Reports & Forecasts: August 2023

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
During the blazing hot days at the height of summer, James mentions two options he relies on when fishing the Galveston Bay system. "When targeting trout and reds in August, the best patterns involve fishing around structures lying in open parts of the bay, close to deep water, mostly meaning close to the ship channel. Wading can be decent early in the mornings on flats close to the ICW and the channel, but overall, fishing out of the boat around abandoned well heads and similar features on the bottom works better. Success in that game requires one to develop skills related to where to anchor the boat, so casts can be made in ways which present lures at the right depth and in the right direction. Excellent awareness of the tide cycle and how it affects where fish position themselves around the structures is also a must. This time of year is actually better, in my opinion, for targeting silver kings out in the Gulf. We like to chase them in the nearshore waters up and down the coast from the Galveston jetties. So, I'll be hunting the schools of tarpon as often as I can for the remainder of summer."

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim recalls the recent run of productive fishing in the surf, and predicts another one is coming later this summer. The surf is just about to get right again. The green water is creeping closer to the beach. Once we have another stretch of calm days, it will bust wide open again. Fishing the beachfront is one of the most productive ways to catch plenty of trout when the weather is at its hottest. Of course, we do have some fish out in the middle of East Bay right now, around the main reefs. As long as it isn't too windy, folks can target trout and reds out there, focusing on slicks, mud stirs and big rafts of jumping mullet to figure out the key areas to work. If it's calm, it's possible to catch some trout on topwaters out there, especially early in the mornings, but overall, soft plastics work best for both species when the water is this hot." Jim also mentions he'll be taking some time away from fishing, doing work on properties in advance of the coming hunting seasons. I'll be spending lots of time in the tractor and on a bulldozer in the coming weeks."

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall ranks August at or near the top of the list of best months to fish in the area around San Luis Pass, but he cautions that producing consistently good catches can be tricky at times. "With the water so hot and with so much food available to the predators, we sometimes resort to using live menhaden for bait. Most of the fish we target can't refuse them, and the waters of the surf are often full of them this time of year. We do put a priority on fishing the surf when winds are light enough to allow the water to clear. When we're throwing lures, we like topwaters most of all, especially One Knockers and Skitter Walks in either bone or chrome/blue. On days with good weather, meaning ones with typical light winds in the morning, we usually get plenty of blow ups to start off our days. If and when the bite gets a little tougher, and we're sticking with artificial lures, we usually switch over to Norton Sand Eel Juniors, rigging them on three-eighths ounce Norton Screw-lock jigheads. Two colors seem to work best this time of year: Chicken On A Chain and Tequila Gold."

Matagorda Bays | Captain Glenn Ging
Glenn's Guide Service- 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
The fishing has been pretty steady in the Matagorda area as we dive deeper into the dog days of summer. East Matagorda Bay is coughing up some impressive catches for waders fishing the mid-bay reefs, both with live bait and lures. Drifting areas with fairly deep water and some scattered shell on bottom remains steady, with good catches of both speckled trout and redfish reported by anglers using live shrimp. Vudu shrimp and Gulp! lures fished under Coastal Corks are also working well for anglers fishing out of the boat. West Matagorda Bay is producing some nice mixed bags of speckled trout, redfish and black drum for people fishing around oyster reefs with live shrimp under popping corks. Wading the south shoreline with live bait and lures is also producing some impressive catches of speckled trout and redfish, with the best bite on redfish coming in the shallow nooks and crannies in the recesses of the coves, and the best trout bite happening in the guts associated with the bars fronting the coves. We'll continue watching for opportunities to fish the surf and jetties, since August ranks high on the list of best months for those areas historically.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
We quickly went from having one of our best months to one of our toughest. The last couple weeks have been a grind! Low tides and lots of southwest winds have made fishing in our area quite tough. We've been getting out early and working shell pads in depths of two to three feet, grinding out boxes of redfish and drum on live and peeled dead shrimp rigged about two feet under Coastal Corks. We've been transitioning to working deeper water as the mornings warm up, fishing ledges and drains and other structures in local bayous for redfish. The trout have been hard to come by, as we haven't been able to fish our favorite spots due to the strong southwest winds. Good summer spots for trout include the wells and deep reefs out in West Matagorda Bay and the surf. Flounder giggers have been doing well when they have been able to get to shorelines protected from wind. The dog days of summer are here, and when winds calm, the fishing will swing back around to the excellent end of the scale. We should then find better numbers of redfish schooling and roaming area shorelines.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn expects to spend most or all of his fishing time in August in two main types of places. "We hope to get into the surf as much as we can this month. We were doing well out there when the weather first heated up, because winds were calm. Then the winds cranked up with the heat for a while and messed that up. But, we should have more calm days to work with once August arrives. When we're fishing the surf, we like to start off just after daylight throwing topwaters in the shallow water inside the first gut. We usually catch plenty of trout in there for a while. Once that bite dies down, we start moving farther from the sand and working soft plastics in the deeper guts. When we aren't in the surf, we usually fish flats close to deep channels this time of year. We like that pattern best when the tide is coming in during the early-morning hours. The fish will usually come out briefly to feed in shallow water on the tops of spoil banks and beside reefs or in potholes on sandy, grassy flats lying close to the cooler, deeper water."

