Fish Pass Jetties on Mustang Island

The Fish Pass Jetty is located inside the Mustang Island State Park. The jetty is two jetties, one on the north and on on the south, of what used to be an open channel through Mustang Island. Dredged back in the 1980's the Fish Pass Channel which separated the two Fish Pass Jettys has long since dried up. On a very rare occassion we have a tropical storm surge the channel may have a trickle of water flow through it. Even during these events the water has not passed through from the Gulf of Mexico to the Corpus Christi Bay. However the fishing, beachcombing, and specimen collection can still be very good on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Fish Pass at the Jetties.

The Fish Pass Jetty can be accessed in two ways. Visit the jetties from the entrance to the Mustang Island State Park or drive up the beach from the north to reach the north jetty. Both entrances to the jetties are off of State Hwy 361. The entrance at the Mustang Island State Park is about 5 miles from the Packery Channel and cost a few dollars. This is entrance will put you on the south jetty, is an easy beach drive and provides access to the day use facilities at the Mustang Island State Park. The other approach is to take Beach Access Road 2 which is about 7 miles from the Packery Channel Bridge. Turn into the Beach Access Road and then take a right (heading south back tracking on the beach)on the beach to head about 2 miles back up to the north Fish Pass Jetty. The sand can be soft here at times but is usually accessible. There is no fee to take this entrance to the north jetty but there is no vehicle access to the Mustang Island State Park facilities. A Nueces County Beach Parking Permit is also required to park on this part of the beach. These can be purchased at local convenient stores in Port Aransas or on North Padre Island.

The Fish Pass Jetties offer anglers year round potential catches. The jetties extend out into the Gulf of Mexico provided easy access to the deeper near shore waters of the Gulf. Catches of redfish, black drum, flounder and speckled trout can be caught year round with natural bait or artificial lures. In the summer months all above mentioned species can be caught along with catches of spanish mackeral, pompano, jackfish, shark and the occasional king mackeral.

For the saltwater aquarium enthusiast the jetties provide opportunities to observe and collect (check current state law with Texas Parks and Wildlife)various aquatice life. Sea anemones, urchines, barnacles and small fish are abundant. Peppermint shrimp, pistol shrimp and other species can be caught at night when the water is calm and warm. Bring a flashlight and a net and look between the jetty rocks.