Fishing our Teas coastal bays since the devastating Valentine’s Day freeze has been very interesting. Millions of fish died — especially speckled trout. Different areas were affected more severely than others. I fish primarily Redfish and Corpus Bay. The speckled trout in our area took a very hard hit. Also, the Lower Laguna Madre, south of the JFK Causeway at Corpus Christi, was really devastated. My nephew, Jon Darnell, owner of Laguna Lure Fishing Charters, still has clients wanting to fish but he has to run all the way to Baffin Bay to find fish.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), soon after the freeze, reduced the trout limit to three fish and raised the minimum length limit to 17 inches. These new regulations affect all fishing south of the JFK Causeway.
Jon is fishing all live bait — live shrimp under a popping cork. He is working long and hard to find fish for his customers. Most of them want to keep any legal trout that they catch. I suppose if you have put out $600 for a fishing trip, you would like to have a fish dinner. I wish all guides would tell customers that any legal trout caught will be released.
