Access to the upper end of the Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay is from marinas and boat ramps near Corpus Christi or at Bird Island Basin, a recreational area on the Padre Island National Seashore. Flyfishers also can access the Laguna Madre flats from marinas and public launch ramps at Port Mansfield and Arroyo City.
The waters around Port Mansfield, located off Texas 186, 26 miles east of Raymondville, have been a favorite for light-tackle anglers for a half century. Port Mansfield offers visiting flyfishers motels and condos, launch ramps and marinas, as well as broad, sandy flats, jetty fishing, and a nearby pass to the Gulf.
There also are motels and marinas at nearby Port Isabel and South Padre Island. The venerable Port Isabel Yacht Club, founded in 1926, still rents rooms to visiting anglers and offers an excellent restaurant and bar.
A wide range of fly patterns and colors-from buggy shrimp imitations to Crazy Charlie bonefish flies-are effective on the flats of the lower coast. See pages 24-27 in chapter 3 for more information on fly patterns.
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