I'm getting busier and finding fishing time is getting harder. I live in San Antonio and could trailer to the closest gulf ramps or store in Beaumont, stay with family and fish the Sabine area. Help me make the decision fellas! Which place for a home base fishing in 2024?

Beaumont -
pros
family time
Kids fishing with dad
Mom gets to visit her mom (dad gets fishing time)
less trailering
know the Sabine area with plenty left to explore
local storage

Beaumont
Cons -
family
gas and 4+ hours to get there
Kids are getting busier with life. I don't get here as much as before
getting tired of the drive

Corpus/Portland area
Pros - ?
Closer?
Fish with fishing buddies

Cons
Less fishing time.
Harder to work on boat

Other areas to consider?

You are going to pass a lot of good fishing going to Beaumont.
Port Mansfield/Arroyo city is the best. Baffin is really good.
I’ll show you around Seadrift if you like. Redfish is better than Mansfield but we don’t have the trout or flounder numbers. Good but not as easy.

Lot less crowded than Rockport or Aransas.

I’d stay close to where your family is-Flounder and Reds should be chomping

Thanks guys - Pat could a 1902 Kenner Vision do okay fishing out of Seadrift? Boat storage availability and fees look reasonable. I'm tired of cleaning mud out of my water pump and like to stay in at least 3.5ft of water.

Meh.
You’d really limit your water. For sure the back lakes would be forbidden. As well as I know where I’m going you can still mess up. I slid out of the 18” cut and ground it up. Tow boat subscription is a bargain.

The one thing I can comment on - fishing with your kids is absolutely invaluable. I'd much rather work my butt off to put my boy on 2 fish than catch 100 by myself.

Great comment

John wins the internet today!

Corpus, can't go wrong with a Kenner there. Upper Laguna Madre is prime for that rig. Avoid Baffin unless you stick to the channel markers and idle into areas, lots of rocks.

A Kenner wouldn’t be prime for the ULM but it will be ok. Most that fish there as their primary area like a shallower running boat such as a Majek Illusion. I take my Majek Extreme there. It’s decent to get around. Anything is good in the channels. Off in the flats is where low draft and shallow out of the hole is key. Kenner would do well. Wind seems to blow almost daily down there in the summer. If you are down there and can pick your days that’s a big add.

It’s a great different area to fish than around Beaumont. Sabine, Calcaseiu and Galveston East Bay are all pretty close from Beaumont. Fishing at Sabine has been decent the last few years. LA limits are also larger if that makes any difference. Generally going east from Texas you get less consistent higher wind.

Matagorda east, your kenner is fine.
Port O Connor west, unless you stay in the channels and middle of the bay not so much.
Again, it really depends on how you fish and what you want to do.