Gulf Coast Region Week of September 25, 2024

Redfish Bay

FAIR. 85 degrees. Morning has been good for redfish with a productive bite on live mullet and chunks of crab in the morning. Target windblown shorelines to find redfish. Very few catches of drums. Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

San Antonio Bay

GOOD. 86 degrees. Fishing action has been good with lots of mullet in the bay and tidal movement. Redfish are good in the back lakes on topwater. Trout are good over shell and in the guts with soft bottom mud and grass during outgoing tides with live shrimp or croaker, and soft plastics. Report Captain Lynn Smith, Back Bay Guide Service.

Sabine Lake

GOOD. 85 degrees. With another hurricane in the forecast, focus fishing efforts inland on shell pads and oyster midlake, around Pleasure Island Point and ICW. Flounder should start moving out of the marshes staging on points during in or outgoing tides. Sabine Lake is good for redfish along points and drops keying on mullet with live shrimp under a popping cork, or �¼ ounce jig head watermelon red and chartreuse 3.5 inch tails. Trout can be caught drifting midlake over shell reefs when the sun rises. North Levy producing good catches of trout in the morning. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake.

Bolivar

EXCELLENT. 83 degrees. It should be another week with excellent fishing! Water temperature is cooling a bit. The jetty has been producing limits of trout and big bull redfish. Small flounder are still visible on the low tides and bigger females are starting to move in for the fall. Tide changes and incoming tide fishing will be some of the best. The surf is producing limits of speckled trout, bull reds and black drum. The big stingrays and bigger sharks are still running along the whole peninsula. Anglers are using all kinds of different bait with awesome results. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Trinity Bay

SLOW. 86 degrees. Sylvan Beach area producing a few solid catches of speckled trout along shell and old pier pilings. Upper ship channel and spoil islands holding redfish, black drum, and a few trout, best on live shrimp. Gas wells in the middle of Trinity produce scattered catches of keeper trout, but there are many undersized fish in and around the well pads and under working birds. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Water clarity is decent. Trout are on some wells being caught in live shrimp and paddle tails using �¼ ounce jig heads or weedless. Redfish were feeding heavily before and after the harvest moon but starting to pick back up in the shallows being caught on live shrimp under a popping cork and WAC Attack’s WACky Shad xl in the root beer color with a chartreuse tail. Any scent in any artificial bait helps. Drum and sheepshead are around the redfish mainly on rock shorelines with current being caught in live shrimp under a popping cork. Wear your kill switch and be prepared. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

East Galveston Bay

GOOD. 86 degrees. Scattered flocks of birds working over smaller speckled trout, ladyfish and gafftop. Flounder catches are improving at the mouths of drains and bayous. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Rising waters from the tides and out of the winds produced plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and black drum using live shrimp or finger mullet. Pockets of gafftop and hardheads in areas. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temperature 85 degrees. Water clarity is about average for East Galveston Bay. We have spent some of our fishing time on shorelines in the intracoastal finding trout, redfish, black drum and flounder, around structure and close to drains and points with good tide movement. We have also found good numbers of trout, but weeding through quite a few small ones again this week to find the better size fish, on reefs, as well as over shoreline shell and structure close to deeper drops. If you like fishing under birds, that has begun to pick up substantially over the past couple weeks. Redfish and flounder are still being caught up around shorelines where we have good current pushing bait, especially when we have good tide movement and bait in the area. We are still finding excellent success with Imitation shrimp lures under popping corks, with a 1-2-foot leader, as well as 1/8 ounce jig heads with tails by WacAttack and Deadly Dudley, with lighter colors working better for us again this week. The topwater bite was good when the conditions were right on a few of our early am trips this past week, with chrome/black or bone performing equally well. The crowds are much thinner now that hunting season has ventured upon us, so fishing should continue to be strong with less fishing pressure and a cool front on the way this week, so grab your friends and family and get out on the water and make some memories together. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Service, LLC.

Galveston Bay

SLOW. 87 degrees. Speckled trout are still good over deep shell, but at times lots of undersized trout are being caught, on live shrimp and soft plastics. Redfish bite is fair on shallow structure, along with black drum, sheepshead, and the occasional keeper trout. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

West Galveston Bay

GOOD. 87 degrees. Waders doing well on speckled trout and redfish throwing live natural baits. Flounder fishing at night improving with some big fish being taken by gigging. Those fishing from a boat near and around the structure with live shrimp catching black drum, sheepshead, speckled trout and redfish. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

Houston

GOOD. Water normal stain; 88 degrees; 0.07 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are really hitting ⅛ ounce grubs rigged weedless in the shallows in the morning. Focus on cypress stumps then move to heavy structure when the water heats up. Crappie are fantastic in 8-14 feet of water using hand tied jigs and minnows mainly in large stumps. White bass are heavy in the west fork being caught on crankbaits. Gar are plentiful in the creeks on red rattle traps. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

