Corpus Christi, Texas

Fishing & Travel Destination

In 1519 Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda discovered this lush, semi-tropical bay on the Roman Catholic Feast Day of Corpus Christi. A successful city was soon developed and this area took the name in honor of its original founding. Now the largest city on the Texas Gulf Coast and the sixth-largest port in the nation, Corpus Christi offers a rich blend of culture in the relaxed atmosphere of a historic coastal port. Smooth sea breezes make temperatures which average a year-round 71.2 degrees Fahrenheit feel even more comfortable, keeping residents and visitors busy day and night. An exciting bay front promenade neighbors a modern arts and museum district, waterfront restaurants, and vibrant nightlife. And the fishing is great! Neighboring South Padre Island is the longest barrier island in the country, and serves to contain a huge population of local game fish within Corpus Christi Bay and its surrounding waters. Farther inland are lakes, streams, marshes, and channels all stocked year-round with local game fish. Many locations around the bay host a number of charter fishing companies and guides who can’t wait to show you where to fish.

Some charters offer day and overnight trips which concentrate inland along the flats of Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, and the Land Cut Area. These trips bring you into the quiet solitude of south Texas wilderness. A number of floating cabins are unique ways to experience flats fishing here. Many guides know all the best nooks around the Corpus Christi Bay and the adjoining waters. Across the bay in Port Aransas charters leave from Fisherman’s Wharf and the marina at Woody’s Sports Center. The best modern fishing boats are available, including a few catamarans for the utmost in comfort and stability. Fishing charters can be as short as a few hours or half-day (5 hours), full day (eighty hours), or even overnight and up to two or three nights away from shore; depending on what you want to catch and how long you are willing to push your muscles to their limits. Destinations include popular areas with underwater structure at various intervals five to twenty miles from the coast, and oil platforms, wrecks and reefs – even shrimp boats – hundreds of miles away. Many of these charters accommodate families and larger groups, providing a festive atmosphere, as if hauling in trophy-sized fish isn’t fun enough!

Fishing the flats for local trophy Trout, Reds, and Kingfish can be a glorious way to spend a few hours away from civilization. Laguna Madre is buzzing in late fall and early spring with Speckled Trout and Redfish crowding sandy pot holes and long stretches of grass lines. Though Specks hang out in all local waters throughout the year, spring and summer are the best times to find the big ones in Baffin Bay, especially near the rocks of East Kelberg Point and Penascal Point. At Land Cut Specks, Redfish, and Drum are numerous year-round, but windy days make this area a refuge for these fish, and they always produce better catches. Full limits are practically guaranteed with such great numbers throughout the local nutrient-rich waters. Shorter charter trips into the bays will bring you quickly to hookups with popular regional species like Redfish, Flounder, Trout, Drum, and Sheephead. Around the coastal jetties savvy captains play the incoming currents and waves to seek out prime locations for migrating Amberjack, Pompano, and Drum, among several others. Offshore excursions take you out to underwater structure and tide rips where good numbers of Dorado, Mahi Mahi, Triggerfish, Kingfish, and many other congregate and cruise for meals. Gulf waters are always warm and hardly affected by seasons, like some inland waters. It is rare along these trips to go very long at all without a few bites to keep you occupied, and thrilled. Larger saltwater targets include Sailfish and Blue Marlin, Yellow and Blackfin Tuna, and various species of Sharks.

The name Corpus Christi takes its translation from a holiday, appropriately enough, since this city has continued to develop into an extremely popular resort and vacation mecca. You can reach it along the coast via Highway 35 from Houston or Galveston, or by I-37 from San Antonio. The Spanish originally reached it by boat, and named it after a feast – again, it would seem, by no mere accident. With so many fishing opportunities and local resources, one needn’t look farther for a better place to find endless nourishment from the waters around Corpus Christi.