Reports & Forecasts: June 2024

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James described excellent fishing in the mornings on days immediately prior to giving this report. “We’ve been crushing the trout when wading lately! It’s not really about all the freshwater coming down the rivers, more about the influx of fish coming in from the Gulf, which is the norm this time of year. We’re having best luck on topwaters and tails, and on the best days, we never get off the topwaters. Two recent trips saw us catch 45 and 78 trout, and on both those days, the bite was really hot until about 8 o’clock, then it died down fast. The best topwaters lately have been She Pups in pink/chrome and blue/chrome. We’re doing best on soft plastics throwing various kinds of Bass Assassins on light jigheads. As summer approaches, and we’re dealing with all the freshwater flowing into the bays, the same places over my way should just get better. We’ll start fishing out of the boat a bit more, once the winds settle and we’re able to function better in the deeper water. I expect some fast action in the coming months, because the fish will be concentrated in small spaces. And, as a bonus, tarpon season is right around the corner.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Recent flooding rains had Jim looking at the reports related to water releases at the Lake Livingston Dam when we spoke. “The water coming through the dam is at record levels. So, we’ll get a flush of the Galveston Bay system in the coming days, because the San Jacinto River is also running really high. The fishing lately has been good in West Bay, and in places like Sea Wolf Park, Sand Island, Pelican Island and Campbell’s Bayou. These will remain the hot spots as long as all the freshwater is flowing down the rivers. Of course, the surf and the jetties will be productive too. The bite is usually best early in the mornings at the beginning of summer, and the best action is for waders, throwing topwaters, especially when the tide is coming in. I’ll be fishing some, but I’ve decided not to guide too many fishing trips during the hot part of the year anymore. I will hit the surf at times, but the days of me running charters and fishing out of the boat in the heat have passed. I do still expect to run hunting charters full-time, once we get into the dove, teal and duck seasons.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall was quite excited when he gave this report. “Fishing lately in the area around San Luis Pass has really been hot. We’ve had an influx of a bunch of different kinds of forage species, everything from glass minnows, menhaden, ballyhoo, ribbonfish and more. With all the different food sources available to the fish, they’ve been feeding regularly and vigorously. I’ve been fishing most of the time with live shrimp, and catching plenty of fish when I do. Fishing with lures has been good too. I’ve been doing best on Norton Sand Eels in a color now called Trick or Treat. Some people will remember it as Habanero. When the topwater bite is good, we’ve been catching a good number of both trout and redfish throwing gold/black/orange Skitter Walks. I expect the action to continue hot as we move into June. As we always do this time of year, we’re anticipating the first chances to get into the surf. Once winds settle down at the start of summer we should have some fast action on topwaters and soft plastics out along the beachfront, in the shallows. Most years, some of the first runs provide the best shots at the bigger trout.”

