Traylor Island @ Cove Harbor Sanctuary

COVE HARBOR WETLAND SANCTUARY PARKING LOT

LAUNCH POINT AT COVE HARBOR WETLAND SANCTUARY

We've launched many times at the Cove Harbor Wetland Sanctuary in Rockport, TX. We put out there, rather than the Cove Harbor public boat ramp, because no one is ever there and it has a nice sandy area to launch from, rather than concrete. Just North of Cove Harbor Marina and Drystack on 35 is the turn off for this small public parking lot. As you pull in, to the right of the dock there is a ditch and harbor. When the tide is high, you can actually put your kayak in the ditch which connects to the main part of the harbor. Or if tide is low, you'll have to walk the kayak over to the beach at the harbor. There are no public restrooms here -- but there are some up the road at the Cove Harbor public boat launch -- typical nasty public park bathrooms, but they'll do in a pinch. From the sanctuary, we usually head to a couple different points on Traylor Island.

LAUNCHING AT THE HARBOR DIAGONAL FROM THE WETLAND SANCTUARY PARKING LOT

COVE HARBOR TO NORTHERN MOST TIP OF TRAYLOR ISLAND

If we don't want to paddle far, we'll take the above route to the Northern most point of Traylor Island and fish around the channel, reef and guts in that area. Our most recent trip there was in the Spring, caught decent size Red Fish, Trout, and Sheepshead -- we did a mixture of wading, drifting and anchoring.

If we're up for a long day of paddling, we'll take another route (shown above) South down the channel, through Estes flats, and around the West side of Traylor Island which will eventually land us a little further down the Northern tip of Traylor Island on the East side. This route around the island provides decent protection from wind. Close to the end of our destination is a cut/channel with a small shell beach that dumps out into Aransas Bay -- this is a good place to stretch and catch Mullet. Then, we'll anchor just off the island and fish off the edge of that channel. On our way to our destination, we may throw out a bait into the channel or drift with a lure a few times down Estes flats.

CHANNEL WITH SHELL BEACH -- GOOD PLACE TO CATCH MULLET