Texas Gulf Fishing

I am not a great fisherman but, when we lived in Key West, I enjoyed
going bottom fishing for grunt, snapper and grouper. I had a friend
who had a boat so we would also occasionally go after mackerel and
dolphin but I far preferred sitting in an anchored boat or on a bridge/
pier waiting for the bite. We lived on a canal and I spent many an
evening on our seawall going after gray (mangrove) snapper.

Where on the Texas Gulf can I do that kind of fishing, are there
equipment rentals available and are they accessible by an older non-
outdoorsman type? Also what kind of fish would I go after, using what
bait? In KW we used squid and shrimp.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

"It Wuznie Me" wrote in message
...
I am not a great fisherman but, when we lived in Key West, I enjoyed
going bottom fishing for grunt, snapper and grouper. I had a friend
who had a boat so we would also occasionally go after mackerel and
dolphin but I far preferred sitting in an anchored boat or on a bridge/
pier waiting for the bite. We lived on a canal and I spent many an
evening on our seawall going after gray (mangrove) snapper.

Where on the Texas Gulf can I do that kind of fishing, are there
equipment rentals available and are they accessible by an older non-
outdoorsman type? Also what kind of fish would I go after, using what
bait? In KW we used squid and shrimp.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

I can't speak to all your questions, but I can say that you'll find more
surf on the Texas side of the Gulf than in Florida. South Padre Island
stretches from Corpus Christi south almost to the Mexican border creating
the Laguna Madre. There, in the town of South Padre, fishing like you
describe is hugely popular, and even some restaurants will let you fish off
their docks.

What you might catch is the part I don't know, but I'm sure that if you
search on 'fishing south padre' you'll find out. There are a whole lot of
charters that will take you into either the gulf or the bay for fishing. We
were there last fall and found it to be a nice area, especially where you
run out of road and have to stick to the beach.

Port Isabel is right across the bridge on the mainland, and also a nice
town. There is also an abandoned bridge or causeway between the two areas
that has been cut away in the center, but people on either end fish from
there, too.

To answer your other questions, the terrain is as flat as a pancake, and
there are places that rent fishing gear. If you go on a boat, the equipment
is provided. Ask about bait and what's biting when you get there.

It's not fancy. I brought clothes, but after a day it was pretty much the
bathing suit, with a shirt and sandals added for restaurants, and I didn't
feel even a little bit out of place.

We love the beach, and most days left our car where the road ended, and
walked no more than a mile to find a dawn-of-time setting. We could use a
dune for a backrest, put up our umbrella, and spend the day as if we were
the last people on Earth, with the surf right there, and the beautiful Gulf
waters stretching beyond.

Key West has gone upscale, but there's still some funk in Texas if that's
what you like.

Keith