High Heat Solutions!

It’s June 26 and the surface water temperature in West Galveston Bay is 91°! Other parts of the bay are ranging from 87 to 90 degrees. And today is not an anomaly; it’s been this way for weeks. We typically don’t see water temps this high until late July or August as the historical average for late June is around 84°F. There are more than a handful of factors contributing to the increase.

Air temperature isn’t the only thing that affects water temperature. Tide exchanges, rainfall, cloud cover, turbidity and wind all influence water temperature. One of the reasons our bay water temperatures have been running 3 to 6 degrees above average is because of prolonged periods of westerly winds (mainly southwest). While wind normally has a cooling effect (because of evaporation) winds from this direction blow across miles of very warm land before reaching coastal bays, creating a convection oven effect. In addition, winds from this direction tend to cause lower than usual tide levels in our bays and dirty (turbid) water. Turbid water absorbs more heat than clear water.

Interestingly enough, these same winds can actually cause a cooling effect along Gulf beaches and nearshore waters. This phenomenon is known as upwelling and is more common further down the coast as nearshore waters are deeper than those along the upper stretches of the Texas coast. Upwelling occurs when surface winds drive warm surface water away from land (offshore) allowing the deeper (cooler) water to rise up and replace it from beneath. When this occurs it provides oxygen and nutrient rich water and typically can result in some spectacular fishing!

Going Shallow for Late Summer Trout

Things can get a bit tricky when it comes to figuring out these crazy trout this time of year. Almost everything we hear about late summer trout patterns say to target deeper water. While this can certainly be true I’ve witnessed the opposite many times.

Despite what many folks say, not all trout seek deeper water when the water is hot. If shallow is where the bait is then the fish will follow, especially during the first few hours of daylight. Often times dolphins will push trout up shallower than normal as well. This occurred just the other day as we were catching lots of decent-sized tide runner specks in about four feet of water along the edge of a long reef. Dolphins came in with a vengeance and drove our trout onto the shallowest part of the reef, which was just less than 2 feet!

It was 10 O’clock in the morning and the water temp was 87 degrees. Crazy stuff if you ask me!

Sharks can also have the same effect but we typically don’t quite see the corralling effect that we do with dolphins. It tends to be just the opposite. I’m guessing this is because the sharks we see tend to travel in much smaller groups and in many cases are just loners.

We’ll typically find cooler water closer to our passes because of the influx of gulf water. The incoming flow can also create enough turbulence to raise the dissolved oxygen level, which in turn attracts more fish. Trout become stressed if dissolved oxygen levels drop too low so anywhere we can find cooler water with some current velocity will increase our odds of homing in on some fish.

We’ll often walk into cooler patches of water when wading. Such areas are usually along depth changes where tidal currents have carved an underwater pathway. Some of these undulations are subtle (even less than 6 inches) but the water temperature drop is enough to attract baitfish. Other areas we commonly find cooler water while wading are along deep edges and near tips of sandbars. These areas obviously are high percentage targets for trout.

Typical Deep Water Patterns

Late Summer Trout 101 pretty much has deep water shell pegged as the top bullet point on everyone’s list. There’s no denying that this is about as reliable a pattern as you can get here in our area but we need to understand what to do when we arrive. We don’t just pull up to our favorite reef, flip the boat sideways and start drifting, expecting to light the world on fire. All reefs have their sweet spots. More often than not those sweet spots include a hump and some live oyster. They can have one or the other but both is much better.

Finding the high spots requires spending time on the reef using our bottom machines and then marking them. Google Earth can also point us in the right direction. The only way to know where the live portions of the reefs lie is to either drop anchor and find live oyster on it when you pull it up (this actually happens to me quite often) or to see an oyster boat harvesting or transplanting on a certain portion of the reef.

We talk about slicks all the time and they happen to be one of the most reliable signs for trout, especially here on the upper coast. Once we’re on the reef we want to fish, it helps to locate fresh trout slicks. Assuming we can accomplish this, we must now approach them from the proper direction based upon what we know about wind speed, wind direction, and current. The size of the slick also comes into play. The smaller the slick the easier it is to pinpoint the school. The simplest way is to pick a reference point such as a crab trap float or a PVC marker and take notice of which way your boat is drifting in relation to that point. Another simple way is to use your GPS track line to determine which direction and speed your boat is drifting.

Trout will sometimes venture off of deeper shell to seek the coolness of surrounding deep mud and/or clay. I’m actually witnessing this now, which is exceptionally early for this pattern to emerge. We caught virtually all our trout the other day about 100 yards off the main reef over deep mud bottom in the middle of nowhere. Slicks gave them away.

When I was very young, my dad and I would often fish the Bolivar wells and the helicopter pad during summer, throwing Kelly Wiggler shrimptails rigged on 3/8-ounce lead heads. I remember one morning when my PawPaw joined us. He was always the quiet one on the boat. Well, this particular morning he was on the back of the boat throwing a pearl Bingo and reeling it through the tideline. He caught a beautiful redfish and was just grinning ear to ear. Tidelines are another great focal point and I’ve actually been using them to my advantage a lot lately. I’m not necessarily talking about fishing a tideline out in the middle of nowhere but one that is on or near structure. They provide an ambush point and cooler water.

Boat Rides with a Purpose

Many mornings our trout bite is early. Most of my clients have booked full days so we’ll do different things to finish up the trip. One thing we love to do this time of year is chase open-water schools of redfish. It works out great because the boat ride while searching keeps everyone cool. Of course when we find them and everyone hooks up the heat is no longer on their minds. MirrOlure Lil Johns and Provokers rigged on 1/4 to 3/8-ounce jig heads work exceptionally well when casting to these open bay schools.

There’s another species of fish that requires a bit of running around to find. I keep a bag or two of Berkley GULP! 2” shrimp in my boat this time of year specifically to increase my chances of tricking what I consider the tastiest fish that swims. Live shrimp definitely work the best but GULP! Shrimp run a close second and my boat doesn’t have a live well anyway. Tripletail are more plentiful some years than others in our bay but when we have them they are well worth the effort!

Now Some Simple Tips to Cope With the Heat

• Get plenty of rest the night before your trip
• Bring plenty of bottled water, Gatorade or PowerAde, and even start hydrating that morning before the boat leaves the dock
• Cold fruit such as watermelon or honeydew melon are awesome on a hot day
• Frogg Toggs chilly pads are amazing
• Wear light-colored clothing and avoid cotton. Polyester blend moisture wicking material will keep you much cooler. Long sleeve shirts with hoods, gloves with fingers cut out, and Buff-style sun masks are all smart choices to help prevent skin damage caused by harmful UV light.
• Crank up the motor and ride around to cool down

We’re catching trout in quite a few different areas of the Galveston Bay Complex for the first time since 2014. That was the last year in which the majority of the water in the complex was as salty as it is now. This allows our most sought-after species to spread out to many different parts of the bay system. It also allows anglers to spread out as well, giving us all a little more elbow room. And that I love!

Start early. Finish early. Stay safe!