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Aggie's can catch fish also??

Welcome to the flats on the Laguna Madre just east of the Arroyo Colorado along the sunny South Texas coast...

to fish for redfish, seatrout and flounder in some of the state's most productive coastal waters.

Flats species like redfish, seatrout, and flounder are plentiful almost all year long.  Flyfishermen need to master casting in the wind.  Most days the wind can reach 20+ mph.  Variable winds as fronts collide often gives relief from the wind.  The warm days of June offer calm periods, but for the most part early morning will yield good casting situations.

Sighting fish takes experience and to get the most of a couple of days getting a local guide is a wise investment.  Several are available that specialize in flyfishing.

Experience tells us that some fishermen are better than others at catching fish, whether for sport or bringing back great table fare.

If you just want to know what's working and where fish may be found, call or e-mail to find out about conditions and fishing prospects for 2006
   

 

The Lower Laguna Madre

Although fishing freshwater mountain streams and exotic flats in the Bahamas and Yucatan have been great experiences, I have to say that there is no place like home.  The quality of the fish and the surroundings are equal to the far away places I've visited.

Forty years ago, as a youngster, my father and uncle would take my younger brother and I fishing for seatrout, redfish, black drum, sheepshead, alligator gar, and flounder.  The fishing was great and it did nothing but develop a love for the bay and what it held.  Mostly through successful fishing adventures, they were able to pass along to us a love for fishing and the outdoors.  My love for wildlife was also born and it was nurtured further by the experiences I had along the banks of the arroyo and the flats of the lower Laguna Madre.  Its now time to give back to others what I have learned over many years of trial and error...hopefully some calculated strategy.

As it enters the Laguna Madre a few miles east of Arroyo City, the Arroyo Colorado, a minor tributary of the Rio Grande River, provides access to grass beds that hold some of the most diverse marine life in the state of Texas.  The Lower Laguna Madre is regarded as one of the most likely places to catch a large fish on a fly.  In 2002, a local fisherman caught and released one of the largest spotted seatrout ever caught on a flyrod.  That fish still is swimming the shallow flats, probably accompanied by equally large brothers and sisters.  Several Texas flyrod accomplishments have been recorded within ten miles of the Arroyo.

 

 

Flats Fishing

Fishing the lower Laguna Madre is thrilling.  Very few places in the world offer one the opportunity to enjoy pursuing hard-fighting game fish with a flyrod.  The flats often yields a variety of fish.  The flyrodder has to contend with the temptation of the success that live bait fishermen often encounter.  The quantity is not what the flyrodder is after, but the thrill of a hard fighting fish on a long rod.

   

Some of my favorite flies for fishing trout, redfish, flounder, and other bay species are pictured here.

 

The Clouser deep minnow is probably the best all-around fly for fishing in a variety of situations.  The fly was originally developed by Bob Clouser for smallmouth, but probably any fish eating small fish and shrimp will eat it.  The one pictured here is a rather bulky imitation of the original fly.  Redfish, trout, and flounder take this fly when other flies don't work.  Casting a heavy fly requires adapting your technique.  If not this fly really gives you a headache if you don't keep it away from you.  Some flyfishers recommend a Belgian cast.  Generally, that means that you start with a side-arm backcast and an overhead forward cast.  The motion is continuous arch that forms an oval.  Different color combinations and hook/eye weights are developed for different fishing situations and species.

Clouser deep minnow

 
   

Red-throated and Red-butt Ice Chenille Flies

The joy of fishing with flies is that you get to relax and be creative.  I don't work on any specific pattern.  These flies look similar, but there are slight variations.  Fish probably can't tell the difference, but the flytier gets to try something new.  The fly at the bottom is different from all of the others in that it has a red butt section.  Whereas, the one on top is different from all of the others in that it has a red ice chenille to make up its red throat.  The other two patterns seem to catch speckled seatrout and ladyfish with regularity.  Even if these flies are weighted with white lead, they need help getting down in the water column by using a Type III or heavier fly line.  Intermediate lines work well in water three to four feet deep, however, I find that using the denser line gets these flies to where the fish are.
 

 

About Us

Rey Ramirez is an educator, environmentalist, and sportsman.  For those that want more than just fishing you can learn about the plants and animals residing along the banks of the arroyo and the spoil islands spotting the Laguna Madre.  His ability to spot birds is only equaled by his ability to spot fish.  He has been flyfishing since the early 1970's.  At that time there were few books on flyfishing and few flies to try in saltwater.  Blonde flies were the primary fly to tie and it worked with great success.

 

 

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