I know it is not a kayak trip, but sometimes people on the Board search for information about Port Mansfield or guides down there, so I am posting this for that reason.
I scheduled our annual trip with clients to Port Mansfield and stayed at the Mansfield Club where our firm has a membership. We headed out Friday morning at 6:45 am with guide Rene Hinojosa, Jr. to wade fish. It was cold by South Texas standards (59-60 degrees), windy (20-25 mph North wind) and with light rain most of the day, and the fishing was slow while we waded thigh deep water with about 1.5 to two feet of visibility. Here's me on our second wade:
Here's Rene getting off the boat for our second wade of the day.
Including Rene, three of us managed 4 keeper trout (15-18 inches) and a redfish (26 inches) over three hours of three wades, with maybe 15 undersized trout and 8-9 undersized reds), mainly throwing a gold weedless spoon or a purple Norton Sand Eel with chartreuse tail. We then drifted south of the East Cut and picked up 4 more keeper trout and hooked multiple skipjacks, a keeper red and a couple of hardheads:
We had a strong solunar feed from 6:30 to 8:30 that morning, but most of our fish came later that morning between 9 am and noon. The water in which we caught our remaining trout while drifting was dirtier – maybe a foot visibility. We got back to the dock at 1:30 pm. Rene is one of the better guides down there (along with Jeff and Danny Neu), and is still doing a good job for us.
Day 2 – we went out at 6:30 am again with young Guide Capt. Joe Prado of Ultimate Flats Fishing, whom Danny Neu recommended when Danny was booked. I thought very highly of him. Fun guy, hard-working, good client service, good boat, knowledgeable and still mad at the fish, which to me is important, since the more experienced guides with big names that I have used in the past down there tend to be lazy and clock watchers. Not Joe.
It was warmer and partly sunny this day, with low weak tides. Wind was out of the E/NE, so we had plenty of wind protected flats to drift. We found that most of the trout were deep, so we ended up not wading at all this day. After catching nothing but skipjacks drafting south of the East Cut like the day before, Captain Joe established a pattern thereafter, finding trout north of the east cut, drifting the grass beds east of the weather station and getting trout and reds between color changes. We made a lower coast limit of trout and two reds (22 and 25 - which not only snapped by H2O Express Bone Daddy 7 Foot rod while I tried to lift it into the boat, but it also won me the $100 big redfish pot for the day). We also threw back maybe 15-18 additional keeper trout and an assortment of undersized as well.
My frient/client whom I brought down there hooked a good size turtle that nearly spooled him, but he was able to horse it up to the side of the boat with the 6.5 foot H2O Express Bone Daddy Rod and Curado 200I that I lent him, which did not snap like the 7 foot did with less pressure), and cut the line. Saw 5-6 rays in the grass beds. A solid day of catching. I caught some of my fish on the Tobin Strickland lure (bone) which are great for down there. They cast a mile and have great action in a floating grass environment. You have to set the hook hard if you are throwing it weedless, though, so I missed 3 trout and had a keeper red get off until I learned how to better set the hook. I caught the rest on a Down South Glo/chartreuse or a Key Lime 4 inch paddletail a on a 1/8oz jighead both tipped with Shrimp Fishbites. I outfished my buddy 3-1 that day, so I think the Fishbites make a difference. I also used some Procure while wading, but as good as that stuff is, I don't think it stays on long enough, which is why I prefer Fishbites. I threw a topwater for a little while with no results, but it was too windy, so I did not throw it long.
We got back to the dock at 12:30 to get ready for the flight back, and some duck hunters had a limit of redheads and pintails.