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake likes to fish the surf this time of year, and he mentions some other favorite places for targeting trout and redfish in August in the bays of the Coastal Bend. "We do well in the surf on several days in a typical August. With the water moving through Cedar Bayou, that area is usually a prime one for people heading out to fish the beachfront. When we're not fishing the surf, we like to stay on flats close to deep water in bays like Corpus Christi Bay and Aransas Bay. The sandy, grassy flats lying in close proximity to the Lydia Ann and La Quinta channels provide fish good places to find food and also to escape the heat by slipping off into the depths for a while. Places like the spoil islands in Ingleside, East Flats, Super Flats and the Quarantine Shoreline produce excellent catches during the peak of the hot season, because they lie close to places where relatively cool water gushes in from the Gulf on a daily basis. We do well throwing topwaters at times during August, but we won't hesitate to switch over to soft plastics, Gulp! lures and live bait if the bite is tough."

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
With the really hot temperatures, the fish in Baffin Bay and the Upper Laguna Madre have settled into predictable daily patterns. People hoping to catch plenty of trout and redfish need to react accordingly to these patterns in order to have success. After the relatively cool, short nights, the fish will move into somewhat shallow water, meaning water around two or three feet deep, along shorelines, on top of spoil islands, and close to sand bars and rock formations. So, I like to target trout and redfish early in the mornings by wading and throwing She Dogs and Catch 5s, also Assassin soft plastics in natural-looking colors. I always rig my soft plastics on Spring-lock jigheads, usually sixteenth or eighth-ounce, depending on how hard the wind is blowing. As the sun and temperatures rise during the middle of the morning, the bite on topwaters and twitchbaits usually slows, and the fish move into deeper water farther away from the shorelines and structures. Then, the bite is almost always best on soft plastics rigged on the heavier jigheads. Once the middle of the day comes and stronger winds begin to blow, sight-casting both black and red drum in super shallow water with Fish-Bites works well.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
The blistering heat of August makes some fishing patterns reliably hot in the Corpus Christi area, Joe says. "The deeper waters of Corpus Christi Bay provide some fast action for anglers targeting trout. The rigs and wells out in the bay hold plenty of fish. People who learn how to match jighead size to the depth and current speeds do best catching them. In deep water, fairly heavy heads are necessary to keep the lures in close contact with the rubble around the bases of the structures, especially if more than minimal currents are running. Waders do better around the big spoil dumps near Ingleside, working both sides and concentrating on subtle structures created by the sand bars and grass beds. The ULM provides excellent opportunities to target schooling reds this month. Large groups of fish ranging from the middle of the slot to well over thirty inches roam around in the shallows early in the mornings, then move into depths where no grass covers the bottom during the middle of the day. With sunny weather and moderate breezes, the schools are usually fairly easy to find and approach. Tossing paddletails, spoons and small crankbaits around them generates fast action most days."

P.I.N.S. Surf Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins 361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
What a roller coaster we have had in the surf lately, as far as conditions go. We went from epic, calm conditions in May with clear water to a horrendous month of June. The winds blew hard all month. This resulted in cold, dirty water and upwellings along the entire coast at the start of the summer. Due to this, the seatrout bite slowed dramatically from the great run, and is just starting to come back. With the water both clearing and warming back up, I expect all sorts of crazy action to happen in August. The dusky anchovies should start moving closer to the beach. Following the birds leads to the chaos, where all kinds of fish join in the fray, everything from trout to tarpon to sharks. If the water clears up enough, sight-casting small schools of slot-reds in the guts with spoons might become possible. Spanish mackerel and skipjacks should be abundant and easy to catch on spoons as well. Jacks will be further offshore most of the month, but may make their way close to the beach at times, to feed on balls of baitfish. Shark fishing will remain slow, except for the occasional big shark caught overnight.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
The early morning bite in the shallows has been outstanding in this hot weather. As the days progress, the fish move to deeper, cooler water. The topwater action first thing in the mornings is still good, but the KWiggler Junior Ball Tails in Plum Perfect have produced best. South of town, the best bite has been in water about waist-deep. Areas like the old duck blind in West Bay and Bennie's Island Bar have been holding plenty of schools of redfish. The Saucer area has been productive as well, early in the days. Once the heat settles in, drifting deeper water from the Pipeline to the East Cut is a better bet. North of town, the west shoreline from Little Bay to Gladys Hole is the most productive area for those intent on wading. In the mid-morning hours, getting into the boat and drifting around Century Point often keeps the bites coming. Watching for slicks will often pinpoint the locations of feeding trout in this heat. Approaching them from well upwind is the key to finding the fish that made them. On the east side, the water of middle depths around the Weather Station and at Wagner's Bar often holds plenty of trout and reds.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Summer heat is in full swing, and working deep water has been the key to finding a consistently good bite. Trout fishing has been fair. We've been finding fish of all sizes schooled together. Our most productive approach has been wading on the sand bars near or right at the edge of Intracoastal Waterway. Z-Man Streakz in Redbones rigged on quarter-ounce Redfish-Eye jigheads have worked best, as the heavier weights help keep the lures in close contact with the bottom. With water temperatures stuck in the upper 80s, we've been working our lures low and slow to keep them in the coolest depths, jigging them up slightly off the bottom from time to time. We're catching most of our trout in water at least four feet deep, more often around six. In the middle of these hot days, once the winds pick up, the redfish bite gets better. We're catching plenty during the heat of the days, fishing grass beds barely visible in depths of four to six feet. Gold spoons reeled in slowly so they stay under the rafts of floating grass have worked best. Spook Juniors rigged with single hooks have been earning plenty of blow ups late in the evenings.