Reports & Forecasts: July 2023

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James said the fishing on trips in the few weeks prior to giving this report reminded him of the old days. “We’ve been catchin’ ‘em wading and out of the boat, in multiple places. Big numbers of solid keeper trout, most running from about two and a half to around four pounds. My numbers this year compared to last year are up about 75%. The topwater bite has been great at times, and not only when we’re wading. We’ve been fishing some humps in deep water which produce a great topwater bite during parts of the tide cycle. Overall, the catching has been better on soft plastics, though. We’re doing our best lately on two specific lures, the Lil’ John in clear with a chartreuse tail and the natural-looking Assassin Sea Shad. So long as we continue to have nice weather, meaning winds stay light a good portion of the time, we’ll continue to have excellent catching. The fishing along the channel is perking up already, and that action typically stays steady well into the heat wave at the peak of summer. If we continue to have salty water in Trinity Bay, some of those fish might move up that way.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Like many others who submitted reports for this issue, Jim mentions excellent fishing on numerous trips over recent days and weeks. “We had a really fun run in the surf when the wind calmed down. At first, the topwater bite was hot and heavy, and we were able to catch plenty of solid keeper trout in water less than about eighteen inches deep, in the first gut. Once the winds stayed light a bit longer, and the water became stupid clear, the bite got tougher, but we did keep catching at a pretty high rate. In that situation, a soft plastic which resembles a shrimp rigged on a sixteenth-ounce head works much better, ones with brown and some lighter tints. We’ve also had some great days catching trout out of the boat around the main reefs in East Bay. Out there, we’re throwing soft plastics more than topwaters, and the average size of the trout has gotten better, compared with earlier in the spring. On some days, the percentage of keeper trout running from two to about four pounds is outstanding. Slightly heavier jigheads have been working better when we’re fishing out of the boat, meaning we’re throwing mostly eighth-ounce ones.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Different lures and strategies work best in different parts of the area around San Luis Pass lately, according to Randall. “We have had clouds of glass minnows roaming around in the shallows, and both the trout and redfish are following them. When we are working this pattern, we like to throw natural looking soft plastics like Norton Sand Eels to mimic the look of the minnows. Recently, with the calm winds, the bite in the surf has kicked off nicely. Out there, we see lots of mullet and other small fish, and topwaters with blue and chrome on them have worked well, especially early in the mornings. We tend to catch best close to the beach in this situation. Later in the mornings, the fish tend to stack up in the guts farther from the sand, and we catch ‘em better on Norton Sand Eels in colors like glow/chartreuse tail. When we’re fishing out of the boat in the deep water behind the pass, the shrimp have been most plentiful. In these places, Sand Eels in tequila gold have worked best, rigged on three-eighths ounce jigheads. Shout out to Sport Marine in Richmond, who are currently rigging my new boat.”

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging
Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
July is a great month for fishing around Matagorda, even despite the heat. We’ve already had a good bit of surf action this year, and we should see more in July. As the heat rises, look toward fishing areas with deeper water and higher current flows. The outside bars on the south shoreline of West Matagorda Bay and the deep scattered shell in East Matagorda Bay will be great options, as will the jetties. Look for increasing numbers of tripletail in West Matagorda Bay. Runoff from all the rain may continue to affect the back lakes and rivers, but they can become productive locations if the rain lets up. For people looking to beat the heat, night-fishing and floundering are great July options. Fishing with live shrimp under Coastal Corks will continue to produce through July, as will free-lining live shrimp on the jetties and in deeper holes with good current flow. A long list of popular topwaters and soft plastics will also all be effective throughout the rest of summer. Bass Assassins in fried chicken and chicken on a chain color rigged on eighth-ounce jigheads have been producing well for me lately in both the bays and out in the surf.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
We are on probably the best two-week stretch of fishing I have seen since the big freeze of 2021. First off, the trout bite has been crazy good in multiple areas. We’ve been catching solid fish out at the rigs and deep reefs in West Matagorda Bay on Down South in white ice and live shrimp rigged about five feet under Coastal Corks. The surf has been on fire also, with upper-slot trout coming to hand on green/chrome and chartreuse/chrome She Dogs. Lots of mullet have been in the surf, and the trout have been absolutely crushing topwaters at first light. The redfish/black drum bite has been just as good. Most any patch of shell on shorelines from the river to Hotel Point has been holding good solid keepers. Live shrimp rigged a foot under Coastal Corks and shrimp-flavored Fish Bites have been drawing lots of strikes. Flounder have become plentiful, with lots of 16 to 18” fish coming to the boat for the giggers. Tripletail in the ten-to-fifteen-pound class are finally showing up around structures after a cool spring. I look forward to one of the best summers in a long time with so much bait around.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn reported excellent action recently in the surf when we talked. “We’ve been catchin’ ‘em good in the surf lately. I was out there five days last week, and we did good every day. The topwater action has been steady. We’re throwing bright and shiny topwaters of all kinds and getting plenty of blow ups. This action should remain reliable any time we have lulls in the winds which last more than a day or two, all the way through the summer. When it’s windier, I’ll be moving into the bays, concentrating on areas close to the pass and/or the deeper channels. Right now, Lavaca Bay and areas up that way have been inundated with freshwater. This typically pushes some of the fish down toward Port O’Connor. When that happens, the flats close to deep water in this area produce excellent catching on topwaters early in the mornings, especially when the tide is coming in. Later in the days, the bite is often better on deep reefs and on the drop-offs from the shallows into the guts and channels. Then, the bite is usually better on soft plastics fished closer to the bottom on heavier jigheads if the winds and currents are strong.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake finds a wide variety of places productive for catching trout and redfish in the Coastal Bend bays during the month of July. “I will be looking to heading out into the surf as much as possible this month. When winds allow for fishing out there comfortably, the catching is usually good, especially for trout early in the mornings. We normally do well out there throwing topwaters. I also fish some of the mid-bay reefs in San Antonio, Mesquite, Aransas and Copano bays. When fishing the reefs, the bite is usually best on soft plastics and live croakers, though the topwaters do work well around the shell at times too. Both these patterns work best when winds are relatively light. If the winds are stronger, we normally find ourselves fishing sandy, grassy flats closer to shorelines, in water running pretty shallow, around knee-deep early in the mornings, and somewhat deeper, about as deep as we can wade, later in the days, once the sun heats up the water in the shallows. The reefs and the shorelines both hold good combinations of trout and redfish during the summer months, especially in areas which are holding thick concentrations of mullet.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
The sizzling temperatures in July match the hot, fast action. This time of year, the trout and reds will move into the shallows late at night and stay there for a while in the mornings, while the water is at its coolest. We often find schools of reds on calm mornings while we’re running the boat across shallow flats. We can see them pushing wakes. When we do, we work upwind of the schools and move toward them with the trolling motor, making long casts to the outer edges of the schools once we’re close enough, to avoid spooking the fish. We target trout early in the mornings around rocks, sand bars and grassy edges, in water less than three feet deep. This is a great month for topwater action on lures like She Dogs in bright colors. But the action is often best on soft plastics rigged on light Springlock jigheads. Once the sun and temperatures rise later in the mornings, we catch more trout and reds in deeper water. As long as winds are light to moderate, we have great luck sight-casting for drum in water less than two feet deep during the middle of the days, throwing shrimp-flavored Fish Bites.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
As the hot weather settles in and reaches a peak, fishing patterns in the Upper Laguna, Baffin Bay and Corpus Christi Bay normally work best in places with deep water lying close to shallow water. “During the heat of the summer, we do well fishing around rocks which lie close to the Intracoastal Waterway, or close to deep basins. Places which meet this description include the rocks on the Kenedy Ranch Shoreline south of Baffin, those lying along the ICW in that same area, and places like Center Rocks, Marker 9 rocks, and the outer portions of E Kleberg Rocks and Cathead. We also do well fishing the outer edges of the flats running off shorelines, close to the drop off into deeper water. Usually, we do best throwing soft plastics, matching the jighead size to the depth of the water and the conditions, meaning we use lighter heads when the water’s shallower and winds are lighter, heavier ones in deeper water and stronger winds and currents. We do still have good fishing in the shallows this time of year, especially for reds. We find them on shallow grassy flats early and are able to sight-cast some later in the days.”

