Fishing Reports
Check back often as we will be providing reports from Tournament Anglers, Professional Guides and hardcore fishermen and women on a regular basis. If you have a report, feel free to submit it and we’ll throw it on the page!
Thanks and tight lines!
Espiritu Santo Bay, San Antonio Bay 08/01/09 – August is not only a month that is hot; it’s a month that brings wonderful opportunities to catch redfish with artificial lures. We have been chunking my favorite color mardi gras at these reds with good result. Typically, during this month, we will witness calmer winds out of the north. Today is a good example of how the winds went from howling across the bay to waking up with light winds. These light winds will flatten both the surf and bay. Fast action is very common during the low light conditions associated with the first 2 hours of the day. The fishing forecast for August’s looks favorable provided we dodge any major tropical weather. Locating both trout and reds for this month will continue to include locating active mullet. Recently, low tides and incoming current have kept large schools of redfish feeding in knee-deep water along leeward shorelines of Espiritu Santo and San Antonio Bay. Mixed in with the reds have been trout in the 3-5 lbs. class. The usual pattern during the hotter months is to fish deep during low tides and out going current or fish tight to the grass during periods of high tides with incoming current. The top water action of late has been disjointing to say the least. We’re experiencing more mystery strikes and blow-ups over actual takedowns. Hopefully once we get some rain, the water temperatures will cool down and the pressure will fall. That is only my guess. This weekend is calling for a better chance of rain showers for the Texas coast.
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge
Espiritu Santo Bay, San Antonio Bay 07/21/09 – “Stained water, nervous bait, leeward shorelines, sand spots, scattered grass were the ingredients for catching speckled trout on Wednesday.” Fishing areas with clean water resulted in empty casts. Red fish continue to stay schooled up in skinny water but are fishable. Deep-water shell in SAB continues to be a challenge consequentially from the past three days of blistering winds.
On Wednesday the lodge welcomed 5-boats with mix results. Wade fisherman working very slowly picked up 18-trout. Boat anglers keying in on reds found near limits of fish over sand & grass. Overall fishing was tough resultant from high winds, dirty water, and slack tides. Our team of guides continues to work overtime to stay on fish with several boats returning daily around 4-5 pm. The good news, winds did back down yesterday afternoon, and SAB started clearing up.
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge
South Padre Island 6/5/09-6/7/09
Friday – Wind, none, Temp, Hot. Long Bar was covered with people, so we ran a bit further north. Fished Stover Point area from about 7am-830am. Easy trout limits on topwaters, started with bone super spooks jrs, but found that it did not matter what we threw at them. Left them biting.
Saturday – Wind, S 15, Temp, Hot. 6:45am-10am. Started same area, same bait, same results, but a bit slower action. Headed north to just south of the Cullen house and picked up a few larger trout, up to 23”, no BIG trout for us. Got our 10 and out.
Sunday – Wind, S 25-30, Temp, Hot. 6:30-8:15. ran up to Holly Beach area for some protection and picked up 4 trout on top, one at 24”.
Rockport 05/07/09
Continuous Wind… Man I think I’m about ready for some 10-15mph days. This 25mph stuff is really getting to me. We found a couple cooperative fish. Mainly in off colored water. Several blows ups, couple short strikes. Had one red go right at 30 inches just smash the spoon. Another Red that missed the Topwater came all the way out of the water, making one of the biggest commotions I’ve seen in a while. Several Undersized reds right at 19 inches were willing to play. Stong sse wind, We fished several grass/mix flats that were close to deep channels. Topwater lures in bone, and gold spoons.
Couple groups of red and drum patrolling the flats. Fish are real spooky, im guessing due to all the wind, offering only one chance at the group. Accurate casts are a must.
