Gulf Fish

Red snapper is a common bottom fish, delicious as table-fare, and highly regulated. Seasons are short as a result. Currently, anglers are only allowed to keep 2 Red Snapper, 16" in length per day.

Kingfish, or King Mackerel, are often caught when snapper fishing or when trolling. They begin to appear off the Texas coat when the water temperatures gets to at least 74 degrees F.

They have sharp teeth and will cut off your line or lure often. If targeting Kings specifically, use of a wire leader is recommended. As for table-fare, they must be prepared fresh. If you can't eat them fresh, let them go. The freezer ruins the texture.

Also known as a Lemonfish or Cobia. Ling are very curious fish and will often swim up to the boat to check you out. They are also caught on the bottom while snapper fishing. These fish are very strong and can hurt you and the boat, so extra caution is required when gaffing and bringing them into the boat.

Poor table fair but fights like a pit bull. We usually catch these when trolling for other species. Some people use them for shark bait.

Greater amberjack have a dark amber strip on their head, extending from their nose to their first dorsal (back) fin. These are called "reef donkeys" or "back breaker" because they are an extremely hard fighting fish.

You need to be fishing in 150+ feet of water to land a keeper Amberjack. The one in the picture is undersized.

Fish Taco's anyone?

Mahi Mahi, also known as Dorado or Dolphin fish, are migratory and off the Texas coats during the summer months.

Schools of chicken dolphin can be located around floating debris or floating alive Sargassum weed.

Adult Bull and Cow dolphin travel along together, not in schools.

Season is closed year round offshore due to overfishing. While rare, you can keep them if caught in Texas State Waters. Trigger fish are excellent table-fare.. Trigger fish are typically higher in the water column than the snapper and catch your bait on the way down.

Lane snapper like to inhabit natural reefs, which we do not have many around the Texas coast line. Regardless, you do catch them at times when fishing for Red Snapper. Just as tasty as Red Snapper, this is a nice bonus fish.

Also known as a Beliner Snapper, these are also caught when Red Snapper fishing. To specifically target Vermilion Snapper, smaller hooks are required.

Redfish are really a Red Drum. Redfish are a considered a sportsfish in the state of Texas and along the Gulf Coast. They feed along the bottom and frequency enter the shallow waters to chase down shrimp and small fish. The black dot on the tail is a fake eye. Keeper fish are managed using a slot between 15"-28". You are allowed one fish per Texas license over 28", however they do not taste as well. Season is closed in offshore waters. 28" is when they will begin to reproduce, therefore I prefer to not keep any over 28".

Black Drum are in the same family as Redfish. Like Red Drum, the feed on the bottom. Black Drum, also know as "The Big Ugly" will eat a dead shrimp soaked on the bottom while a Redfish will look for a live shrimp. Fish can only be kept within a slot of 15"-30". Anything outside those measurements is catch and release only. 30" is the size determined when they will begin to reproduce. Larger fish start to lose their stripes.

Sheepshead are purely an inshore fish found around rocks, jetties, piers, and docks. They normally eat small crustaceans and are known to be bait stealers. They have mammal like teeth and are very boney, but do taste good. They are all over the docks at Pelican Rest Marina where we depart from. You can hear them eating the crustaceans around the dock piers.

Speckled Trout, or spotted sea trout, are a inshore an very nearshore species. They are not family members of the freshwater trout., but are considered a sportfish in the state of Texas.

Sand Trout are a inshore an very nearshore species. They are not family members of the freshwater trout.

These fish must be eaten fresh, so only take what you can eat right away.

Flounder are bottom dwellers that lay on the bottom with both eyes on the same side of the head. They wait on the bottom for food to swim by and then dart out from the sand to capture thier prey. Ever year, after the first significant cold front, flounder move from the bay system to the Gulf of Mexico to spawn.