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
Surf fishing has been on fire! The trout bite on topwaters has been fast and steady, but they’re taking soft plastics and sinking MirrOlures too. This time of year, balls of baitfish form offshore, and some make it into the surf zone during the afternoon hours, creating feeding frenzies for predators like jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel, skipjacks, and tarpon. Throwing spoons or topwaters into the chaos usually makes for easy catching. Skipjacks aren’t edible but they are extremely fun to catch, especially on light tackle or fly. Shrimp and Fish Bites mostly wind up attracting whiting or hardhead catfish, however a pompano or drum is not out of the question. As we really get into offshore shrimp season in July, many of the smaller blacktip sharks will head offshore to work the culling shrimp boats. At the same time, the hot nights will be suitable for some monster tiger, bull, and hammerhead sharks to roam into the shallows. This time of year, we target the big sharks using big baits. Folks who deploy smaller shark baits, such as whiting, catch mostly scalloped hammerheads or giant rays. The mature southern and roughtail rays are abundant in the shallows, feeding on crustaceans and small fish.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
Topwater action is wide open right now. Most anglers will only fish topwaters in the first part of the morning, but this time of year, they often work well all day. Lately, the west shoreline has been producing the best; areas such as Century Point, the Little Mottes and shorelines north of Little Bay have been holding lots of fish. When the fish aren’t taking topwaters, the action has been better on KWiggler Ball-tail Shads in colors like Lagunaflauge, plum/chartreuse, Mansfield Margarita and Bart’s Bay Ninja, rigged on eighth-ounce screw-lock jigheads. The submerged spoil dumps up that way also have great potential in hot weather, as do areas around Dubb’s and Butcher’s islands. Down south, West Bay is always good, but fishing the Saucer behind the cabins is probably the best choice lately. On the really light wind days, Bennie’s Bar can produce fast catching. While topwater action has been great, some areas have a lot of floating grass. To cope with this, Mansfield Knockers offer single-hooked topwaters. Colors like Ruby Tuesday and Golden Croaker work great. On the east side, targeting redfish in water about mid-thigh depth has worked well later in the mornings. We’re catching them best on gold spoons.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Fishing around South Padre Island has been excellent this spring, and the summer fishing looks promising too. Our best trout fishing lately has been in three to five feet of water, where we’re throwing at some of the grass beds in the deepest water. Finding bait is always a key to catching when fishing deeper water. ZMan StreakZ 3.5” Houdini rigged on quarter-ounce Trout Eye jigheads slowly jigged in close contact with the bottom have proven to work best on most trips. Topwaters of various types have worked well most days too, in the early-morning hours. The redfish have been biting well in the mornings too. We’re finding most of them on shallow shelves and flats adjacent to deeper water. Super Spook Jrs rigged with single hooks have produced bites at the highest rates. The redfish bite has been best when the wind picks up. They’ve been moving off the flats into deeper, off-colored water once the wind picks up. Four-inch ZMan DieZel Minnows in Redbone color rigged on eighth-ounce Redfish Eye jigheads have been a hot choice. We are looking forward to these patterns continuing to produce as the hot weather comes to stay for good.