Different tackle from Texas

[J.A. Veil]

I know that some Snaggedline members use snaps, snap swivels, Tactical Angler clips, or other such devices to attach lures to the end of your line and allow for lure changes without cutting and retying line. I have tried some of them in the past but have not liked them much. I stuck with tying loop knots.

Last week Mark and I were in Corpus Christi, TX for two days of fishing as part of a trip we won at a CCA banquet. The guys who donated the trip housed us in their condo and took us fishing twice. Their tackle was very high quality -- custom rods and Shimano Sustain or Stradic reels. What was different for me was two types of tackle they used that I had not seen before. The first was a curl tail snap clip for doing quick lure changes. Mark and I were unfamiliar with the clips and how they worked, but I quickly learned the technique. They seemed to work fine for holding the lures and allowing them to swim.

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The second lure was a regular-looking jighead that had a coil threaded around the upper shank of the hook. A plastic tail was threaded onto the hook point then was twisted onto the coil. This held the lure firmly and avoided pull-offs. As in the clips, figuring out how to use them took some time, but I can see the advantage. They were made by Norton http://www.nortonlures.net/screw-lock.

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On our final day we fished with an excellent kayak fishing guide, Capt Fil Spencer in some very shallow areas near Port Aransas. He too used the curl tail snap clips. He preferred the version that includes a swivel, whereas the guys on the previous days liked the version without the swivel. I bought a bag of the ones without the swivel to bring home and try here. They are custom made for a large tackle and kayak shop called Roy's Bait and Tackle in Corpus Christi. https://www.roysbaitandtackle.com/shop/curltail-snaps/.

We caught reds and trout all three days. Mark had a very good day with Capt Fil, catching numerous reds and trout on topwater. My topwater technique was not nearly as enticing as Mark's, but I still caught some fish.

[baitball]

John,

Thank you for sharing. I’m one of those guys that likes to use clips. I especially find them useful when trolling. It allows me to try various lures, while I cover large amounts of water, until I find the right one that works on that particular day.
I don’t use clips if I’m throwing topwater or casting to fish, with these techniques I tie on my lures with a loop knot.
I have also tried lures with the corkscrew-style baitkeeper in the past. They work well for most plastics, however, I prefer using Z-man brand baits and the corkscrew-style baitkeeper is practically impossible to insert into the proprietary Z-man plastic.
Glad to hear you guys were able to get on a good bite in TX.

[Slobber Bob]

A plastic tail was threaded onto the hook point then was twisted onto the coil.

The soft plastic bait doesn't get all tore up where the threaded hook comes out of it as you twist it onto the coil?

[J.A. Veil]

The soft plastic bait doesn't get all tore up where the threaded hook comes out of it as you twist it onto the coil?

No. I used my usual tails -- 12 Fathom 3" Fat Sam mullet -- on day 1. The wire coil is thin enough that it slid on without tearing. I slid the plastic onto the hook until I reached the coil. Then I twisted it on the rest of the way. I did need to flip the tail of the plastic bait over the hook 3 or 4 times (it is harder to explain than to do it). Using that rig, I caught a 24" redfish.

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[Slobber Bob]

I did need to flip the tail of the plastic bait over the hook 3 or 4 times (it is harder to explain than to do it).

Ah, I see. That's the part I couldn't see working - flipping the tail over the hook. Now it makes sense to me. Probably a no-bainer when you have it in your hand, but trying to envision it in my head wasn't working right for some reason

[nhunter344]

Probably a no-bainer when you have it in your hand, but trying to envision it in my head wasn't working right for some reason

Same thing here. My mental image was trying to wrap my head around getting the screw part in with the hook already threaded through the bait.

[Mark]

As John stated in this post he and I spent last Thursday through Saturday fishing in Corpus Christi and nearby Port Aransas, TX.

Unfortunately, my laptop expired on the last day of the trip so I have been unable to view my photos closely or to post here about the trip. As of this morning, I have new machine so I am back in business.

First, let me say it was a wonderful trip. Our CCA hosts could not have been nicer and our kayak guide, Capt. Fil Spencer put us on fish. We had to work hard to get to them, struggling through water under a foot deep at times. Often we buried our paddles in oyster bars and scraped the hulls of our Ocean Kayaks on the same but the arduous trek was worth it because clearly, we were fishing places where most boats could not go.

We spent our first day of the trip in our hosts’ 22-foot boat primarily in waters known as Laguna Madre. Shallow water is common throughout the area and rarely were we floating in water over a few feet deep. In fact, I would say they only time we were deeper was when we traversed a manmade a channel.

John caught the 24-inch redfish in his photos above not far from the shoreline of the famous King Ranch in TX while we were in the boat on day one. He hooked it on a favorite lure of both of ours – a 3-inch Fat Sam paddletail that we often use on the other side of the Gulf Coast in Tampa and here in the Chesapeake.

