NOT AS EASY TODAY

5-28-2012--Winds and waves were higher today to the extent it was difficult to anchor where we needed to be.   Trout were smaller on average.  My three fishermen managed 26 keeper trout before we used up all 12 dozen croaker.  They caught a lot of undersized male fish that consumed our croaker but couldn't be put in the box. .

FIVE FOR FIFTY

6-27-2012—Fishing just can’t get any better.  Had five today, including two youngsters,  who caught 50 speckled trout.   The average size was less than yesterday but they were still good trout.  All the fish came on croaker.    

FOUR HOURS - FORTY FISH

6-26-2012--Fishing is phenomenal right now.  Had a half day charter today.  I always hope to catch at least half a limit of something during a half day trip.  The four fishers caught 40 good trout.  I believe they actually missed more than that.  Most of the trout we cleaned had at least one of our croakers in their stomach which means someone missed the fish and it came back to steal another croaker before getting caught.  Today's fishers were a family of four, three of which had little or no experience fishing.  After today they are probably hooked on fishing but it will probably be a long time before they have such good luck again.    

SCATTERED FISH

6-24-2-12--Fish are still scatterd due to the extremely high tides so you have to move around quite a bit.  Today's group managed to box 17 speckled trout.  They also kept over 20 sand trout for a fish fry this evening.  We spent over an hour looking for reds but didn't find any.

FISHING TOURNAMENT

6-22 and 6-23 2012--Had the same group the past two days.  They have fished with me the past two years while entered in a large tournament out of Port Aransas.  The group is highly competitive so we tried very hard both years to win.  Last year they won largest trout  with a 25 1/2 inch sow but the lack of redfish kept them from winning heaviest stringer.  On Friday they waded deep grass beds and caught 19 trout before we started looking for redfish.  We tried wading shallow flooded back lake areas due to the high tides with no luck on reds.  Tournament day,  Saturday,  they wanted to weigh in trout, two reds and one drum for heaviest stringer.  About mid morning with 16 trout to pick from we put the boat back on the trailer and moved 20 miles to where I had more confidence in catching reds.  A friend had sworn me to secercy and told me where a school of reds was hanging out. As soon as the lines were out a red took the bait and then another in short order.  In less than an hour we had 9 reds so we left them biting to go find one black drum.  They got one keeper drum to the boat but lost it and another fish we think was a drum was lost by a hook coming undone.  So we ended up with out a black drum.  I still haven't heard how they did at the weigh in.  I hope they at least placed.  

MORE REDFISH

We caught more redfish today, but they are getting larger.

BACK TO REDFISH

6-19-2012--Strong winds forced us back to redfish today.  Had 5 fishermen for a 4 hour half day.  Redfish were mostly small.

BOX OF TROUT

6-18-2012--My four fishermen fished for trout with croaker and piggy perch.  The bite on piggy perch was about equal to the trout bite.  Since the piggy perch were smaller the catch rate was better.  The guys and their families numbered 20 fish lovers so they wanted to keep sand trout for this evenings fish fry in Port Aransas.  They called the wives who were shopping in Corpus Christi and had them pick up a fish fryer.  We kept 39 speckled trout just in case we had miscounted and sure enough the count was off.  At the dock the speckled trout actually numbered 38 along with over 40 sand trout.  I appreciated their help with cleaning the sand trout but the cleaning process still took a long time.  

WADING FOR TROUT

6-12-2012--Had three fishermen today.  We waded with croaker's for speckled trout.  The wind was up and the tide was standing still but they still managed limits of 30 trout.  The fishermen had to wade chest deep to get bites.  We tried for redfish after finishing with trout but had no luck on reds.

WADING WITH CROAKER

6-9-2012--Had five wade fishermen using croaker today. Fish averaged much larger than normal with a lot of them over 20 inches.  Fishing tapered off after mid morning but the group still managed to bring 28 solid trout to the cleaning table.

FAMILY FISHING

6-8-2012--Had a family group today.  They caught 26 keeper speckled trout and 25 sand trout.  The catching was so fast it wore me out baiting, throwing and netting.

THIRTY TROUT EARLY

6-6-2012--The family group of three had 30 good trout on croaker at 8:40 this morning.  They also caught a few sand trout for a fresh fish dinner.  When the bite slowed about 7:30 we tried to go two other places but there were fishermen already there so we went back to the first place and finished up.  Pretty good fishing for a half day trip.  The picture board didn't have enough nails for all the catch so we just hung out what we could.

PLENTY OF TROUT

6-5-2012--Good trout bite today on croaker.  My group of 3 had 20 speckled trout by 7:30. We stopped trout fishing late morning with 29 speckled trout and over 20 sand trout.  They wanted to have one speckled trout left on their limit in case they caught a large one while fishing for redfish.  We spent a couple of hours fishing for reds and got one mid slot size red up to the boat before losing it but did not boat any reds.   I cleaned  and packaged the sand trout seperately since they are softer and don't freeze well and they planned to have them tonight for their large three family group.  No picture today because my camera got left at home.

EARLY REDFISH

6-3-2012--My three fishermen caught 7 redfish by mid morning..  It wasn't fast but the bites came steadily.  After that we fished many spots until 2:30 PM to catch one more.  The one that would have been a limit of 9 pulled off the hook so we ended the day with 8 reds.

