Summer: What fishing is all about!

By Peter Young  South Jetty outdoors writer

Offshore anglers often release their catches and return to the docks flying flags that represent the fish they released.

Avid and amateur anglers alike spend nine anxious months of the year waiting for what the Port Aransas sweltering summertime has to offer. Because of its unique locale, Port Aransas offers a variety of fishing opportunities for just about any angler.

Perhaps the easiest and most economical way to wet a line in Port Aransas is to grab your gear and hit the beach. Every year, sandy shore anglers tangle with a variety of saltwater species including redfish, trout, snook, drum, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and even the occasional jack crevalle. Typical beach bait includes throwing spoons, jigs, lures, or live or dead mullet, shrimp, squid, and sea lice. If the surf is too much to tangle with, landlocked anglers can venture to the jetties, Robert's Point Park jetties or pier, Horace Caldwell Pier, Station Street pier, or Charlie's Pasture bulkhead (until the pier is fixed). From any of these vantage points anglers are likely to encounter a variety of hard fighting, edible saltwater species.

Trout like this are fun to catch off the jetties.

For those of you with your own boat, the city of Port Aransas offers several shallow and deep boat launches located right next to the ferry. Just take the first left as you come onto the island and you can't miss them. If you are interested in bay fishing but don't have a boat, just stop by one of the numerous docks or booking services to get all the information you need in order to fish with some of the best bay guides in Texas. Leaving the Port Aransas harbor, anglers have immediate access to South Bay, Redfish Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and Aransas Bay. Typical bay fishing hauls include the spotted seatrout, the notoriously hard fighting redfish, drum, flounder, and the occasional gafftopsail catfish or gafftop.

Venturing outside of the Port Aransas jetties and into the Gulf of Mexico for an offshore experience is yet another option offered to Port Aransas anglers. There are an untold number of rigs, wrecks and rocks lying in the waters offshore of Port Aransas that are known to hold red snapper, grouper, amberjack, cobia, king mackerel, dorado or mahi mahi, wahoo, tuna, and even sailfish, white marlin and blue marlin.

Some anglers prefer the solitude of night fishing.

There are several docks that offer daily fishing trips for anglers looking to get into the offshore action. Each dock has something different to offer, so it is only a matter of checking around to find the trip that most suits your interests. If going fishing with an exclusive group is what you're looking for, there are also a large number of private charter boats for hire in Port Aransas. Information on these boats and more can be found at most of the local docks and tackle stores.

Offshore and bay anglers alike are required to have a valid Texas fishing license, and be sure to obey all of the current rules and regulations regarding size and bag limits. If you are unsure, it's generally more prudent to take a picture and release the fish to be caught another day than to pay a hefty fine. For more information on regulations, you can go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website: http://www. tpwd.state.tx.us/

Fishing tournaments fill the summer months in Port Aransas. Here, fishing is a spectator sport as crowds gather to watch the tournament fish weighed in. The Fred Rhodes Memorial Pavilion at Roberts Point Park if frequently used as the weigh station. That's where fish in the Deep Sea Roundup are weighed and measured and cheered by spectators of all ages (above). The Roundup also features a Piggy Perch Contest for the small fry, left. All fish are released after being weighed, measured and counted. Awards are for the most, biggest and smallest fish in different age brackets for boys and girls.

An angler may stake out his own fishing grounds from one of the several free piers, the surf (watch out for surfers and swimmers and be sure you've got a current Beach Parking Permit attached to your front windshield), or jetties. With the exception of Horace Caldwell Pier, these are all free and open to the public. Above all, good luck, have fun, and welcome to Port Aransas -- where the fish bite everyday.