East Texas Crew Goes Patch Hopping

Philip brought his boys Boone and Brooks down from East Texas ready to put some fish on the deck.

The original plan was mahi fishing. Good summer plan. Run offshore, find the birds, find the weed, and hunt until the right school shows up.

But the boys made the call pretty quick. They wanted action, not a long hunt. Size did not matter. Rods bending did.

So we called an audible and went patch hopping.

More Than A Dozen Patches

We worked over a dozen patches, bouncing from spot to spot and keeping the bite moving.

That is the beauty of patch fishing when the crew wants steady action. You do not marry one piece of bottom all day. You check it, fish what is there, and move when it slows down.

Boone and Brooks got exactly what they were after. Bites, hookups, fish coming over the rail, and no long dead stretch waiting on something to happen.

Snapper In The Box

The patches gave us a good mixed bag:

• Yellowtail snapper
• Mangrove snapper
• A nice mutton snapper for Philip
• One nurse shark released

Philip put the best mutton of the day on the table, and the boys stayed busy with yellowtails and mangroves.

We even got to release a nurse shark along the way, because apparently the ocean figured the East Texas crew needed the full Keys starter pack.

Good Call, Boys

Sometimes the best trips are the ones where you change the plan and chase the bite in front of you.

Mahi fishing would have meant hunting. Patch hopping meant action. Boone and Brooks knew what kind of day they wanted, and they were right.

Fish box had dinner. Boys had a blast.

Always a good time on DirtyBoat.

Want a family fishing trip with steady action? Book a half-day or full-day charter →