Gulf Coast Region Week of April 30, 2025

Redfish Bay

GOOD. 76 degrees. Trout are great on live shrimp and your favorite soft plastics in flats and along channel edges. Redfish have been great on shrimp or cut mullet in sand pockets and along mangroves. Black drum are great on live or dead shrimp and fish bites. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters. Be sure to check the wind forecast before heading out. Trout are starting to bite on croaker when you can find them. Redfish are biting pin perch along shorelines and reefs. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

San Antonio Bay

GOOD. 80 degrees. High winds in the forecast restricting fishing on the open bay shell reefs. The tide is high so target redfish and trout in the back lakes and along the shorelines with live shrimp. Redfish are feeding up. Report Captain Lynn Smith, Back Bay Guide Service.

Sabine Lake

FAIR. 67 degrees. When the winds allow Sabine Jetties and Ship Channel rock piles are producing catches of speckled trout, redfish, sheepshead, and boxes of drum on a popping cork with live shrimp or Carolina rigged live shrimp. The speckled trout have been especially good. A few days of a very nice flounder limits on the points and drops during incoming tides. The south end of the lake is producing a few trout and redfish. Influx of freshwater is pushing fish into the main channel. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake.

Bolivar

GOOD. 70 degrees. It will be cloudy and breezy with sprinkles between the winds for great fishing. The tides and water levels are dramatic four tide days that should produce some high fishing activity with the weather changes. Big trout in the surf are still running! Water levels are back and forth per usual with a lot of sargassum washing in. Redfish are almost a guaranteed catch everywhere. Nice speckled trout, sand trout, black drum, sheepshead and crabs caught along the jetty. The flounder are showing back up for the spring. The stingrays and sharks are starting to show up more and it should not be long before the real action begins. The surf is producing lots of redfish and huge black drum, huge speckled trout and a lot of smaller sharks along the peninsula with more activity towards Gilchrist and High Island. Check your weather app for barometer changes. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Trinity Bay

FAIR. 76 degrees. Current flow is 8090 CFS coming down at Liberty and should stabilize midweek. With the winds it looks like the East shoreline should be decent to fish down to smith point. Brown shrimp are starting to be caught and showing up to the bait camps. If we can avoid a nasty flood, the future is looking great. Redfish are great shallow on reefs eating paddle tails in the sparkle chartreuse color along with trout mixed in the same areas. Drum are on the rocks eating live shrimp under a popping cork. Be safe and wear your kill switch! Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

East Galveston Bay

GOOD. 80 degrees. The Galveston jetties are producing good numbers of bull redfish and some slot size fish. Still some big sheepshead being caught up to 13 pounds. Trout catches along the jetties have been good with live shrimp. Waders working Skyline Drive have caught their fair share of speckled trout and plenty of gafftop with live shrimp. Middle of Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout and good numbers of black drum. Trout are being caught on soft plastic and the drum on live shrimp. The northern end of Galveston Bay is good for speckled trout, a few redfish and black drum with live shrimp. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. It will be cloudy and breezy with sprinkles between the winds for great fishing. The tides and water levels are dramatic four tide days that should produce some high fishing activity with the weather changes. Fishing is great by boat. Still catching a lot of speckled trout everywhere, sheepshead and bull redfish under a popping with live shrimp and soft plastics. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temperature 77 degrees. As in previous weeks, if you see active bait the fish are close by. Anchor or PowerPole down and fan cast the entire area, as this week we were able to catch multiple limits of trout from just a couple of small areas. If you get into an area and do not see bait activity, make a few casts, and move on, as our experience has been, if you find good amounts of bait the fish are close by. This week we have thrown ¼ ounce jigheads with Wac Attack straight tails in monkey milk, walking topwaters, as well as imitation shrimp, under a 1-2 foot leader and a Fish Smack Popping Cork. Most of our bites are in the 2-3 feet of water over scattered shell, or on wind protected shorelines. The popping cork with shrimp setup was the top performer for our fishing clients this week resulting in some of the most aggressive bites of the year. We also managed to catch several in the slot and over the slot redfish this week in the same areas, as well as a few flounder. Spring is finally here, and fishing is continuing to heat up as the water warms and the fronts blowing thru become less disruptive. If you are looking to get out on the water and beat the crowds, now is the perfect time to make it happen. Until next time. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Service, LLC.

Galveston Bay

FAIR. 80 degrees. The Galveston jetties are producing good numbers of bull redfish and some slot size fish. Still some big sheepshead being caught up to 13 pounds. Trout catches along the jetties have been good with live shrimp. Waders working Skyline Drive have caught their fair share of speckled trout and plenty of gafftop with live shrimp. Middle of Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout and good numbers of black drum. Trout are being caught on soft plastic and the drum on live shrimp. The northern end of Galveston Bay is good for speckled trout, a few redfish and black drum with live shrimp. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

West Galveston Bay

GOOD. 80 degrees. The Galveston jetties are producing good numbers of bull redfish and some slot size fish. Still some big sheepshead being caught up to 13 pounds. Trout catches along the jetties have been good with live shrimp. Waders working Skyline Drive have caught their fair share of speckled trout and plenty of gafftop with live shrimp. Middle of Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout and good numbers of black drum. Trout are being caught on soft plastic and the drum on live shrimp. The northern end of Galveston Bay is good for speckled trout, a few redfish and black drum with live shrimp. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

