1. Common Prey Items Along the Texas Coast: A Fly Fishing Perspective
Mark R. Fisher
Science Director
Rockport Marine Lab

2. TPWD Resource Monitoring Program Overview
Initiated in 1975.
Stratified random sampling.
Standardized methods.
Gill nets (780/year).
Bay trawls (1,680/year).
Gulf trawls (960/year).
Bag seines (2,160/year).
Oyster dredges (1,200/year).
Total—6,780/year.

3. Sample Locations, 1975-2007 All Gears Combined
360 fish species
324 invertebrate species

4. Diet of Legal-Sized Red Drum and Spotted Seatrout
Opportunistic predators.
Diet reflects habitat, feeding mode, prey availability and prey size.
Trout consume shrimp and fish.
Reds consume crabs, shrimp and fish.

5. Don’t put your finger in there!
Upper Plate
Lower Plate

6. Prey Items Can Be Highly Seasonal!
Spawning occurs in Fall (croaker), Spring (silversides), Winter (mullet), or year-round (blue crab, killifish).
Rapid growth rates for some (shrimp ~ 1 mm/day); juveniles are typically the only edible size.
Different life stages utilize different habitats—juveniles typically inhabit shorelines, subadults and adults in open water.
Our bays are not food-limited!

7. Corpus Christi Bay Monthly Mean Water Temperatures

8. Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus)

9. Monthly Abundance and Size of Menhaden from Coastal Bend Shorelines
Late Fall/Early Winter Gulf spawners, 115 mm by age 1, 5 years max age

10. World’s Largest Menhaden?
2.9 pounds, 18.7 inches!

11. Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchelli)

12. Striped anchovy (Anchoa hepsetus)

13. Dusky anchovy (Anchoa lyolepis)
Maximum size – 90 mm
Striped anchovy – 150 mm
Bay anchovy – 100 mm

14. Distribution of Anchovies in the Coastal Bend

15. Dusky anchovy schools along Padre Island

17. Scaled sardine (Harengula jaguana)
Size range— mm

18. Spanish sardine (Sardinella aurita)
Size range— mm

19. Distribution of Sardines in the Coastal Bend

20. Distribution of Sardines by Salinity Zone

21. Mullet, striped and white (Mugil cephalus and M. curema)

22. World’s Largest Mullet?
30 inches, 7 pounds!

23. Killifish and Sheepshead minnow (Fundulus sp
Killifish and Sheepshead minnow (Fundulus sp. and Cyprinodon variegatus)
50-75 mm
50-75 mm
30-40 mm

24. Distribution of Cyprinodonts in the Coastal Bend

25. Killifish and Sheepshead minnow Habitat

26. Proof!

27. Inland silverside (Menidia beryllina)

28. Distribution of Silversides in the Coastal Bend

29. Pinfish and Atlantic croaker (Lagodon rhomboides and Micropogonias undulatus)

30. Monthly Bay Trawl Atlantic Croaker Lengths Length class, mm

31. Gobies Family Gobiidae

32. Shrimp eel (Ophichthus gomesi)
mm length

33. Brown, Pink, and White Shrimp
Browns are brown to olive green.
Pinks are grayish to red-brown.
Whites are bluish white.
White

34. Browns, White, and Pink Shrimp Life History Overview
Offshore spawning
Eggs hatch within 24 hours
Postlarvae migrate into bays
Fast growth, ~ 1 mm/day
Migrate to deeper water as they get larger
Brown—fall spawners
White—spring spawners
Pink—spring spawners.
Browns & pinks burrow during the day

35. Brown Shrimp Distribution and Abundance

36. Brown Shrimp Distribution and Abundance

37. Coastwide Monthly Brown Shrimp CPUE Bay Trawls

38. Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.)
20-40 mm total length

39. Distribution of Grass Shrimp in the Coastal Bend

40. Other Shrimp Species

41. Sargassum Shrimp

42. Shrimp Flies

43. Crabs

44. Atlantic brief squid (Lolliguncula brevis)

45. Longfin squid (Loligo pealei)
Arrow squid (Loligo pleii)

46. Squid Mantle Lengths

47. Distribution of Squid in the Coastal Bend

48. Distribution of Squid by Salinity Zone

49. Good Fly Selections—Flats, Grassy Shorelines, Creeks

50. Good Fly Selections—Jetty and Surf

51. Want to Know More?

53. Common Bait Species Within Texas Bays
Pinfish
Bay anchovy
Inland silverside
Gulf menhaden
Mullet
Sheepshead minnow
Killifish
Atlantic croaker
Grass shrimp
White and brown shrimp
Blue crab
Atlantic brief squid

54. Common Bait Species Along Texas Gulf Beaches
Mullet
Striped anchovy
Dusky anchovy
Scaled sardine
Spanish sardine
Bay anchovy
Rough silverside
Seabob
White and brown shrimp
Blue crab
Sargassum shrimp
Sargassum crab

55. Common Bait Species in Redfish Bay, South Bay and B&R Flats
Pinfish
Sheepshead minnow
Inland silverside
Killifish
Mullet
Bay anchovy
Atlantic croaker
Gobies
Grass shrimp
White, pink, and brown shrimp
Blue crab
Mud crabs