Last Saturday we had an interesting fishing trip. There were reports of lots of redfish at the Port Aransas jetties. Scott(702), his daughter Megan, Scott C., and myself went out in Scott's boat. We went around the end of the north jetty. There were a lot of boats there. We anchored up about one hundred feet from the jetty. Scott C. snagged a ladyfish with a lure. We used a piece of that for cut bait. We had three lines out. One was offshore tackle and two had a bay setup. Scott C. was using a bay rig for casting lures. Of course, a big fish hit the smallest rod and reel with twelve pound line. Scott gave it to Megan and she held on until she said,"Take it back. This is too much." When it got close enough we saw we had a Ling. This is unheard of to be in this close to shore. Ling are one of the most prized fish for table fare. They have to be 37" or more to keep them. This one was about 45" and full grown. Scott kept it on for about 10 minutes until it came to the boat. The rod was shaped like the letter 'U'. I got the gaff in the water, but the fish decided it was not yet ready. Another 10 minutes brought it back to the boat. Scott C. reached the gaff under the fish and yanked hard. The fish was jerked up into the air and splashed back down without the gaff in it. The fish headed straight down and under the boat. Another 2 minutes later and SNAP. The line had become frayed from going over the rod eyelets and broke just in front of the reel. Too bad. My record is intact. I have never seen anyone land a Ling.
We then headed into the gulf and trolled ribbon fish for several hours and never got a bite. We came back in and fished for reds in Sailboat Pass. Nothing was there and we came back in. Later that evening the guests in 207 came back in with a whole mess of reds. They said they were also in the Gulf, but came back in at sunset and stopped at the jetties again. The reds were everywhere and very hungry. It's all in the timing.