Capt. “Wild” Bill Caldwell and Jason Armstrong teamed up to catch the heaviest shark and win the Sharp Tooth Shootout shark tournament held Aug. 5-6 out of Port O’Connor.

Fishing in Port O’Connor kicked into high gear this past weekend, with good numbers of trout, flounder and even king mackerel being caught. Flounder giggers have been smoking some pretty nice flounder along the bay shorelines of Pringle and Contee lakes.

The jetties have been good for reds and trout by drifting live shrimp or finger mullet with a small split shot along deep pockets in the rocks. By the way, never underestimate the power of live or fresh dead mullet at the jetties or in the bays. Trout, reds and flounder will eat them 24/7.

Lots of kingfish are being caught anywhere from 6 to 12 miles off the Port O’Connor jetties. Most are hitting drifted ribbon fish in 40 to 60 feet of water. The king fish leader in the CCA STAR tourney weighs 62.13 pounds and was caught out of Freeport.

Catches of ling have been surprisingly slow. I talked with one group of fishermen that hit a number of rigs, anywhere from 8 to 30 miles off the jetties, and caught three ling. The heaviest weighed about 45 pounds. They caught those on ribbon fish free-lined 6 feet under balloons. So far the only entry in the CCA STAR ling category weighs 60.7 pounds.

Team Wild Bill wins Sharp Tooth Shootout shark tourney in Port O’Connor

Capt. “Wild” Bill Caldwell and Jason Armstrong teamed up to catch the heaviest shark and win the Sharp Tooth Shootout shark tournament held Aug. 5-6 out of Port O’Connor.

Their winning catch was a finetooth shark weighing 155.9 pounds. That was good enough for first place in the heaviest shark division. They also won the team event with the two heaviest sharks with a total weight of 272.7 pounds. During the tourney they caught three sharks weighing 155.9, 116.8 and 89 pounds. But get this – Armstrong’s big shark is a pending state record. The second place team weighed in two sharks weighing 156.4. Third place was 88.7. The winner of last year’s Sharp Tooth Shootout was a 258-pound tiger shark.

CCA STAR tourney tagged reds up for grabs

There are only two confirmed redfish winners on the STAR scoreboard, so that leaves three truck, boat, motor and trailer prizes available to win in the redfish division. Over 50 tagged redfish are still out there swimming. The leader in the big trout division on the middle Texas coast is a 9.1 pounder. Heaviest sheepshead is 10.5 pounds, best flounder is 6.13 and the leading gafftop is 7.8 pounds. The STAR tourney doesn’t end until Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.

July 4th weekend keeps game wardens busy

Texas Game Wardens had their hands full over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Wardens responded to 12 drowning fatalities and two near drownings, 34 boating accidents that resulted in one fatality and eight serious injuries, filed 57 cases for boating and driving while intoxicated, and made 55 other arrests. By the time they closed the books on the three-day affair, wardens had made contact with more than 56,000 boaters onboard 16,000 vessels.

Want to get in on the fish catching action? Give us a call and book a trip today with Capt. Robert Sloan. Call 409-782-6796, email – sloan288@aol.com or go to www.luckystrikeguide.com.

Ray and Claudia Nunley (aka Mei Mei) with Ray’s 1st Bull Red. A Bucket List check off!! -Capt. Jeff Larson

This report remains the same. Similar to the same speeches we’ve been hearing lately. Fishing has been on fire and is still on fire. Fishing has been catching for the last several months. It is our hope that you have been getting in on some of the action, Jackson.
Like most fishermen, we prefer to catch our limit of trout and reds within the 1st hour of day light before Mr. Sunshine starts baking any of our uncovered skin. Make sure you use plenty of sun screen and DON’T put your hand in the bait well. Your bait doesn’t need spf 50 protection. The Trout have been the easiest target to get your limit before it gets too hot.

We have a great team of Captains that work together to insure everyone gets plenty of hook ups. It’s really cool how the local guides network in our fishing community once you are in the fold. We understand the business of making customers happy so they return for more adventures and memories. I will be the first to tell you, (singing) “ I get by with a little help from my friends.” My list is long and distinguished, I appreciate the heck out of all my guide buddies.

July was a great month for trout catching. All the bays, mid bay reefs and back lakes held ‘em all month. We heard and can testify that reds were pretty elusive last month. The jetties seemed to be the best place to find em if you could stand the rocking and rolling of the waves crashing around the man made pass. The Airboat Captains were able to locate ‘em also. They found numerous schools of reds in skinnier than normal waters. They didn’t always cooperate but they were there to boat a few for the grill.

August is starting to literally heat up along with the fishing action.

What species of fish do you want to harvest? Tarpon are in the passes. Sharks are in the bays and on the beach front. Flounder are on the flats. We have found flattys on all types of terrain, shell, mud, sand and some big ones are laying on grass. When the tide is up boat gigging seems to be the easiest. But when the tide falls, Walking seems to be the fastest way to string your 5. Just check with the local guides to determine how you want to stab some saddle blankets.

Here’s one for you. Night fishing has been really good off local piers and private lighted docks. Fishing at night eliminates the need for sunscreen but requires a lot more skill and equipment if you are fishing out of a boat. There are a few local guides who will take fishing charters at night if you want to beat the heat and see what all the rage of night fishing is all about.

We been hitting the surf with great results when the wind isn’t blowing a gale. Today’s pattern was windy early so we left late morning. I left my dock at 12:30 pm and made a bee line to the surf. We hit the end of the Jetties. The water was beautiful and the wind settled down from the morning blow. It took us longer to get to the surf than it did to catch our 4 man limit of trout. If you have a chance to fish the surf, I highly recommend it. The 1st gut right off the beach seems to be where the red fish are holding if you are looking to catch some nice slot reds.

September starts hunting season in Texas so book your Cast and Blast and enjoy what makes Calhoun County Famous. Scott is on standby to get your group in on some Cast and Blast fun. Call him at the Lodge: (361) 785-3825.

Keep your sunscreen out of the Bait Well, Anchor on the Bottom and Water in the Cooler,

Captain Jeff Larson
281 217 0399