Gulf Coast Region Week of April 16, 2025

Redfish Bay

GOOD. 73 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.

San Antonio Bay

GOOD. 80 degrees. Solid trout 20 inches or more on the shell flats with live shrimp under a popping cork. Redfish are good on flats or in the back lakes with live shrimp under a popping cork or topwaters. Report Captain Lynn Smith, Back Bay Guide Service.

Sabine Lake

FAIR. 67 degrees. When the winds allow Sabine Jetties rock piles are producing catches of speckled trout, redfish, sheepshead, and boxes of drum on a popping cork with live shrimp. Some migratory fish are showing up at the jetties with a catch of skipjack and Spanish Mackerel. Strong winds will shift efforts to the channel, but as the winds settle return to the jetties. Sabine Channel is good for speckled trout and redfish on the shell pads and rock piles with live shrimp under a popping cork. Sabine Lake is fresh with some redfish catches at the mouth of the bayous points and drops. A few speckled trout can be caught at the South Levy along the rocks. Remember the North Levy is closed and the clarity is muddy while work is in progress. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake. Back to another week of some weather changes with some dry times sprinkled in between the winds for great fishing. The weekend forecast looks windy. Be sure to check the daily forecast or call your favorite bait shop. The tides and water levels are alternating between 2 and 4 tide days this week that should produce some high fishing activity with the weather changes.

Bolivar

GOOD. 70 degrees. Water temperatures in the 70s. Big trout in the surf running! Water levels are back and forth per usual for the spring extremes. The jetties are producing catches of redfish, speckled trout, sand trout, black drum, sheepshead and crabs. The flounder are still there, but sporadic. More small stingrays and sharks are starting to show up but need to get warmer before the real action begins. The surf is producing lots of redfish, huge black drum, occasional speckled trout and a lot of small bonnet-head sharks, spinner sharks, and sand 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. 68 degrees. Current Trinity River flow is 17000 CFS and starting to fall as of Wednesday. Fresh water will push to the west shoreline but the dump from the spillway will be salty as it is coming from Cedar Bayou due to south winds. Smith Point and north should be fantastic along with the Baytown area. Trout are snapping great on paddle tails and WAC Attack’s Doyle in the peppered pumpkin color. Redfish are shallow on grass lines with scattered oyster eating paddle tails and live shrimp under a popping cork. Drum and sheepshead are on rock lines eating live shrimp under a popping cork. Be safe and always wear your kill switch! Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

East Galveston Bay

GOOD. 74 degrees. Finally, a decent week for fishing the waters of Galveston Bay. Lots of speckled trout caught in West Galveston Bay with hard or soft lures, and live shrimp or live croakers. Those wading with croakers were catching some quality trout. Jetties continue to be good for sheepshead, slot redfish, and black drum. Speckled trout are beginning to show up along the rocks. There has been some big sharks, along with bull redfish catches too. Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout on live shrimp, along with good numbers of black drum on hard shell bottom and rocks. Shorelines in both Trinity and East Bay are producing decent numbers of trout on artificial lures. Windy weekend forecast, so choose your location wisely. Water Temperatures are running 73-76 degrees. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Water clarity is good for the majority of East Galveston Bay, especially on the South shoreline, with stained water East of Yates Bayou. Good numbers of trout, redfish and flounder on shell beds in the 2-3 feet range. As in previous weeks, if you catch a fish, power pole down and fan cast the entire area, as we have been picking up several fish in close proximity. If you get into an area and do not see bait activity, make a few casts, and move on, as our experience has been when you find good amounts of bait the fish are close by. This week we have thrown various size jig heads, depending upon the wind with Wac Attack straight tails in Rollover Moon, as well as imitation shrimp, and the 1/8 ounce Shrimplets, under a 1-2 foot leader and a Fish Smack Popping Cork. If you fish late afternoons, the bull redfish are chasing bait going down the South shoreline right before dark and will stretch your line if you are looking to battle one for a while. This week the early morning and late afternoon bite were both strong for us on our charters, and the topwater bite was stellar. We did not see as much active bait this week, as in previous weeks, but when we found bait we caught fish. If you are looking to get out on the water and beat the crowds, now is the perfect time to make it happen. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Service, LLC.

Galveston Bay

FAIR. 70 degrees. Finally, a decent week for fishing the waters of Galveston Bay. Lots of speckled trout caught in West Galveston Bay with hard or soft lures, and live shrimp or live croakers. Those wading with croakers were catching some quality trout. Jetties continue to be good for sheepshead, slot redfish, and black drum. Speckled trout are beginning to show up along the rocks. There has been some big sharks, along with bull redfish catches too. Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout on live shrimp, along with good numbers of black drum on hard shell bottom and rocks. Shorelines in both Trinity and East Bay are producing decent numbers of trout on artificial lures. Windy weekend forecast, so choose your location wisely. Water Temperatures are running 73-76 degrees. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

West Galveston Bay

FAIR. 70 degrees. Finally, a decent week for fishing the waters of Galveston Bay. Lots of speckled trout caught in West Galveston Bay with hard or soft lures, and live shrimp or live croakers. Those wading with croakers were catching some quality trout. Jetties continue to be good for sheepshead, slot redfish, and black drum. Speckled trout are beginning to show up along the rocks. There has been some big sharks, along with bull redfish catches too. Galveston Bay producing fair numbers of speckled trout on live shrimp, along with good numbers of black drum on hard shell bottom and rocks. Shorelines in both Trinity and East Bay are producing decent numbers of trout on artificial lures. Windy weekend forecast, so choose your location wisely. Water Temperatures are running 73-76 degrees. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.

