Piling it on
Two nights on the same pier, the same rig, and the same window. Everybody caught a fish — and the tide and the wind had a lot more to do with it than we did.
Rockport in early August can be tough. The sun is downright oppressive and the water temp on the flats is approaching 90 degrees — borderline bath water. But when the family comes to town and they want to catch some big uglies, you do what you gotta do. An early evening trip to the pier seemed like the best bet to get on fish and not melt.
Bait stand, causeway, and the long walk out
Before a pier trip our first stop is usually the Fulton Harbor Bait Stand — blue crabs on ice, and some shrimp to mess around with while we wait for bites. Then back over the causeway to Goose Island State Park.
Why Goose Island? Plenty of room for the family to spread out, and in my personal opinion there are more chances to pull a black drum from more spots along the pier.
We made the long walk out right as the sun set over Copano Bay to the west. I love the sound of fishing carts clacking over the wood slats — it’s pure anticipation. We set up near the end and got down to business.
Fish after fish after fish
We didn’t have crabs in the water fifteen minutes before the first bite. Small but fun drum in the pier net first, and it always feels good to get the first fish.
After that it was fish after fish after fish. By the time we ran out of bait, every person on that pier had caught one — which is the whole point when the family’s in town.
Crab tactics
Here’s one of my best tips for catching big uglies: you don’t have to go crazy baiting whole crabs. Some people swear by them. I use half a crab.
Is it just being a cheap skate? Maybe. It is a pain to cut and trim a crab and bait this way, but I get many more hours of fishing out of the same few crabs.
The crucial addition: put a small strip of Fishbites on the hook with your half crab. The Fishbites keep putting out scent long after the pinfish have picked the half shell clean.
Sometimes it all comes together
I’m convinced we saw that many fish on an early-August night because the tide and the wind were both right. So I went back and pulled the numbers.
Sunset was 8:15 both nights. Thursday the water bottomed out at 8:54 p.m. and then ran in all night, climbing about six tenths of a foot by mid-morning. Friday it bottomed out at 8:12 p.m. and did it again. We were baiting up, in the dark, on the front edge of an incoming tide — twice.
The wind did the other half of the work. Southeast at 11 to 14 with gusts to 18 Thursday night, blowing straight into the pier and stacking water against it. By 1 a.m. it had backed to south-southeast and picked up to 16. Friday was the same direction, a little softer at 9 to 10.
Half a foot of tide doesn’t sound like much until you remember this is Aransas Bay, where that is the tide. Add a southeast wind pushing on it and you get real water movement, and moving water gets these fish hunting. Take away either piece and I don’t think we catch nearly as many.
That’s where Slackwater comes in. Tide movement, wind, water temp, all in one place, so you can find these windows before you drive down instead of after. Hopefully you get everything you need for a good trip in one spot. If not — tell me what I’m missing.
We went back Friday and it happened again
Same pier, same spot near the end, same half-crab rig. Friday night ran later than Thursday — this one came over the rail just after midnight — but the fish did the same thing they’d done twenty-four hours earlier.
Two nights in a row is when you stop calling it luck and start looking at the conditions.
Forty inches of red to close the night
Thursday got capped off with a 40-inch red at 10:16 p.m. Getting to share a night of black drum with family who only fish saltwater once or twice a year was truly an amazing blessing, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Once a week, Texas inshore only. Reports, conditions, tactics, and the occasional good product. No noise.