Article in San Antonio's Express News online.

Guides know how to catch plenty of fish — and cook them, too

Posted on May 31, 2012 at 6:54 pm by John Goodspeed in cooking, fishing

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Ron Matson kisses a redfish, one of the species he recommends for Ron’s Coconut Fish, which he says makes great leftovers. John Goodspeed / For the Express-News

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By John Goodspeed
ROCKPORT — Guides catch a lot of fish. They also eat a lot of fish. So they know how to cook fish — and they all have their favorite recipes.
Just ask, and they will be happy to share their secrets, which range from their own touches to traditional recipes to all-out originals.
Here are a few taken during chats on a recent trip to Rockport:
Capt. Ron Coulston
Coulst
on, of Ron’s Guide Service (361-557-0555, ronsrockportfishing.com), is a San Antonian who moved to Rockport 10 years ago to be a full-time guide. He said he learns something every day, such as a tip from a Louisiana guide on how to de-bone a trout — slice an inch-long nick between the bones and pull apart. “It cleanly pulls the bones out and leaves more meat than filleting with a knife,” he said.
Pico de Gallo Trout
- 4-6 speckled trout fillets
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- 4 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
- 2-3 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
- Half cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tbsp limejuice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Lay trout fillets on sheet, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon pico de gallo over fillets. Bake in 400-degree oven for 15 minutes.
Capt. Jerry Lindsey
Lindsey, of Hook, Line & Sinker Charter Services (361-727-0910, hook-line.net), favors spicy marinade with Louisiana Hot Sauce. “Don’t use Tabasco sauce. It’ll make it too hot. The Louisiana Hot Sauce just seasons it,” he said. He has no need for a thermometer when checking the temperature of his frying oil — he uses a kitchen match.
Jerry’s Hot Fried Fish
- 4-6 redfish fillets (or any kind of fish)
- 1 bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce
- 2 cups corn meal
- Kitchen matches
- Tongs
Layer fish in bowl, covering each layer with hot sauce. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 3-4 hours. Heat fryer on propane burner. Test for proper heat with kitchen match held by tongs. Dip match head into oil. When match ignites, it’s hot enough, probably around 400 degrees. Roll fillets in corn meal. Fry fish until they float, 1-2 minutes.
Capt. Ron Matson
Matson, of Reel ’N With Ron Guide Service (361-790-3845 or e-mail reelnwithron@att.net), said he embellished a recipe for Coconut Shrimp he got from a restaurant in the Florida Keys by adding pineapple juice. “It is so good that, once you do it, you hardly ever want to deep-fry fish any other way,” he said. “The best part is that leftovers are very good the next day, either cold or re-heated. I like to eat them cold on the boat — a great lunch out on the water.”
Ron’s Coconut Fish
- 4-6 fish fillets — redfish, black drum or any kind, or shrimp
- 1 box (8 ounces) McCormick Tempura Seafood Batter Mix
- Half 20-ounce can crushed pineapple; reserve juice
- 2 handfuls shredded coconut, or to taste
- Half cup cold water
- Quarter cup pineapple juice
Cut fish into strips about three-quarter-inch wide and half-inch thick. Combine ingredients. Batter should be consistency of pancake batter. Thin if needed with pineapple juice, but batter won’t stick to fish if too thin. Dredge fish strips in batter and fry.
Capt. Charlie Newton
Newton, of Redfish Charters (361-729-8220, redfishcharters.com), admits his wife comes up with his recipes, which are posted on his website. “But it’s obvious that I try them all out — a lot. And I really like them,” he said with a laugh while patting his belt-straining belly.

Stuffed & Wrapped Redfish Fillets
- 3 redfish fillets trimmed to about 1×3-inch pieces
- 1 pound thick-sliced bacon
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cut into half-inch strips to almost cover fish
- 12 jalapeños, or as needed, sliced in half lengthwise and deseeded
- Old Bay Seafood Seasoning (or your favorite)
Sprinkle fish with seasoning. Set cream cheese on fish pieces. Put jalapeños cut side down on the cream cheese. Wrap each with bacon, overlapping as needed and tucking ends on bottom. Place on foil-lined pan with sides so grease won’t run out. Sprinkle with seasoning again. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until fish flakes easily.
Capt. Doug Stanford
Stanford, of Pirates of the Bay Charters (361-523-9452, piratesofthebay.com), likes to remove any fishy taste by cutting the red lateral line out of fillets and soaking them in water. He also likes to keep it simple. “This is easy, easy, easy,” he said. “The seasoning will make a pink goo, and the corn meal sticks a lot better. It will add a little spice, but it really marinates the fish.”
Doug’s Spicy Fried Fish
- 4-6 fish fillets, redfish, trout, catfish or any kind, including shrimp
- Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning or Tony Chachere’s Lite Seasoning (lower sodium)
- 2 cups corn meal
Bone and trim fillets. Cut out the red lateral line. If fillets are fresh, soak in tap water for eight hours in refrigerator. If frozen in bag of water, no need to soak, just let defrost. Drain water and pat dry. Put fillets in bowl and coat with seasoning. Mix and add more seasoning until fish is pink all over. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Add about quarter cup seasoning to corn meal and mix. Roll fillets in cornmeal and fry.
John Goodspeed is a freelance outdoors writer. Email john@johngoodspeed.com.