Could be a new STATE RECORD!

[txbow99]

:applause: I haven't been around much lately as I spent most of June, July, and August fishing and filming down south in Port Isabel. We caught some great reds and trout, but on Monday, October 1, I landed what could be a new state record for catch and release. We were on the Port Brownsville ship channel and were hoping to catch a few reds and snook on the points and flats. On my first cast toward the shoreline, I had a gigantic blowup on my Zara Spook. It was engulfed by a hugh fish that I first thought was a large jack, but soon saw the unforgettable large yellow tail of a monster snook. My brother in law manned the camera and after about five minutes I landed a 40" 23 lb Texas snook. At the time of capture I was not aware that the state had a new class for catch and release and thus I only measured him with the ruler on my rod. We weighed him with my boga and released him. The only photos I got were from my video. We had forgotten our regular cameras!
Here are a few pictures of this great fish.

[waterspout]

Awesome!

[medulla762]

That is a dandy snook!

That is an absolutely incredible Texas snook!

[Melissaa52]

Well, what do you expect from fishing in the BIG state? A BIG fish! Congratulations! I LOVE Texas!

[Ole Bill]

that is a great fish but i got to admit all i can see is some wonderful and tasty filets

[NewCaneyFishingLady]

Fantastic catch and on the first cast, too!! That is a pretty fish, didn't even know of them near Texas. Are they caught out of Galveston? and How much did it weigh?

[Scotta]

More on the south but they have expanded thier territory to Galveston since we havent had a sustainable freeze since 1989. Good looking fish

[txbow99]

Its really rare to find them as far north as Galveston unless they get lost. They are heavly concentrated in the area around Port Isabel and some are being taken in the upper Laguna. The ones taken up north are usually sea run and are taken close to the jetties. THey have always been in the Lower Laguna Madre, but not in the numbers and size as they are now. They do not migrate and thus will be in the deeper waters during a cold winter. The Brownsville channel is perfect habitat for these beautiful fish.

[Bgbluecat]

Centropomus undecimalis - grand fish. Have caught many in tropics and Florida. Personal best was also a 40 incher out of Sebastian inlet. Did have on a bigger one at the mouth of the Guantanamo river long ago. We were catching little snook and swordspine snook on freelined shrimp on 10lb test spinning. While bringing one in a monster snook engulfed it. Fought it for 5 - 6 mins until it ran under the pier. Without a pause I jumped off the pier and followed it though the pilings and held it until it exited out the other side then wrapped around a boat mooring anchor line and broke off.
Went down to Laguna Atascosa late last year to try for them but had some bad timing - weather got bad. Hit the road at mid 80's but that changed to lots of wind from the north with a temp drop. Caught plenty of mullet but no snook and no grey snaps - reds only.
Let us know if your application for the CPR recognition is approved - that was a super fish. Thanks/ml

[matt78133]

Yes I wish I had the knowlege of gear tackle and waterways to fish for catches like this. I can vouch for snook in fl though. I lived in jensen beach area and they were like bass are to texas...in fact our local bait shop was called the "snook nook"

http://www.snooknook.net/Fishing_Reports.html