Last week our turkey hunt to Georgia fell through due to a lack of birds so we had a free weekend. Decided to fish the coast and saw a recent thread on Dylan Mendoza. He's an Aggie and former baseball player under Rob Childress. Reached out to Dylan and by luck he had a free Saturday so we made plans for a quick trip. Headed out Friday from Houston and didn't know much about the area so we decided to eat at Paradise Key in Port Aransas. Standard seafood restaurant with a decent patio and view. Crab cakes were great but the rest of the food was just mediocre. Would have eaten at the second restaurant twice if we had known but more about that in a minute.
Had some storms on the radar that we had to keep an eye on so we made plans with Dylan to connect in the morning and make a better game plan. Next morning we woke up to pretty constant winds in the 15-20mph range and lots of cloud cover. Didn't seem to be much rain in the forecast so we made the drive to Goose Island State Park and launched out around 8:30. Dylan has a beautiful new Hells Bay Waterman that took on some rough water really well as we crossed the bay. Worked our way into a backwater lake with a nice grassy and sand bottom. We are very novice to introductory fly fisherman, Dylan made us feel really comfortable about casting, presentation and boat positioning. Didn't seem like we had been poling far when we came across a small school working the shoreline. I was on the bow and in great position, could see the fish and the direction they were working, made a 30 foot cast in the direction they were headed, couple strips and instantly had a hook up on a slightly undersized red. It was an awesome moment where everything came together.
Next man up. We worked through the clear backwater with all eyes constantly scanning for any signs of tails or bait. Didn't take long and came across several fish along the edges of the flooded grass. Couple of failed attempts to get a fly in just the right spot before we were able to have success. Once again Dylan moved the boat into perfect position as we closed the distance on a good group of tailing redfish that were completely oblivious to our presence. Couple good casts and once again we had a nice redfish in hand. Dylan took some great photos for us and we ate a little lunch on the water. Headed out of the backwater to look for new fish. Dylan knows his spots well and it didn't take long for the next opportunity. Birds gave away two nice groups of tailing redfish. We changed over to a purple and black slow sinking fly pattern since the water had less visibility. First group the cast was a little in front of the direction the reds were heading and a speckled trout grabbed the fly before I could reposition. Second group we hooked up and landed an undersized red but there were several good sized reds in both schools.
All credit to Dylan for excellent boat positioning and coaching us through casting and stripping. Couple better casts and we would have been in for a fun fight. As it got later in the day the fish disappeared and the action slowed down. Wrapped up the day around 4 and made our way in. Second dinner was at Copano's in Rockport. Food and service was fantastic. Lots of great options on the menu and I would have preferred to have eaten there both times. Definitely planning a trip back with Dylan and will make the stop at Copanos. I'll try to upload some videos and pictures.
TLDR: Had a great fishing trip with Dylan Mendoza despite tough fishing conditions. 100% would recommend him again. Eat at Copano's restaurant in Rockport.
Had some storms on the radar that we had to keep an eye on so we made plans with Dylan to connect in the morning and make a better game plan. Next morning we woke up to pretty constant winds in the 15-20mph range and lots of cloud cover. Didn't seem to be much rain in the forecast so we made the drive to Goose Island State Park and launched out around 8:30. Dylan has a beautiful new Hells Bay Waterman that took on some rough water really well as we crossed the bay. Worked our way into a backwater lake with a nice grassy and sand bottom. We are very novice to introductory fly fisherman, Dylan made us feel really comfortable about casting, presentation and boat positioning. Didn't seem like we had been poling far when we came across a small school working the shoreline. I was on the bow and in great position, could see the fish and the direction they were working, made a 30 foot cast in the direction they were headed, couple strips and instantly had a hook up on a slightly undersized red. It was an awesome moment where everything came together.
Next man up. We worked through the clear backwater with all eyes constantly scanning for any signs of tails or bait. Didn't take long and came across several fish along the edges of the flooded grass. Couple of failed attempts to get a fly in just the right spot before we were able to have success. Once again Dylan moved the boat into perfect position as we closed the distance on a good group of tailing redfish that were completely oblivious to our presence. Couple good casts and once again we had a nice redfish in hand. Dylan took some great photos for us and we ate a little lunch on the water. Headed out of the backwater to look for new fish. Dylan knows his spots well and it didn't take long for the next opportunity. Birds gave away two nice groups of tailing redfish. We changed over to a purple and black slow sinking fly pattern since the water had less visibility. First group the cast was a little in front of the direction the reds were heading and a speckled trout grabbed the fly before I could reposition. Second group we hooked up and landed an undersized red but there were several good sized reds in both schools.
All credit to Dylan for excellent boat positioning and coaching us through casting and stripping. Couple better casts and we would have been in for a fun fight. As it got later in the day the fish disappeared and the action slowed down. Wrapped up the day around 4 and made our way in. Second dinner was at Copano's in Rockport. Food and service was fantastic. Lots of great options on the menu and I would have preferred to have eaten there both times. Definitely planning a trip back with Dylan and will make the stop at Copanos. I'll try to upload some videos and pictures.
TLDR: Had a great fishing trip with Dylan Mendoza despite tough fishing conditions. 100% would recommend him again. Eat at Copano's restaurant in Rockport.