Houston

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.06 feet above pool. Water is fantastic on the south end east and west fork. Largemouth bass are snapping in the shallows and drop offs eating grubs, spinnerbaits and starting to hit a few frogs. White bass are heating up as they are about to lay their eggs up the creeks and rivers. Catfish are hitting well on the bulb heads chomping on fresh caught shad but you have to keep them in cold ice water to keep them fresh before use. Gar are plentiful in the rivers and creeks. Be safe and always wear your kill switch! Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.

Texas City

GOOD. 66 degrees. The bite is good to excellent. Speckled trout, redfish, and black drum with the occasional sand trout, gafftop and big croakers mixed in can be caught 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. The sheepsheads are showing up and are around structures. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.

Freeport

FAIR. 70 degrees. Bastrop Bay, Chocolate Bay, Christmas Bay and the upper West Galveston Bay is good for trout, redfish, sheepshead, and drum using live shrimp under a popping cork. The lure of choice has been burner shad, pearl pumpkin and chartreuse dirty tequila using jig head. The Brazos River has been really good for flounder, redfish, trout, sheepshead, and black drum using live shrimp under a popping cork or free lining live shrimp with a split shot. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures

East Matagorda Bay

FAIR. 70 degrees. Lots of wind in the forecast, so wade fishing protected shorelines will be best for trout and redfish. When the winds allow drifting reefs will produce catches of trout and redfish. Artificial shrimp or live shrimp under a cork is working best. Croaker bite will pick up for trout and redfish. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

West Matagorda Bay

FAIR. 70 degrees. Lots of wind in the forecast, so wade fishing protected shorelines will be best for trout and redfish. When the winds allow drifting reefs will produce catches of trout and redfish. Artificial shrimp or live shrimp under a cork is working best. Croaker bite will pick up for trout and redfish. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.

Port O'Connor

GOOD. 78 degrees. High winds until Sunday, so watch the weather report. Fishing patterns are steady except the sheepshead bite has shut off. Large black drums are between the jetties and Bird Island on blue crab. Keeper drums are in the jetty wash outs on dead shrimp. Slot redfish can be found inside the first 100 feet of the jetties with blue crab or Spanish sardines. Trout are on the outside of the jetties halfway down hitting live shrimp, and down south dirty tequila soft bait. Slot redfish are biting within 100 feet of the jetties. Bull redfish, jack crevalle, and sharks are showing during incoming tides between the jetties and 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. 73 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.

Port Aransas

GOOD. 73 degrees. Redfish have been good on live shrimp 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. Sheepshead are good using live shrimp along rocks and structures. Pompano have started showing up and sharks have been being caught along beach. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.

Corpus Christi

GOOD. 70 degrees. Redfish have been biting on live mullet and cut or live perch fishing in as shallow water you can go. Drum have been hit-or-miss with no pattern to emerge just yet. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.

Baffin Bay

FAIR. 70 degrees. The wind has kept everyone on their toes, fishing productive, windy, shorelines. Big trout are on the move and are beginning to feed up to produce eggs and get ready for the spawn on Baffin Bay. The water levels are exceptionally low this time of year, but low water concentrates fish and anglers. Soon, however, the water levels will rise with the equinox and usher in a lot of shrimp and other small bait into Baffin Bay and the fish will begin feeding. Find lots of bait on grass lines or areas where there are good potholes and grass is the key to catching big trout. Use wind to your favor as the bait goes where the wind blows, but big predators use it to their benefit. Report by Captain Sally Black.

Port Mansfield

GOOD. 77 degrees. Fishing remains fair to good. Water levels are lower than last week and fish have been holding in deeper water. Best depths have been 2-3 feet. Ball Tail Shad have been best baits working them close to the bottom. Scattered grass and sand bottom seems to be holding better fish. Flounder are starting to show up as well. High winds this week should keep things interesting. That said, color changes and fishing in the 2-3 feet range should produce trout and reds. Report by Captain Wayne Davis, Hook Down Charters.

South Padre

GOOD. 70 degrees. The bay water temperature is a low 70 degrees. Trout are plentiful on the edges of the intercoastal near Three Islands, Gas Well Flats and north of the causeway. Redfish are good behind Three Islands and Gas Well Flats. Bull redfish are at the south jetties. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the end of Brownsville Channel mixed with smaller black drum and sheepshead. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

Port Isabel

GOOD. 72 degrees. The bay water temperature is a low 70 degrees. Trout are plentiful on the edges of the intercoastal near Three Islands, Gas Well Flats and north of the causeway. Redfish are good behind Three Islands and Gas Well Flats. Bull redfish are at the south jetties. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the end of Brownsville Channel mixed with smaller black drum and sheepshead. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.

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