Jetties

[vhs]

Planning on giving the Texas Jetty a shot Sunday morning.  I've fished out there in the past with others, but its been very limited.  I know there is a break to pass through.  We plan on targeting specks and reds and I may hang a big rod off the back to see if any bigger fish have come in from the gulf.  Any tips?  This will be the first time I've brought my own boat out there. 

[liltex]

Take along some live shrimp.They could look like real big mullet but they've been catching alot of tripletail,some to 14 pounds.Look near the end,close to any cover

[tvc184]

When I go for big reds and sharks, I pull up very close to the jetty wall (outside) and toss dead shrimp for bait. That is not for the reds/sharks but for the small croaker/drum/piggies to catch the reds/sharks.

Use a small hook like a size 6 with a small (1/8 or 1/4) weight and a small piece of pealed shrimp. You can actually toss up on a flat rock and drag it back into the water. The small fish are up close. If you get too far out from the jetties, you get into a bunch of hardheads. Stay in close.

Then I hook the bait fish either through the lips or pretty far back on the tail. I like it through the lips to keep them alive longer. Toss it out away from the jetty wall and hang on. The last time I took someone out that wanted to catch reds and sharks, in about 3 hours we landed about 8 reds and four sharks. I think we kept three reds for the grill and a couple of sharks.

When I pull up close to the jetties, I toss an anchor between a couple of rocks out of the water. That way I can get the anchor back. If you drop an anchor out from the jetty wall, you might see it for the last time. I'll bet there are thousands of anchors out there (of which about 3 are mine). Once you get that anchor out, back away from the wall slowly and then toss a mushroom anchor out the back. Get it far enough away from the wall itself and you likely won't be in the rocks.

When I fish that way, I put about a 3 or 4oz sinker directly on the line (let is slide) and then tie a leader and a large hook, like maybe a 5/0. I also sharpen the hooks to a razor sharp edge. I make my own leaders and usually don't make them very long, maybe 24". I crimp the hook to one end and a big barrel swivel to the other. Toss the line out, take up the slack and then set the clicker and leave it on free spool.

Then sit back and wait .. many times not for very long.

[vhs]

Thanks for the advice on anchoring, I've heard that can be a real issue out there.

[mat]

A wire leader can sometimes be needed with bigger shark. Not all the time but I hate to big fish cut offs.

[tvc184]

All that I use out there for that kind of fishing is steel but I use braided steel with nylon coating.