I am seriously contemplating buying a fishing camp on or very near the coast somewhere between Port Lavaca and Aransas Pass, more or less. Currently I am thinking of Seadrift because it is more or less one of the closest to Austin, about a 3 hour drive.

Mostly I am looking for good fishing, especially good wade fishing. We will have a boat, but I prefer wading myself.

I'd appreciate anyone with knowledge of the general areas offering advice or insights.

G.,
You have a PM

Just to clarify a bit, I am looking for a camp on (preferably) or very near the water. Very near to me means no more than roughly a 5 minute drive to access a fishing location or a boat launch. There are a couple of auctions coming up that appear attractive.

While leads or specific properties available are more than welcome, I am generally looking for comments on the locales, such as general friendliness, crime, access to good fishing year around, environmental concerns, access to stores, restaurants, etc., etc.

Baffin Bay, Riviera Beach, etc. is south of Corpus, inside Padre Island, perhaps further south than you prefer, but is wade fishing paradise for specs, reds, flounder. Relatively unspoiled, less congested & developed, less expensive, etc. Some classic fishing camps in the area, King's Inn, King Ranch, accessible via Harlingen AP.

http://www.texasescapes.com/Te...ivieraBeachTexas.htm

Port O'Connor is a favorite of serious Houston-area salts but has gotten kinda expensive, more for offshore excursions.

Thanks for the ideas. I am trying to stay E of Corpus as the driving time is substantially less. Roughly 3 hours as compared to 4 1/2 from Austin to the Baffin Bay area. I'm not married to this concept, but I've found over the years that, for me, the farther one has to drive to access hunting or fishing, the fewer times one makes the effort.

Besides personal use, the general concept of this is that my kids, both now in UT, can use it for a weekend escape from Austin. I didn't come in on the last turnip truck about college student's behavior, but, in general, I think they are less likely to have problems fishing (even if they are doing other more intimate activities with their significant other of the day/week) than running around Austin.

Just a thought: when I was looking for a camp on Reelfoot lake in TN, the meanest little shanty that was lake front cost more than a regular house would elsewhere. And camps that were "close" would advertize that they were xx mins from the lake. My thinking was that if I couldn't walk to the edge of my property, step into my boat, and go fishing then how far I had to trailer was purely subjective. If you have to trailer at all, what's the difference between 10 mins and 30 mins?
I now live near Kentucky Lake in a small (cheap) house that is 20 mins from three different boat ramps.

The obvious answer is 40 minutes per trip, which is significant to me, but I appreciate your input and it does have application, since very few beach front properties have their own boathouses anyway. Unless you live near a marina where you can keep it in a slip, you're going to have to trailer anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
The obvious answer is 40 minutes per trip, which is significant to me, but I appreciate your input and it does have application, since very few beach front properties have their own boathouses anyway. Unless you live near a marina where you can keep it in a slip, you're going to have to trailer anyway.

Random thoughts:
Baised on back when I had my boat, I think it would be easier to have a boat in the water, or on a sling, in a marina, and live even up to one hour away, than to live 10 to 20 minutes from the water and have to hook up the trailer to the vehicle, trailer the boat to the water, launch it, then retrailer it, and then drive it back home, then park it and un hitch it, etc...

Absolutely agree.

I lived in Rockport til I was 12. Still love the place. My sister just bought a place there. If I lived in TX, that is where I would be. Duck hunting there too.

Ditto on Rockport. We thought of retiring there but opted for the Hill Country. I like the Corpus area in general, still somewhat off the radar in spite of tremendous growth to the north, migration from the south and the Eagle Ford.