REDFISH DAY

12-30-2010--Fished out of St Charles boat ramp today with a half day charter. Waded San Jose shoreline with artifical lures. My father/son fishing crew quickly caught 6nice reds and kept 4 to eat. The father's 28 inch red became his personal best.

TIDE IS UP

12-28-2010--The water came up a lot last night with the strong southeast wind and a low pressure system. This changed the location for trout but they weren't far away. I had a father and two teenage sons who really enjoyed the catching. Quite often we had two or three fish on at once. Many of the fish were small but we managed to easily catch 30 keepers up to 20 inches to complete thier limits. If you count the fish in the picture you'll see only 20 because there are only 20 nails in the picture board. Fishing just can't get much better than it is right now.

COLD WEATHER FISHING

12-26-2010--The temperature this morning was in the low 30s with a north wind blowing 15 to 20 MPH. But, as always, the fish still had to eat; we just had to find them. I couldn't get to the first place I had chosen because the water was too low. Just a few days ago I said the water was as low as I had seen it. Well, today it was that low again. Our second choice was to go for black drum while the water warmed up a little for trout. My two fishermen limited on black drum in short order using dead shrimp for bait. Next we looked for trout using artifical lures. Made a long run from east shore to San Jose, stopped several times on San Jose but found no fish. Ran back to Estes flats and immediately started catching nice trout in the 17 to 20 inch range. Earlier we had planned to get some trout and then look for reds but the trout fishing was so good we couldn't bear to leave. We kept their limit of 20 trout and released the rest. The trout were all caught on Norton sand eels and gulp jerk shad. I just hope the late 2010 fishing continues through 2011. Right now I'm reluctant for this year to end.

CHRISTMAS GIFT CERTIFICATES

12-20-2010--Looking for a last minute Christmas gift? How about a gift certificate for a day of guided bay fising for speckled trout, redfish, flounder and/or black drum. Ron will do his best to make it a great day on the water.

The gift certificate can be made for a specific date or the date may be left open to be scheduled by the recipient.

There is a $50 winter discount for trips taken through March 31 and another $50 discount for using artifical lures. Prices range from $200 to $650 depending on the number of fishermen. For example, a gift certificate for a full day trip to be taken before April 1 using artifical lures for three persons would cost $400.

Gift certificates can be sent by mail, email, or hand delivered if the recipient is in the Rockport area.

Call Capt Ron at 361-790-9541 or email ron@ronsrockportfishing.com to arrange for a gift certificate.

TROUT ON ARTIFICIAL LURES

12-18-2010--Had one client yesterday and another today. We fished for trout each day. Used Norton Sand Ell's each day for easy limits of fish. The North winds have made the water cold and along with other conditions caused very low tides. We had to look for water deep enough to hold trout. When we found them over mud, shell and grass the catching was great especially after mid-day when it warmed up. It's been several years since the trout fishing has been this good. I expect we'll have superb trout fishing at least through next Spring.

WILDLIFE GUIDE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

NEWS RELEASE
Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau
(Picture is of Captain Ron Coulston receiving certificate)

The Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau is introducing the first ever Official Wildlife Guide Certification Class to the public today. A total of 34 Wildlife Guides completed the course work on Customer Service, Interpretive Guide Training and a 10 part Online Course which educates and tests the guides on Wildlife Species I.D., Conservation and Business Planning. Fishing guides were asked to supply additional documentation such as their Texas Parks & Wildlife Guide License, U.S. Coast Guard License and proof of liability insurance. This type of documentation clearly sets the guides who pass the course apart from others allowing themselves to be marketed to our visitors as "Certified Wildlife Guides".

LOW WATER BLACK DRUM

12-13-2010--The tide this morning was about as low as it gets. I first took my client to a shoreline slough that is normally very good on a falling tide but even in the slough the water was too low to hold fish, We went back to the dock at Saint Charles Bay and loaded the boat for a trip to the Conn Brown ramp at Aransas Pass. My plan was to fish the deep channels where redfish go when the water is low. We used fresh dead shrimp for bait. Right away my client caught his first redfish followed by more redfish and black drum too numerous to count. I had out 2 baited rods for him and quite often there would be two fish on at once. He would land one and then while I unhooked and released it he would remove the other rod from the holder and land another fish. If I got the first rod back in the water before we netted the second fish he would often have another fish before I got the last one unhooked and released. After tiring of catching black drum and redfish we drifted with artifical lures for trout and ended up with 5 or 6 speckled trout. We used gulp jerk shad for the trout.