Feature Story by CHESTER MOORE
LISTEN: (2 minutes, 41 seconds)
LAST MAY, I JOINED my friend Gray Thornton and Capt. Eric Glass for three days of fly fishing for redfish in Lower Laguna Madre out of South Padre Island.
On the way back to the dock on day two, I looked to our west about 15 yards from the boat and saw a tailing fish.
It wasn’t a red.
And it wasn’t a trout or a drum or sheepshead.
“It’s a pompano,” I shouted.
Thornton said, “Yes, it is.”
Southern pompanos are not uncommon in South Texas and are occasionally caught in Lower Laguna Madre.
But their close cousins permit are showing up more frequently on the Texas Coast in recent years.
(Photo: Brian Barerra)
Is it possible that we saw a permit, the most coveted flats fish on the planet on the flats out of South Padre Island?
We will never know but it was a point of conversation off and on for the rest of the trip.
Quite a few anglers think they’ve caught a permit in Texas but are disappointed to find out it was a southern pompano (a close relative) or even a jack crevalle (similar shape and colors).
Christy Real caught and released the real deal while fishing the Texas City Dike in late March. The Galveston ecosystem has had several small permit caught in net samples over the last few years according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department sources.
Permit are stunning flats species that get big and are part of the prestigious Flats Slam which includes bonefish and tarpon. Permit are said to be the moodiest of flats slam species and will often ignore the most perfectly placed lure or fly.
Jared Guinn caught the Texas state record in the Gulf of Mexico in 1993. It only weighed 1.50 pounds. I’ve heard anecdotal evidence of permit close to this size caught in the Galveston Bay complex in recent years, from very informed anglers.
One of our TF&G contributors Capt. Brian Barerra’s young client, Rider Colvin, caught a permit in the South Padre area. It wasn’t a monster but in a very real way, it was the catch of a lifetime.
There is evidence that tropical species are increasing in Gulf waters due to warming trends. Are more permit showing up in Texas for this reason?
Have you ever caught a permit in Texas? Or maybe a bonefish?
If you have, send photos, videos and stories to cmoore@fishgame.com.
We will publish them in a future story.
I’ll never forget seeing that mysterious tailing fish in the flats out of South Padre Island. Whether it was a permit or pompano, it was still super cool and shows the Texas flats have impressive biodiversity.
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