Capt. Jason Brou
Brew-Skies Shallow Water Adventures
MAY TIPS 05/05/09
Historically speaking, the month of May will present us with inherent obstacles – transitions in water temperature, air climate, and tide levels. But the ever- increasing windy conditions that are characteristic of this month may prove to be one of your biggest obstacles of all. So, learning where and when to fish with the winds can often define the difference between success and failure. Whether you’re inclined to fish the windward or the leeward side of any particular shoreline or back lake, you should always first locate the bait. Look for bait that is spraying atop the surface of the water. Now, you’ll discover that there may be no generalization with regards to the bait pattern. Some days you’ll find the bait to be widespread and to be extensively bunched together in murky and muddy water along the windward side of the shoreline. At other times you may notice that the bait pattern has the bait occupying clear water adjacent to the leeward side of the shoreline. In either case, you’ll want to make your approach upon the baited area in a slow and quiet manner. Remember, you’re going to be walking alongside these baitfish, which is already disturbing enough to them, so idle the boat well upwind of where you have chosen to begin your wade session, and don’t be afraid to start out deep. With warmer weather and longer days of May, the sun will heat up skinny water. As a rule of thumb, I tend to work belly-button depths early and then migrate to deeper water as the bait moves away from the flats. Once you’re over the side and in the water, begin to concentrate your bait offerings to within a 100-yard radius of your starting point. The top water bite will be growing with significant consistency with each passing day in May, so think seriously about wade fishing in deeper water while working your favorite top water or sub surface lure – it will only be a short while before the zealous top water addicts are able to enjoy their chosen area of expertise on a daily basis. And speaking of top waters, over the course of the upcoming weeks the top water bite should turn completely crazy during the middle of the day. While wading in deeper water, I prefer to work the top water lure as fast as I can in order to fool trout into the strike zone. If working the lure fast doesn’t force a strike, then I’ll slow the retrieve to almost a crawl, then back to fast again. More times than not, the time at which you change the speed is when the lure gets another tooth mark. And although top waters are attractive, we’ve caught some good trout through early May on soft plastics. Whether you pick top water lures, soft plastics or live bait, May is the month where wind and water temperatures dictate where you will go to fish.
I always like talking with all members to remind them of the springtime rules. I’ll tell them to wade at a slow pace, and to make sure to saturate the area with casts before making any movement, either forward or sideways. Now is a great time to wipe the dust off your favorite surface walker and get to work, regardless of the windy conditions. If you find that the fish appear to be interested, but just aren’t inhaling the lure, try experimenting with different retrieves. Hope this helps!
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge
West Galveston Bay 04/22/09
Location: Lower West Bay
Weather: Clear
Wind: 15 gusting to 20 out of the west
Water temp: 68 to 70
Water clarity: 6 to 8”
Tides: running about 2 below normal
Report
Fishing the last few days have been fair at best. Westerly winds have really roughed up the lower end of West Bay and made for some tough fishing conditions. Not a whole lot of places to seek wind protection from a west wind. My most consistant bite has still been over shell pads. Most of the fish are coming in about 3 to 4’ of water on soft plastic Saltwater Assassins rigged on 1/8 ounce lead heads. We have been catching a few on assorted topwaters but not many. The choppy off-colored water has made for a weak topwater bite over shell pads. Slowly worked soft plastic baits are paying off with some solid Trout to 24”. Tuesday we had 11 to 12 nice Trout and two upper slot Reds on a mix of plum Assassins and blue/chrome She Dogs. While on Wednesday we struggled with 8 or 9 Trout, all coming on Assassins. The San Luis Pass area is holding a lot of bait and things are right here. Once these winds back off the fishing will be on fire here. I made a run through some of my usual spots around the pass on Tuesday and the areas were loaded with bait, just the areas were very muddy to fish. Looking at the forecast the winds look like they will be sticking around through the weekend.
Capt. Greg Francis
Saltwater Assault Fishing
Espiritu Santo Bay, San Antonio Bay 04/03/09 – On Friday, the weather settled down and high pressure moved in along the Texas Coast. Captain David McClelland hooked up with Roy H. on day-2 with fair results. Wade fishing with corky, Norton lures over mud & grass proved best. The guys stuck trout and reds all day long, they just never located one “great haunt” but according to David, “We lost count on how many 15” trout we released.” Captain TJ Christensen joined forces with Todd A. and guests to pick up 10 trout with several explosive top water experiences. Some of the best action was in the most out of the way places, we’ve seen thus far. Maybe the higher tides relocated the baitfish, and trout and reds followed. Captain Jason and Cooper fished Chris S. and friends while drift fishing with live shrimp. You would think after a hard cold front the fish would be very hungry, actually they targeted reds and caught about 8 reds per boat. Trout action was much slower with live shrimp. Normally fishing will turn on 2 to 3 days after a front. Look for the bite to improve over the weekend.
