my first trip this summer, so I don't have any fish located yet. We didn't hammer them as well as I would've liked, but we managed to get into some solid speckled trout and redfish. We caught seven trout and three nice reds in a few hours of wade fishing.






The photo session wouldn't be complete without a Condello pose.

Very nice fish, that speckle is a gator as they call a big one in the Chesapeake!

Nice fish and pics! Do you have to tag the Redfish that you keep?

Dave, how much did those reds weigh?
Nice fish!!

Thanks, CJ!

Esshup,
You only have to tag "oversized" redfish. In Texas, you can keep redfish when they are 20-28". Your fishing license allows you to keep two redfish over 28" per year, but they must be tagged. You can turn-in one of the used tags plus $3, and the TPWD will give you another tag.

I release a giant redfish, but I'll keep them up to 33-34" or so. Our main goal was to catch supper for the girls, and we succeeded. Fresh redfish and trout are hard to beat!

man o man, you got me itchin to get down to the gulf!
What is your bait of choice for wade fishing?

Randy,

I'm guessing the largest redfish weighed around 10 pounds. I didn't weigh any of them, but that would be a ballpark length to weight guess.

Nate, I "cheat" by using live bait. I use croaker or a pinfish we call "piggy perch." Other gulf/Atlantic states call them "pogeys" I believe.

If I can locate the fish and really get into them, I'll switch to lures and have some fun. The live bait helps me find the fish, especially when I'm limited on time.

When I was down in Texas earlier this year I kicked around the idea of fishing for reds and spots, but I didn't know if it would have been worth the time and effort considering I would have had to find a guide. Maybe next time!

Wow, looks like fun davatsa! What type of tackle (pole, reel, line) do you use for them? Looks like they'd be good fighters.

I use live bait 95% of the time I am fishing in the gulf. Sometimes I cheat when the fish are really schooled up and throw a fake DOA Shrimp or a Spoon, but most of the time I stick to the purist form of matching the hatch!

Now if you guys really want to have some fun ....
Naw - I won't go there ...

We hardly have any medium sized red drum in the Chesapeake. Either they're little puppies or 30 plus pounders. It is total catch and release for the big ones though. Boy do they fight, nothing like trolling for schoolie stripers(rock fish as they call them in the Chesapeake) and hook into a 40 pound red drum!

I know where you're going. I just watched a fishing show where they were fly fishing for redfish. Looked like so much fun.

Jeff,

I use a 7.5' medium action rod. While the rod is longer for further casting, I don't use offshore tackle. I need the sensitivity of lighter tackle when using live bait. I prefer All Star or Stiffy rods (not to be confused with Wunder Boner).

I'm partial to Shimano reels...I use a calcutta baitcast reel most of the time. I spool with 12 or 14 lb Stren mono, and I have a foot or so of 30 lb mono as a leader. The speckled trout have sharp teeth, and they can bite through the smaller mono easily.

Both fish are great fighters, but there's nothing like hooking up with an angry 30"+ redfish while wading in 2-3 feet of water.

Oh...

and George, I can't wait to hook one on a fly rod. Young whippersnappers like me just don't have the time, money, and patience to stick with a fly rod only.

David, the only reason I ever got a steady job was so I could hunt and fish – later when I had the money I didn’t have the time.

PA is one of my favorite spots – I recall Rockport when it was a small fishing village years ago when I worked from there … casting gear with popping corks and live shrimp was the way to go.

Only in later years the fly bug bit me.

Thanks for your story - and the memories.

George, I've been out of town, so I apologize for the delay in responding.

My family has stayed in Rockport for a week or two every summer of my life except for the past three years or so. It's by far my favorite spot on the Texas coast.

I'm honored to share the stories and the memories. I just feel blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy the time fishing with friends and family. I'll pick up a fly rod one of these days, and I'm sure I'll be ruined for life.

I had the chance to make one more trip to the Texas coast this summer, so my BIL and I pointed the truck southeast and took off.

We had to be in Kingsville, Texas (original home of my grandfather) to become certified to teach the Texas Hunter's Safety Course.

We got in one afternoon and a good morning of fishing in Corpus Christi first.



For reference, speckled trout must be a minimum of 15" to keep. The trout on the far left met that mark. Redfish must be a minimum of 20" to keep. The redfish (second from the left) easily surpassed that mark. Needless to say, we had a good morning wade fishing and were able to find the large trout.




After the certification course, we found a local street in Kingsville named after my grandfather.



It was a great trip!

Sounds like a great trip, and what a dork you look like pointing up at that sign. You fit right in.

Glad to see you enjoying yourself, David.

I would go fishing with my BIL, but he objects to being used as bait.

Sunil,
The chosen hand gesture is a family inside joke. But I won't object to the "dork" statement...the secret's been out on that for awhile.

Theo,
I'd try to use my BIL as bait, but 1- he's a good guy and handy to have around, and 2- not much (even in the gulf) could eat him.

Have fun Dave. As I recall, you enter the work force in a couple of weeks.

Great photos Dave, it looks like you two had a blast.

Where's your BIL's chain? I thought his chain was like an American Express card, that he didn't leave home without it.

Oh and don't pay any attention to Sunil. If he had a street named after him he'd point to the sign as well. Heck he'd probably make everyone bow down to the sign as they walked past it, or leave offerings of cold beer. Thankfully Sunil Ramchandran has too many letters in it to fit on a street sign.