Mustang Island Fishing Charters & Guides

Mustang Island Fishing Charters

Mustang Island is part of the barrier island chain on Texas’ southern Gulf Coast. It is directly east of Corpus Christi and runs 11 miles long. It’s separated from the other islands in this stretch by two passes. Aransas Pass on the north separates the island from its northern neighbors. Rocky jetties extend out into the Gulf here. A shallow cut on the south end is the other separation on the island. Corpus Christi Bay to the west reaches inland more than 10 miles. The island has Mustang Island state park, which hosts 48 campsites with power and 50 primitive sites. The park also has paddling trails through the shallows. Before heading out, check the regulations to see what is in season and what the limits are. Mustang Island fishing charters will put on you the fish of your choice.

Mustang Island Inshore Fishing

Texas’ inshore fishing for redfish is one of the best in the nation. Texas reds bite well all year long. Flies, crankbaits, jigs and grubs, live and cut bait will catch what writer Scott Null calls “little wolves.” Slot reds are most common in shallow channels and around points. When the tide comes in, they will move to the grassy areas and oyster bars to flush prey species out. When the water is shallow, topwater provides explosive action. The two passes on either end of the island are excellent places to connect with bull reds. Corpus Christi Bay is also full of speckled trout. The flats here are covered with grass beds where trout hide. When the tide is out and the water gets shallow, topwater fishing gets exciting. In both cases, your best chance at catching these fish is with live or fresh bait. Shrimp and live minnows provide motion and scent at the same time. Murky water means you can use heavier lines. In clear water, you need lighter lines. Regardless of the water clarity, using a popping cork adds additional underwater vibration to your offering. Popping corks can be used with live and cut bait, grubs and jigs. Other top flats species are black drum, flounder and sheepshead. Of the three, sheepshead are the easiest to find and catch. Sheepshead love structure and eagerly take many different offerings. Sheepshead are designed to eat shellfish, so using barnacles around bridge pilings is almost a guaranteed connection. Find flounders on sandy stretches and at the bottom of small drop-offs. Let the current push your offering over the dropoff to the flounder waiting in ambush. Black drum are caught almost exclusively with cut bait fishing in channels because these fish are not aggressive.

Mustang Island Nearshore Fishing

Inshore species are also found nearshore. A popular beach fish is the croaker. Croakers are common, tasty and easy to catch on small hooks with small bits of squid to shrimp. These are a great fish for youngsters to target. The Lone Star State has no creel limits on croakers and a generous limit of 100 pounds. As the nearshore waters heat up, so does the fishing. Jacks and cobia start the warmer weather fishing. Both are aggressive feeders and hit a variety of lures. Because cobia are curious, they may come to the boat to see what is happening. Landing one immediately is dangerous because a big one will wreak havoc in the boat if not worn out. Spanish mackerel are another nearshore fish. More of a loner than their bigger cousins the king mackerel, Spanish will hit anything silver. For this reason, many anglers use black swivels.

Mustang Island Offshore Fishing

If offshore fishing is more appealing, because of the bigger fish, then Texas has Texas-sized fishing opportunities. The grouper bite ranges from excellent to very good all year long. These reef dwellers like live and cut bait dropped right on the structure. If the fish are there, you should get a bite pretty quickly. Reefs are also home to amberjacks, another fish that will test the strength of any angler. Unlike the grouper, AJs fight all the way to the boat. Yellowfin and blackfin tuna fishing is great year-round. These piscatorial bullets fight hard and swim in schools. Mustang Island fishing charters will cruise offshore trolling lures and looking for schooling baitfish or shrimpers culling their catches. Finding a shrimp boat is golden. As bycatch goes back in the ocean, tuna swarm for easy pickings. King mackerel and wahoo, two other pelagic species, are also caught in the wake of shrimp boats.

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Mustang Island fishing charters know where the fish are. FishAnywhere knows where the charter boats and the captains are. We connect you to the guides. They connect you to the fish. Everybody wins. Let’s fish!