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge
Galveston Area 03/27/09 – Left Tiki yesterday at 630 am and headed West. Tides were running about 2’ above normal and the wind was out of the southwest at 10 to 13 knots. First spot paid off right away at we had 10 Trout all between 22 and 25”. I would guess about a 3 to 4lb average. I caught all mine on a bone Super Spook with the customers catching on plastics. The bigger Trout were released. We had a few fish on that pulled off and I probably had another 6 or 7 blowups that were missed. After that it was a tough bite. Could not locate big concentrations of surface bait. The trout seemed like they pushed out deep rather quickly this morning. After the early bite most of the slicks were popping up in about 5 to 6’ of water. Couldn’t reach them wading. Off the water at 200pm with 12 Trout and 1 Red. Turned loose anoth 4 or 5 bigger fish.
Capt. Greg Francis
Saltwater Assault Fishing
Galveston Area 03/23/09 – Spring I believe has finally arrived! What an outstanding week we had, you could not have asked for more perfect weather like we had this week. I wished the fishing could have been a little better though. I had a very tough week as far as the catching goes but we had a great time trying. Our water temp is at our magic mark of 70 degrees and there is a ton of bait fish everywhere. I expect things to really start heating up here in Galveston quick. Last week we had a few outings were we experienced some good topwater action but the last cold front shut it down pretty quick. I expect that this week we will start seeing some really good explosive action on surface baits. Soft plastic Bass Assassins have accounted for most of the fish we have caught lately but I imagine in my next report there will be a better topwater report with some very impressive stringers of Trout and Reds being caught. I did do some scouting the other day around the San Luis Pass area and things are looking really good here. I would say in about 1 to two more weeks (with no major fronts)this place will be red hot for wading fishing with topwaters catching some really hefty fish.
Capt. Greg Francis
Saltwater Assault Fishing
East Matagorda, West Matagorda 03/23/09 – With the unsettled weather we’ve been having, fishing has been up and down in the Matagorda area. East Bay has produced some heavy trout for waders willing to grind. Drifting deep shell/mud has been either a feast or famine. West Matagorda Bay has been hit or miss also for waders. We are currently waiting on our Spring glass minnow run to start any day now. I’ve been targeting West Matty late in the evening with the incoming tide for best results. Topwaters over sand/shell have seemed to work the best for me and my clients. Giving we don’t have another front, fishing should start to stabilize and bust wide open here in a few weeks.
Capt Scott Reeh
ASSAULT THE SALT GUIDE SERVICE
www.assaultthesaltfishing.com
ESB, SAB 03/20/09 – Wade fishing with artificial lures paid dividends for trout action in San Antonio Bay; this is what needed to happen with rising water temperatures and 20-guest fishing on Friday. Oyster shell pads are offering our best trout bite, while mud & grass is steady for redfish. Norton lures in tequila gold, plum chartreuse, pumpkinseed chartreuse and glow corky lures have been working.
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge
ESB, SAB 03/18/09 – Transition is taking place this week from different structure and depths. Last weekend and early week, rain showers and wind shifted our focus to redfish. This week, we got a break in the weather, and the focus switched towards solid trout action. As of late, the guides and customers are experiencing awesome trout fishing. Norton lures in tequila gold, plum chartreuse, pumpkinseed chartreuse have been working. Tuesday the lodge welcomed a corporate group for a meeting get away with a 2-boat 2 day session. Captain Scott adjusted his group to locate 5 to 6 reds and 17 trout, plus releasing many other fish. Captain Jason found good numbers of fish while landing scores of trout. Wednesday brought excellent fishing and weather. Wade fishing proved best while chunking corky lures for solid trout. Captain TJ and Scott put their group on full limits of trout.
Capt. Chris Martin
Bay Flats Lodge