Saltwater Weekly Fishing Report Week of July 3, 2024

Redfish Bay

GOOD. 90 degrees. Trout are good on croaker and piggie perch on the wells and on the flats in 3-5 feet of water. Redfish are fair wading in shallow water. Drum are schooling on shallow flats over grass and channel edges with dead shrimp. Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

San Antonio Bay

SLOW. 88 degrees. Expect rain and high tides so fishing will continue to be good in the back lakes for redfish on live shrimp and dead shrimp for drum. Trout are good on shells and reefs in the bay with live shrimp or croaker. Early bite before the heat of the day. Report Captain Lynn Smith, Back Bay Guide Service.

Sabine Lake

FAIR. 86 degrees. Limits of trout at the jetties and channel using glo or glitter imitation glass minnows and live shrimp under a popping cork. The bite is best during incoming tides. Limits of drum with a Carolina rig. Jetty rock piles, underwater points for a mixed bag of speckled trout, drum, redfish and sheepshead. Very nice catches of trout on the south end of the lake reefs in 8-12 feet of water. Fish are staging up in flats or tight to the bank in 2-3 feet of water with live shrimp under a popping cork. North Levee is good when the winds out of the north for speckled trout and flounder. Limits of redfish in channel rocks. ICW redfish and trout up against bulkheads, rocks, and shell banks. This is a good indication that the salinity levels are good in the waterways. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake.

Bolivar

GOOD. 82 degrees. Water levels are normalizing with tides and low wind this week plus 4 tide days. The salinity has normalized as well. People are catching plenty of redfish everywhere! There are plenty of croakers along with sand trout, sheepshead, black drum, speckled trout, and crabs caught along the jetty with stingrays and sharks. Pompano and the occasional jack crevalle are still running. The surf is producing redfish and black drum, gafftop, lots of stingrays, and bigger sharks along the whole peninsula with high activity towards Gilchrist and High Island mainly. The sargassum, seaweed, remains sporadic in spots per normal. People are using all kinds of different things for bait this past week with awesome results. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Trinity Bay

SLOW. 88 degrees. Tabbs Bay is producing decent numbers of trout and black drum on live shrimp. Spoil Islands further up the channel holding redfish, sheepshead, and black drum on live shrimp under popping corks. East shoreline is still slow to clear. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Redfish and trout are starting to show back up more and more on the north end daily. Blue Water Atoll is holding good trout and redfish being caught on WACky Shad XL in the chartreuse color. Limits of redfish are being caught at HL&P Spillway on fresh caught shad and trout are being caught by Fred Hartman on live shrimp under a popping cork. The recent tidal surge really pushed the Trinity River outflow to Baytown but with that receding, fishing is starting to heat up. No founder to talk about yet but drum and sheepshead are in abundance being caught in live shrimp free-lining on the bottom. Pay attention to the weather and always wear your kill switch. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

East Galveston Bay

GOOD. 89 degrees. Scattered catches of trout over shell reefs on live natural baits and soft plastics. Better fish coming from those wading the shorelines with artificial lures. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Plenty of various sized speckled trout, black drum, sheepshead, and reds caught on live shrimp, croakers, and topwater lures. Alligator gar has been abundant. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temperature 85.9 degrees in East Galveston Bay. The Bay is still very off-colored, with better looking water over by the Ferry Landing, but fishing is continuing to improve for us in the Bay over the last week or so. You will need to weed through a number of undersized trout to find the better fish. We are still catching them around protected shorelines over shell pockets, as well as redfish along the grass lines and over shell, and a few nice flounder busting bait up around grass lines and over shallow shell beds, with good current flow. The lighter the jig head the better, 1/16-¼ ounce, determined by the wind and current, and tails with paddles, performed the best for us again this week, as we were utilizing Anahuac based, WACky Shad Xl's and top performing colors varied, depending upon water clarity and light conditions, with Salt and Pepper with Chartreuse Spike it tail, being a favorite of the fish this week. Our clients are still finding good success using Fish Smack Popping corks with a 1-2 foot leader above a pink tinted shrimp imitation lure, or Tails with a 1/16 ounce jig head, with a hard pop and a 5-8 second pause gathering the most strikes. The topwater bite has also been good when utilized on our early morning and late afternoon trips, so if you like throwing walking baits, now is the perfect time to get on the water and make it happen. We are starting to see more solid fish show up on reefs in the middle portion of the bay, which is getting better as the days go by. We also found a few birds working in the middle portion of the bay over the past couple days and found some solid trout under them. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Services, LLC.

Galveston Bay

SLOW. 90 degrees. Been awhile to say this, but the middle of Galveston Bay has finally cleared up enough to produce catches of speckled trout in the gas wells and along the channel. Black drum, sheepshead, and trout, along with the occasional redfish coming off Spoil Islands near the channel. Shoreline action for trout good early on live bait and soft plastics. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

West Galveston Bay

GOOD. 89 degrees. Good number of speckled trout drifting and wading with live croakers, when you can find them. Live shrimp producing scattered speckled trout, black drum,and sheepshead, along structure such as hard shell, rocks, and bridge pilings. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

