Port Aransas Fishing Guide

Bait & tackle

Bait and tackle shops on the Corpus Christi coast

8 bait stops on the Corpus Christi side of the water, from the Flour Bluff shops on South Padre Island Drive to the causeway marinas and the downtown L-Head, with what each keeps live and the shop's own published hours. Inland Corpus tackle stores are deliberately left off.

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8 shops · every listing checked against the shop's own listing, site or Facebook page, August 2026

Where can you buy live bait between Flour Bluff and Padre Island?

Every stop on this page keeps live shrimp and 5 of the 8 list live croaker, so the causeway run is the deepest live-bait corridor on the Coastal Bend: the Flour Bluff shops open by 5:30 a.m. and stay open into the night, and the causeway marinas add ramps, piers and fuel. Downtown, the L-Head seafood house covers the bayfront.

Bait shops compared: live bait, opening time, licences, ice
Shop Live bait Opens Licence Ice
Bait Bucket Flour Bluff shrimp, croaker, mullet, mud minnows 5:00 a.m. ? ?
Billings Bait Stand Padre Island shrimp, mullet 5:00 a.m. ? Yes
Clem's Marina Padre Island shrimp, croaker, mullet, mud minnows, perch, crabs 5:00 a.m. ? Yes
Cos-Way Bait & Tackle Flour Bluff shrimp, croaker 5:30 a.m. ? ?
Jane's L-Head Seafood House Corpus Christi bayfront shrimp 5:30 a.m. ? ?
Marker 37 Marina Padre Island shrimp, croaker, mullet, finger mullet, piggy perch, crab 5:30 a.m. ? Yes
R&G Bait Flour Bluff shrimp, croaker, finger mullet, crab 5:00 a.m. ? ?
Red Dot Pier Flour Bluff shrimp, mullet, pin perch, crab 6:00 a.m. ? Yes

? = not published by the shop. Licence = sells Texas fishing licences.

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Flour Bluff and the causeway approach

Padre Island and the JFK Causeway

Corpus Christi bayfront

Where do you buy a fishing licence?

Online from TPWD is fastest; on this side of the water the Ace Hardware on North Padre sells licences over the counter, and the Port Aransas and Rockport pages list more vendors. Every angler 17 or older needs a Texas fishing licence with the saltwater endorsement. TPWD licences

Licence, ice and supplies stops that are not bait counters
Stop Sells Hours
Ace Hardware North Padre 15326 S Padre Island Dr #B, Corpus Christi, TX 78418 · (361) 949-3483 licences, tackle Mon to Sat 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sun 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

What time do bait shops open?

The Flour Bluff shops open between 5 and 5:30 a.m. and several run past 11 p.m.; the causeway marinas open at 5:30 a.m. The hours on each card are the shop's own published hours with the source named. Croaker sells out early on summer weekends, so call or check the shops' Facebook posts before a dawn run.

Straight answers

Bait questions, answered

Where is live croaker sold on the Corpus Christi side of the causeway?

Bait Bucket, Cos-Way Bait & Tackle, R&G Bait, Marker 37 Marina and Clem's Marina all list live croaker, and every one of them opens by 5:30 a.m. The Flour Bluff shops sit on South Padre Island Drive before the causeway; Marker 37 and Clem's are on the causeway itself with ramps and piers.

Is there a bait shop downtown for the bayfront piers?

Jane's L-Head Seafood House on the L-Head at the downtown marina opens at 5:30 a.m. with live shrimp, the practical stop for the bayfront and Cole Park piers. Licences are sold online by TPWD and at the Ace Hardware on North Padre.

Own one of these shops?

Every bait and tackle shop on this coast is listed here free. No paid placement: Shops are ordered alphabetically within each town, nothing else. The facts on each card come from your own listing, site or Facebook page, and each card carries the date we checked them.

Port Aransas Fishing Guide sells nothing to shops and takes no commission; the directory exists so anglers find bait.

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