“Something keeps nibbling,” he said. “I can barely feel it, but it keeps taking my shrimp. It must be really tiny.”

“It may be much bigger than you think,” I replied. With the tide falling hard, small crabs drifted along with the flow. I scooped several with a net.

“Try this,” I suggested, hooking a crab about the size of a quarter on a jighead. “Don’t cast it. Just flip it a few feet upstream and let the tide push it back under the dock. Keep it next to the pilings. When you feel a little weight, set the hook.”

For many people, their offshore fishing experience begins and ends with the brief federal red snapper season during the summer. However, in Texas state waters, which extend out to nine nautical miles from shore, one can catch red snapper and many other species all year long.