Located at the base of the south jetty at Port Aransas, the pier itself is not open to the public for fishing, but its pilings and other underwater structures in the area attract a variety of gamefish including redfish, trout, and Spanish mackerel.
Fishing at night off the jetty rocks and pilings near the lighted pier can bring explosive strikes from speckled trout. Casting weighted lines that sink quickly in the strong currents and using streamer flies dressed on inverted hooks that make them virtually snagproof enable flyrodders to tease flies around these productive structures.
Mustang Island State Park Jetty
Located off Texas 361 between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, Mustang Island State Park has two rock jetties on either side of a water-exchange pass that draw trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel, and ladyfish.
Mansfield Channel, Port Mansfield
The Mansfield jetties are reached most easily by boat from Port Mansfield launch ramps. Like those at other Texas jetties, the rock structures draw a variety of gamefish. During the summer and fall, schools of bull reds can be spotted within casting range, milling around the rock-strewn fingers that extend out from the base of Mansfield's north jetty. Also look for schools of jack crevalle in the 15-pound to 25-pound class blowing up on baitfish on the channel side. Anglers sometimes travel up the Padre Island beach in four-wheel-drive vehicles in hopes of finding tarpon and redfish feeding around Mansfield's south jetty at sunrise and sundown.
Fly-fishing guide Terry Neal says the jack crevalle start showing around the Port Mansfield jetties in May and June, followed by king mackerel in July. He recommends anchoring just off the rocks and chumming them up to within casting distance. "There is a lot of good fishing on both sides of the jetties," he says. "In the fall, you've got your redfish migrations, and you will have big schools come right up on the surface."
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