Houston

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.18 feet above pool. Decent amount of runoff, 909 CFS at Humble bridge, coming through the area. There are some great back water sections that have great clarity. Largemouth bass are eating well on trees and shallow structure. Frogs are starting to hit but chatterbaits are working well. Grubs are the best later in the day. Crappie are tight to structure and need some enticing to eat but can be caught on small jigs and minnows. White bass are snapping swimbaits and roadrunners. Catfish are just short of eating the prop off the boat in the bulkheads using fresh caught shad. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

Texas City

GOOD. 75 degrees. It will be cloudy and breezy with sprinkles between the winds for great fishing. The tides and water levels are dramatic four tide days that should produce some high fishing activity with the weather changes. Water temperatures are just right for plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and black drum with some occasional sand trout, gafftop, and big croakers. The sheepshead are around structures and piers. Wade fishing along the levee or anywhere from the dike has been productive from the beginning to the end still. Live shrimp and finger mullet have been the best baits unless you want to use crab to try and catch one of the massive black drum or bull redfish. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Freeport

FAIR. 80 degrees. Fishing has been steady when you can get out of the wind. The Brazos River and Freeport Harbor have been good for trout, redfish, flounder, and few drum mixed fishing live shrimp or live finger mullet off the bottom. The back lakes are good producing good catches of redfish and drum with live shrimp under popping cork or live mullet thrown against the shoreline near drains coming out of the marshes. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures

East Matagorda Bay

FAIR. 78 degrees. High winds in the forecast restricting fishing on the open bay shell reefs. April is a tough month weather wise due wind, but May is historically a good month as winds subsides and water warms. The best bite has been wading artificials, shrimp or croaker. Note the shrimp are smaller in size. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

West Matagorda Bay

FAIR. 78 degrees. High winds in the forecast restricting fishing on the open bay shell reefs. April is a tough month weather wise due wind, but May is historically a good month as winds subsides and water warms. The best bite has been wading artificials, shrimp or croaker. Note the shrimp are smaller in size. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

Port O'Connor

GOOD. 78 degrees. Redfish are biting Spanish sardines around Alcatraz Island. Black drum are biting dead shrimp near Honey Hole. Trout are good on the outside of both jetties with live shrimp. Bull redfish and jack crevalles are surfacing from the back jetties to Bird Island. Spanish mackerel and sharks are starting to show up throughout the area. Report by Captain Marty Medford, Captain Marty’s Fish of a Lifetime Guide Service.

Rockport

GOOD. 76 degrees. Trout are great on live shrimp, piggy perch and croaker in flats and along channels. Redfish have been great on shrimp, mullet, pin perch and menhaden in sand pockets and along mangroves. Black drum are fair on live or dead shrimp and fish bites. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Port Aransas

GOOD. 76 degrees. Redfish have been good on live shrimp, finger mullet and shad on the north and south jetty. Oversized redfish have been great on cut crab and mullet. Trout are good with shrimp free lined along rocks. Sharks have been caught in the surf using mullet, jacks and stingray. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Corpus Christi

GOOD. 74 degrees. Be sure to check the wind forecast before heading out. Trout are starting to bite on croaker when you can find them. Redfish are biting pin perch along shorelines and reefs. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

Baffin Bay

FAIR. 83 degrees. Relentless wind is still plaguing most anglers, but the spawn is starting on Baffin Bay and the fish are feeding up like there is no tomorrow. Target shorelines with grass, grass edges, potholes, strips of grass, any sand or structure where trout can expel their eggs. Trout may not be spawning just yet, but they are staging in the zones where they will be spawning and feeding where there is the most bait. Find those places where the bait is jumping around like popcorn on windy shorelines and easy ambush places where big pre-spawn trout can get a lot of food. Good luck this week and I will see you on the water! Report by Captain Sally Black.

Port Mansfield

GOOD. 77 degrees. Winds have been pretty strong and water levels are still high. Good news is water clarity holds pretty good when the water is up. Good trout can be caught around big schools of mullet along the flats. Best baits have been Mansfield Knockers in wounded trout and polo loco. After about 10:00 a.m. the mullet move out and we start fishing areas with thick grass along the bottom. Here we are catching both reds and trout on KWigglers 4-inch paddle tails and BTS. Good ole red and white seem to be best lately. This should hold until the water recedes some. Report by Captain Wayne Davis, Hook Down Charters.

South Padre

GOOD. 80 degrees. Wind gusting from the south and southeast. Trout are plentiful on Gas Well Flats and the edge of the intercoastal. Redfish are spotty along the Eastside with some bull redfish at the jetties. Small schools of black drum are all over the bay. Sheepshead are good at the old causeway. Mangrove snapper continue to be good at the end of Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin.

Port Isabel

GOOD. 80 degrees. Wind gusting from the south and southeast. Trout are plentiful on Gas Well Flats and the edge of the intercoastal. Redfish are spotty along the Eastside with some bull redfish at the jetties. Small schools of black drum are all over the bay. Sheepshead are good at the old causeway. Mangrove snapper continue to be good at the end of Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin.

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