There are literally hundreds of fishing guides in the Texas Coastal Bend. They include offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and bay fishing the varied bay systems around Rockport, Aransas Pass, Port Aransas, Padre Island and the Upper Laguna Madre, and Corpus Christi.
Many guides offer general guided fishing trips to target multiple species like redfish, speckled trout, flounder and black drum, while some offer specialized trips like fly fishing the backwaters of Redfish Bay for redfish or sow speckled trout.
The options for hiring Coastal Bend Fishing guides are as varied as a full-time fishing guide with decades of experience guiding in the waters of the Coastal Bend to a new enthusiastic fishing guide just starting to build a new business working part time around their current job.
The Texas Coastal Bend is large area and offers a variety of options. Naturally, professional fishing guides will cater to a several of the areas and techniques base on their skills and equipment. Generally, from a fishing guide perspective, the Coastal Bend can be broken into 2 sections. While this is a general guide, Coastal Bend fishing guides tend to focus on one of these specific areas. However, some do overlap or venture to the other areas, particularly ones that live in central areas, like Corpus Christi or Portland.
The northern section includes:
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Northern portion of Corpus Christi Bay
- Mesquite Bay
- Redfish Bay
Coastal Bend Fishing Guides that target the northern portion of the Texas Coastal Bend will generally operate out of Rockport, Aransas Pass, Ingleside, Port Aransas, Portland, or Corpus Christi.
The southern section of the Texas Coastal Bend includes:
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The Land cut
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Southern portion of Corpus Christi Bay
A majority of the fishing guides for the southern areas are based in Corpus Christi which includes Flour Bluff and North Padre Island), and Port Aransas. For Baffin Bay specifically, some guides are based in Kingsville and Riviera.
The bulk of the offshore fishing guides that target the Gulf of Mexico are located in Port Aransas, with a few operating from North Padre Island via Packery Channel
The next several pages are designed to help anglers looking for a fishing guide around the Texas Coastal Bend to know what to look for, what to expect and how to enjoy a guided fishing trip. While these articles are focused on bay fishing guides, most of the information applies to booking offshore fishing guides as well.