Texas City

GOOD. 88 degrees. All eyes on the gulf this week with Hurricane Beryl entering southern waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Good catches of big red snapper 60 miles out of Galveston. Speckled trout action remains good along the jetties and lower Galveston bay on live shrimp. Black drum, sheepshead, and a few slot redfish being caught too. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Fishing has been good to excellent! Anglers are still catching plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and flounder everyday with some occasional black drum, sheepshead, sand trout, and gafftop. Successful wade fishing around Mosquito Island and the Moses Lake Tidal Gate in the mornings and late afternoons. Along the dike has been productive by the shrimp boat docks and piers. Live shrimp and finger mullet have been the best baits. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Freeport

GOOD. 88 degrees. Fishing been steady for trout, redfish and flounder around the San Luis Pass, Bastrop Bay, Christmas Bay, Chocolate Bay and the west end of Galveston Bay. Wade fishing has been good in the guts at the pass and in west Galveston bay with croaker and shrimp for trout, redfish and a few flounder mixed in.The Freeport harbor has been steady with sheepsheads, drum, redfish and mangrove snapper free lining shrimp with a split shot. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures.

East Matagorda Bay

SLOW. 84 degrees. Trout are good drifting with live shrimp. Waders are having success for trout with croaker or artificials. Expect the fish to feed in anticipation of the forecasted inclement weather. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

West Matagorda Bay

SLOW. 84 degrees. Fishing conditions have been good in the bay. Expect the fish to feed in anticipation of the forecasted inclement weather. Wading with topwaters has produced catches of trout, or drifting with live shrimp under a popping cork. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

Port O'Connor

GOOD. 90 degrees. Trout are good at Bird Island on live croaker and on the outside of the jetties. Slot redfish are good on the outside of the north and south jetties at the end on fresh blue crab. Black drum halfway inside the south jetty dead shrimp. Report by Captain Marty Medford, Captain Marty’s Fish of a Lifetime Guide Service.

Rockport

GOOD. 84 degrees. Trout are great on croaker along grass and rocks in 3-4 feet of water. popping cork and shrimp have been producing in flats while drifting. Redfish have been fair on shrimp and cut menhaden or mullet in flats. Black drum are great 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 good on shrimp cut and bait. Trout are good with croaker or shrimp free lined along rocks. The surf fishing has been producing good redfish and trout in the first and second gut with an occasional shark. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Corpus Christi

GOOD. 90 degrees. Trout are good on croaker and piggie perch on the wells and on the flats in 3-5 feet of water. Redfish are fair wading in shallow water. Drum are schooling on shallow flats over grass and channel edges with dead shrimp. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

Baffin Bay

GOOD. 90 degrees. Water levels are quickly returning to normal on Baffin Bay! This great news because the fish are once again settling into the usual early summer places. Areas with sand and grass, grass edges or drops are all productive now, especially for big trout. Redfish have been a little more elusive but that will not last long. They will be back up shallow on the sand or along broken sand/grass edges very soon. Soft plastic lures such as Softdine XL’s, Down South paddle tails and Coastal Brew Darts have all been very productive while fished with a light and small jig head, such as the 1/32oz Black’s Magic on the #1 hook. Use light and dark colors. The light jig head lures work more naturally and the smaller hook allows for a safer extraction as well. Have a safe Independence Day! Report by Captain Sally Black. The water is falling out after the recent storm flushing the bait into the bay. Patches of brown tide but primarily clear. Trout and redfish are excellent on pink and silver topwaters, or soft plastics in plum and chartreuse. Back of the bays seems to be best as the east winds blew the bait there. Flocks of birds working leading the way to fish. Report by Captain Cliff Webb. Our tide is still high for this time of year and the recent rains flushed out our estuaries, bringing a plethora of baitfish in our back bays. Quality 5-7 pound speckled trout have been found in areas that hold small profile baitfish. Redfish are also feeding alongside these bigger trout. Lures of choice for my clients and I have been MirrOLure Little John XL’s, Custom Corky Softdines and DownSouth Lures in dark pink colors. Baitfish is the golden ticket, where there is small profile bait, redfish and trout are nearby. Baitfish can be found way up shallow in the mornings, and against windward shorelines later in the day. Stay safe, hydrated and courteous of other boaters and fishermen on the water. As always, tight lines! Report by Captain Reanna DeLaCruz, Captain Reanna’s Baffin Bay Adventures.

Port Mansfield

GOOD. 92 degrees. Water levels are continuing to fall and fishing is fair. Trout and redfish are shallow early in the day, then fade off to deeper water once the water temperature rises. Drift anglers are catching good numbers in 3-4 feet of water using BTS on quarter ounce jigheads. Flounder are still pretty good on the flats in sandy areas. Report by Captain Wayne Davis, Hook Down Charters.

South Padre

GOOD. 90 degrees. Trout are plentiful in deeper water or edges of the intercoastal. Early morning is good on Gas Well Flats drifting. Trout are showing up on the west side from Laguna Vista Cove to Cullen House. Redfish are fair on Gas Well Flats with cut mullet or live shrimp under a popping cork. Small schools of black drum are along the east side. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the end of Brownsville Channel free shrimping with #5 split shot. Stay safe out there! Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

Port Isabel

GOOD. 90 degrees. Trout are plentiful in deeper water or edges of the intercoastal. Early morning is good on Gas Well Flats drifting. Trout are showing up on the west side from Laguna Vista Cove to Cullen House. Redfish are fair on Gas Well Flats with cut mullet or live shrimp under a popping cork. Small schools of black drum are along the east side. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the end of Brownsville Channel free shrimping with #5 split shot. Stay safe out there! Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

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