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Islands in the Sun Part 2: South Padre Island

© Louis Bignami

Some who set out for South Padre Island lose their way. A few fly into Corpus Christi, then discover it's a five hour drive to their destination. Others try to drive down Padre Island that, unfortunately, has not connected to South Padre Island since the Port Mansfield Ship Channel was cut in 1964.

Visitors who eventually find their way across Queen Isabella Causeway to South Padre discover a year-round subtropical climate and uncrowded beaches. Except for school holidays, when students flock in, expect to see more birds than people. A mere 1,100 residents strung out along 5 1/4 miles of beachfront, hardly crowd 34 mile long South Padre Island.

South Padre offers all the usual aquatic diversions and other amenities of beach towns. Sailboarding has taken off with consistent winds, and divers search for treasure off the coast. Jet skiing, wave riding, parasailing and beach boarding are all popular. Bikes, go-karts and video games distract teenagers from bikini watching. Lodgings and food are typical of beach resort communities. Restaurants, naturally, feature fish, Mexican and tropical specialities. Service is quite special, for people really seem to mean it when they say, "You'all come back, hear."

FISHING MARCO

Seawalls, piers in town and charter bay and offershore boats are only a start. The most interesting and, at least in winter, accessible fishing is in the bays and channels behind South Padre Island all the way 100 miles or so north towards Galveston. This is the spot where you can catch reds, sea trout, snappers, and far too many gaff topsail catfish on bait or small lures. Water may only be a couple of feet deep -- that's why local guides get up on plane and may have to pole to a channel to restart engines after fishing.

Wading is superior fun if you wear sneakers and shuffle your feet as stepping on the catfish hurts and there are plentiful small sting rays that can whomp hour leg with a spine. But these aren't much of a hazzard if you shuffle.

You can also use appropriate vehicles to fish along the Gulf side of islands to catch tarpon, reds, seatrout and other species in the usually mild and moderately muddy surf. A day with a guide makes sense here. A way to unstick a private vehicle from sometimes soft deep sand helps.

But there's bags more. So bring your freshwater gear, book a guide early in the say and enjoy the most affordable Gulf Coast fishing.

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