Welcome to the boat parade
Anglers display host of boat designs at Redfish Series event in Texas
PORT ARANSAS, Texas – Boat styles for chasing redfish are as varied as the depths in the Gulf of Mexico, and that was especially evident at the start of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event out of Port Aransas, Texas, this morning.
At the 7 a.m. takeoff at Roberts Point Park, every kind of water craft imaginable was
present: bass boats, center consoles, tiny skiffs, tower boats and large platform boats that look like aqueous magic carpets.
The complexity of craft design in technical redfishing along the Texas Gulf Coast is in direct proportion to the rich diversity of redfish habitat offered by the Corpus Christi Bay-Laguna Madre complex.
Redfish here live everywhere, from the deep shipping channels that extend out into the Gulf to the hundreds of square miles of ultraskinny flats along the backside of Padre Island – and everywhere in between.
How an angler plans to approach redfish has everything to do with the way his or her craft is set up.
The tiny skiffs can float a pair of redfish anglers around in ankle-deep water, but are not much on speed or making long runs across rough bays.
The “magic carpets” with towers, which are particularly popular here in Texas, give anglers the perspective of a seagull while cruising across calm flats looking for schools of reds.
The center consoles and bass boats provide speed and a more comfortable ride when charging out across wind-whipped bays, but getting to that single redfish tailing in inches of water can be a bit more challenging.
Each type of craft has its inherent advantages and disadvantages, making the sport of competitive redfishing a dicey game of strategy. Some teams even bring two different types of boats to redfish tournaments for a maximum advantage.
The boat parade will return this afternoon with livewells full of redfish to start the day-one weigh-in of the FLW Redfish Series at 3 p.m. at Roberts Point Park.
Friday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:44 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 71 degrees
Expected high temperature: 78 degrees
Forecasted wind: ESE at 10 to 20 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny, breezy