Texas City

GOOD. 86 degrees. Bull reds fair along the Galveston jetties and a few are being taken off the beachfront piers. Offshore catches of amberjack remain consistent, along with some good catches of state water snapper and a few ling. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Great fishing conditions before the storms arrive mid-week and should be even better when it clears up. Anglers are catching plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and a few nice flounder every day with some occasional black drum, sheepshead, sand trout, and gafftop. Live shrimp and finger mullet have been the best baits. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Freeport

GOOD. 88 degrees. Christmas Bay, Chocolate Bay, Bastrop Bay, and the upper West Galveston Bay have been good drifting shrimp under a popping cork for trout, redfish and drum. San Luis Pass and The Brazos River are good early in the morning for trout and redfish throwing topwaters, plastics, or free lining mullet or live shrimp. The Freeport Harbor is good for catches of redfish, sheephead mangrove snapper and some trout using live shrimp or mullet free lining along the rocks. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures

East Matagorda Bay

GOOD. 90 degrees. Very little fishing pressure on the bay. Wade anglers are catching of trout on the east side, and those drifting on the west end are landing catches of trout. Very few reports of redfish, with most catching coming from West Matagorda Bay. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

West Matagorda Bay

GOOD. 90 degrees. Very little fishing pressure on the bay. Redfish are good in the back lakes and on mid bay reefs with cut mullet and shrimp. Redfish and drum can be targeted on shell reefs with artificials, live shrimp or croaker. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

Port O'Connor

GOOD. 85 degrees. Slot and oversized redfish end of the north jetty on blue crab and Spanish sardines. Black drums are good 100 feet inside the north jetty. Few catches of trout in the washouts on croaker. Sharks from the back of the jetties to Bird Island on skipjack. Report by Captain Marty Medford, Captain Marty’s Fish of a Lifetime Guide Service.

Rockport

GOOD. 84 degrees. Trout are fair on croaker along grass and shell in 3-4 feet of water, or drifting with a popping cork and shrimp on the flats. Redfish are great on shrimp, piggy perch and cut skipjack or mullet on the flats and sand pockets and along the islands. Black drum are fair on live or dead shrimp and fish bites in drains, sand pockets and along oyster beds. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Port Aransas

GOOD. 84 degrees. Redfish are great on shrimp and cut mullet or ladyfish. Trout are good with croaker or shrimp free lined along rocks. Silver spoons have also been producing good redfish at both the north and south jetties. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Corpus Christi

FAIR. 85 degrees. Morning has been good for redfish with a productive bite on live mullet and chunks of crab in the morning. Target windblown shorelines to find redfish. Very few catches of drums. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

Baffin Bay

GOOD. 86 degrees. Water is still pretty high in Baffin Bay from the past hurricane in the Gulf. Contrary to what you would think, it seems that the trout are still hanging out where they were before the extra water arrived. Without a snorkel, a short person like me has to work pretty hard to get the lure to the big fish. Bigger lures are working best, like Mirrolure Lil’ John XL’s, 6” Coastal Brew Darts and 5” Salt Water Assassin Sea Shad paddle tails, all in natural colors. Another lure working great is the Texas Custom Corky SoftDine. All lures have been most effective working near the bottom. Report by Captain Sally Black.

Port Mansfield

GOOD. 90 degrees. Fishing is still fair to good early for redfish and trout. Water levels fell out some and the bigger trout faded off to deeper water. Water temperatures remain in the upper 80s to low 90s which means the early morning hours have produced the best bite. Topwaters and soft plastics are working well. We are targeting areas that have good bait activity and scattered grass beds. Drifters are doing well on slot trout in 3-4 feet of water. Report by Captain Wayne Davis, Hook Down Charters. The bite in Port Mansfield has been great bringing some exciting opportunities. Our tides are still extremely high and low pressure lingering in our area has brought some rainfall which has lead to more fresh water entering into our estuaries. In the morning, water temperatures are in the mid to low 80s and lines of baitfish are moving around, these lines of bait are where you can have the most luck targeting redfish trout and flounder. Pelicans and seagulls will hover over these lines of baitfish and will help you identify them from a distance. Once the bait line is identified, wade along with it and focus on the outside edges of the bait line. Water clarity as well as floating grass has an influence on what lure and color we decide to throw. MirrOLure Little John’s XLs, Texas Custom Lure Double D’s and Custom Corky Softdines have been lures of choice in mainly dark colors with the stained/chalky water we’ve been fishing. Once you figure out the pattern, stay consistent on it, fish it thoroughly and make each cast count. Stay safe and courteous of others on the water, and as always tight lines! Report by Captain Reanna DeLaCruz, Captain Reanna’s Baffin Bay Adventures.

South Padre

FAIR. 84 degrees. Light southeast breeze with 84 degree water at the jetties. Trout are plentiful in deeper water, on the Gas Well Flats when the wind is strong. Redfish are good on the east side of the bay. Mangrove Snapper are excellent in Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

Port Isabel

FAIR. 84 degrees. Light southeast breeze with 84 degree water at the jetties. Trout are plentiful in deeper water, on the Gas Well Flats when the wind is strong. Redfish are good on the east side of the bay. Mangrove Snapper are excellent in Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

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