PORT ARANSAS, Texas — Springtime is almost here and the fishing is at an all time high. Early in the mornings, as the sun is coming up, you can see birds diving and mullet jumping. Directly underneath that you can see darting fins from hungry jack crevalle chasing after them, bursting out of the water. Sometimes you can catch the glimpse of praying shark nearby.

While you’re busy watching the top of the water be sure to watch your toes as well. This time of the year blue crabs scour the bottom close to the shoreline looking for anything they can feast on. They won’t think twice to defend themselves against your feet if they feel threatened. Jack crevalle and pompano can be caught from the surf and jetty. Black drum and slot reds should be easy to catch using shrimp near structures.

It won’t be long before the ladyfish and bluefish start showing up. Not too long ago, the Texas Shark Rodeo started, so the beach will be adorned with shark racks and shark fisherman.

Black drum are still biting and can be caught from the surf in very shallow water, just after the first sandbar.  I recommend using shrimp, peeled shrimp, or ghost shrimp when trying to target them.  Usually if you catch one, you will catch another, as they tend to swim in large schools.  You may even accidentally catch a sheepshead from the surf using this same method.

The sheepshead are biting around structures.  Live shrimp is the only way to go if you intend to catch your limit quickly.  Otherwise, you will just be feeding the pin perch.  When fishing for sheepshead you can catch them on either side of the jetty, but I recommend fishing the channel side.  Using live shrimp, you can also throw on the surf side to catch redfish.  It should be pretty easy to catch your limit of sheepshead and reds in a couple of hours or less if you go during high tide and be the first on the rocks.

Redfish can be caught in the first gut on live mullet or shrimp.  There should be more slots and less bullreds going into spring.  A little trick is to peel your shrimp to get the scent out quicker.  Typically at the start of spring I catch reds easily,  especially when fishing near structures.

Pompano can still be caught on a good day when the water is pristine.  Look for blue/green water with little to no waves.  When scouting for a spot to fish for them, I look for a pinch where the second gut comes in closer to the shore.  This allows me not to have to cast out as far.  You can catch pompano using peeled fresh dead shrimp and or Fishbites.

The sharks to catch this time of year are going to be bull sharks and blacktips.  Soon the hammerhead sharks will be closer to the shoreline and can be caught using the freshest of jack crevalle and stingray as bait.  Of course sharks will bite on anything, but if you want to limit your wait time then I recommend using fresh bait.

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