I caught no reds that day but I did land 9 speckled trout fishing an entirely new method for me. I used a Cajun Thunder popping cork. None of the trout were large. I believe the biggest one I got into the boat was slightly over 14 inches. But I had lots of hits and lost plenty. When the fish are really serious they pull the cork right under the water. Or sometimes they’ll pull it sideways as they take off with the bait. The cork itself is large and its components make a clacking noise as you chug it through the water. On the bottom of the cork is 18 inches of line and a hook on which a soft plastic was rigged. They call soft plastic trailers “touts” in TX. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of tout they put under my cork. They all worked. Some were Gulps, some were elongated plastics and some were paddletails. All touts drew strikes.

But using a popping corks comes with a cost. And that’s fatigue. The rule of thumb is to pull the cork hard. There is no subtlety when fishing with a popping cork. Frankly, it wore me out. I chugged that cork hard for most of the first day and as a result my right shoulder felt it. However, it didn’t hurt enough to prevent me using the cork on day two.

On that day we waded for a few hours in a tidal cut. Once again John showed the way with a nice red. Here’s a photo of him with the red and one of our CCA hosts:

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I think that one went 21 inches. Note the popping cork in the photo.

At that point I had still not caught a red but that was soon remedied with this little guy:

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Again, notice the cork. This red may be small but it represented precisely 1/3 of my lifetime catches of redfish. I caught another like it before we stopped wading and also added a speck to my list of the day’s catches. I was hooked on the cork. I liked it so much I decided to bring one home to try here.

But better times awaited. The next morning John and I met Capt. Fil Spencer at a designated spot along the road and he led us to the Port Aransas/Aransas Pass area. Evidence of Hurricane Harvey was much more prevalent in this area of TX. We saw twisted signs, roofs being replaced, boarded up buildings, and in some cases a pile of rubble where a building used to be.

Fil took us out on a long paddle at sunup. He picked his way through shallow water with no electronics, just his intimate knowledge of the area. We saw some unguided kayakers struggling to get out and they never got as far as we did. He we are on the way to our fishing grounds:

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Fil gave me this a top-water bait and showed me his method of “walking the dog” with it:

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It took me a while to mimic his action but when I did, the fish showed a definite preference for my lure. I boated 11 redfish, 8 trout and one large lady fish with it. Here are two of reds:

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Reds are great fun on top-water and they’re strong. I noticed they hit on top like stripers. I believe they first hit to stun the bait and then come back to it. The key is to keep the bait moving but not moving so fast that you pull it way from them. Only once did a red hit and hookup on a clean one-time strike. My 20 inch plus ladyfish went airborne which they are prone to do. It pulled hard too. The trout hit quickly and always stayed subsurface during the fight.

As the day went on, loose floating grass became problematic. I reluctantly gave up my top-water which was becoming entangled in the grass and threw a weedless paddletail instead. That boated me three more trout. And that's how I ended my day of catching.

Here’s a few scenes of the area:

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Those towers in front of John and Fil are Gulf oil rigs in for maintenance.

Fil often stood to look for fish and then he would send us over to them:

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John and I were whipped from the day’s paddling and from our activities two days prior. That afternoon we drove half of the way to back to San Antonio to catch our flight on Sunday stopping in a small town called Three Rivers, TX to spend the night. There we found a BBQ joint and I had some authentic TX BBQ brisket and chicken. It was fantastic but I did pay a price for it. Notice the spice on the table:

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It slapped me around pretty good the next morning. I guzzled a few doses of Pepto-Bismol to keep things under control on the long flight home.

So, our CCA adventure to TX was memorable, especially for me because I caught my fill of redfish. Prior to the trip I had caught only two redfish in my life. It’s also interesting to see how folks fish in different parts of the country. The popping cork was a new technique for me and I did pretty well with it. However, I must say I did not like the extra hardware they use that John described in this thread. I prefer hand-tied connections of leaders to the main line. Also, prefer a Lefty’s Loop over the pigtails. Lastly, I did not enjoy the use of trebles and both our CCA hosts and our kayak guide used them. I can understand why they do but since I do not use trebles at home I found it hard to unhook my TX catches from treble hooks.

[Big Mike]

Very nice report Mark. Like you I prefer to tie directly to the lure. Whether it makes a difference I don’t know but it increases my confidence.

[harlanbud]

I have been excited to get these reports, as always we pick up some tidbits .....interesting hardware!

[Mark]

I have been excited to get these reports, as always we pick up some tidbits .....interesting hardware!

Harlan,

They do have some interesting hardware.

Here's a closer look at the popping cork:

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Not easy to cast and taxing to retrieve but it works.