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging
Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
June is one of my favorite months to fish in the bays around Matagorda. Wade-fishing in both bays will be good this time of year. Wading with soft plastics and topwaters on the shell reefs in East Matagorda and on the south shoreline of West Matagorda will be solid choices. While we think of the winter as the best big trout season, I have caught a remarkable number of big trout in East Matagorda Bay in June, some by wading, some while drifting. Drifting is a good choice in East Matagorda when winds are relatively light, both using live shrimp and soft plastics. With any luck, the winds will give us some opportunities to get in the surf and on the jetties a few times this month, so we’ll keep our eyes on the weather forecast and watch for the green water to reach the beach. Back-lake and marsh redfish action should be pretty hot this month too. I like to throw paddletails like the 4” Bass Assassin Sea Shads and small topwaters like Spook Juniors for redfish in backwater areas and the shallow parts of coves, but live shrimp or Gulp! lures under Coastal Corks catch ‘em pretty fast too.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
Fishing has been pretty dang good in our local bays lately, despite the constant winds. June should continue to be a great month for fishing, as we have an abundance of bait in the bays. Redfish have been plentiful on shorelines with scattered shell, biting live/fresh dead shrimp rigged about two feet under popping corks, Black drum are in great numbers as well, biting best on fresh-peeled dead shrimp. Our trout bite has been decent when the winds allow us to get out to our deep structures in West Matagorda Bay, Live shrimp fished around the deep reefs and wellheads about four or five feet under corks have produced good numbers of slot trout. The first June norther we get will give us a chance to hit the surf. We always work the first gut early and then move out to the deeper guts as the sun rises. Flounder gigging has been steady on protected shorelines and will only get better as we move into summer. Tripletail are starting to show up recently, but not in big numbers yet. There have been a few around weed mats floating just inside the bay, also a few around channel markers.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn says he had been fighting the winds and fishing mostly coves and back-lakes on trips prior to giving this report, but that the fishing had been good, despite the tough conditions. “We’ve been catching a lot more redfish and black drum than trout lately, using live bait some of the time, but we’re starting to see some evidence that the trout fishery is coming back too. About a week ago, I had a customer lose a real monster. Fish looked to be well over 30 inches, and it was really thick. She shook the hook right by the boat, after biting a topwater. We have had some other solid trout biting on topwaters on the better days lately too. I am hopeful that the winds of spring will settle somewhat in the coming weeks, and we’ll be able to target the trout more effectively on a daily basis. Mostly, I like to fish the sand and grass flats close to the pass this time of year, targeting trout with topwaters, especially early in the mornings, when the tide is coming in. We’ll head out into the surf every chance we get, starting out early throwing topwaters right near the beach.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake has been having good luck catching trout in the bays of the Coastal Bend, and he expects June to be another fine month in a run of excellent catching. “We’ve been doing well fishing shorelines with sandy, grassy bottoms, catching a mix of trout and reds by throwing lures close to the bank where the grass grows along the shore. We’ve had some good days throwing topwaters, mostly small ones like Spook Juniors in chrome with either black or blue on them. Other days, the fish prefer soft plastics, and we’ve been doing well with my old standby Norton Sand Eels, dark ones with chartreuse tails. As we head into June, I expect the action to pick up around some of the reefs in open water, which we haven’t been able to fish as much lately, because of consistent winds. Action should also heat up in the surf. We’re always anticipating that with gusto. I will continue throwing lures when I can, and the action at the start of summer can be great on them, but I’ll start fishing with live croakers more and more as the water heats up and the action becomes much faster on them.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
The month of June is such a consistently good month for fishing and catching. My confidence in catching fish during this month results in better catches at the end of the day. The water temperatures will be ideal for trout and redfish to be in three feet of water or less. The trout will still be spawning, so look for the big ones in less than two feet of water along grass lines and potholes with sand and gravel in the early mornings, and just before sunset. This is a great month to fish with MirrOlure Catch 5s in natural colors if there is not too much suspended grass. If the grass is a problem, try the Bass Assassin Die Dappers in colors like Trickster, Salt & Pepper/Chartreuse and Plum/Chartreuse rigged on 1/16-ounce Spring-Lock jigheads. Wading is a great way to approach the target areas, but because stingrays will also be in these areas, all wading anglers should wear ForEverLast Ray Guards. Look for fish slicks and jumping or flipping mullet. Sight-casting for red and black drum will also be fun, with most fish caught on shrimp flavored Fish-Bites on light jigheads in less than a foot of water on sunny days.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
June is a great month to fish the waters of the Upper Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay and Corpus Christi Bay, Joe says. “We have productive fishing for trout around the sand bars and rocks in Baffin this time of year. Since winds are usually pretty light, we’re able to cast at rocks we can see much of the time. On some days, the key to getting lots of bites is to keep the lures close to the rocks. Fishing in the Laguna is also good when winds are light. Early in the mornings, both trout and reds bite well on the King Ranch and Kenedy Ranch shorelines, tight to the bank. We like to fish out of the boat and use the trolling motor to move down the shoreline and throw at the potholes and rocks along the bank, but waders do well too. Over in Corpus Christi Bay, the fishing around the dumps in Ingleside starts to get really good once the water warms up into the mid-80s. Over there, the fish are usually pretty easy to find around rafts of mullet finning over grass beds coming off the main shorelines of the spoils on the Corpus bay side.”

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
June is my favorite “big fish” month in the PINS surf. Large speckled trout will begin moving into the surf between waves of sargassum. They typically appear first near passes and channels, and then work their way down the beach. MirrOlure topwaters have always been a favorite—chartreuse and chrome with orange throats, along with black and chrome. I like to target areas with deep holes close to the beach, and what we call suckouts (guts cutting through the sandbars). The arrival of summer weather should bring improved water clarity. This will bring Spanish mackerel and also pesky skipjacks. There could also be possibilities of jack crevalle, tarpon, and occasional ling, depending on baitfish presence. Fish-bites and fresh dead shrimp should produce whiting, pompano, and small stingrays. The largest sharks of the year will be moving into the coastal waters—giant bulls, lemons, hammerheads, and tigers. During daytime, chances for having a close encounter with one of these monsters in thigh-deep water is not great, but still possible. Stay alert and return calmly to shore if you see a shark nearby. Stingrays will be plentiful, so all waders should remember to shuffle their feet all the time.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
If conditions allow, try the jetties at first light. Tarpon like to hang around the end of the north jetty. If the tarpon don’t show there’s always a chance to tangle with bull redfish. Keep an eye out for surface explosions and pelicans working bait balls. Lots of toothy critters out there so rig with wire leaders. June is also a great month in the bay. The west shoreline, up north from Century Point to the Oak Motts can be very productive both drifting and wading. Start with a Ruby Tuesday or Bone Daddy Mansfield Knocker. If the surface action is slow switch to KWiggler Ball Tail Shad in Mansfield Margarita or Pollo Loco. Work the edges of grass beds and potholes. Due east is Wagner’s Bar, another good area for trout and redfish. Heading south, the Saucer Area is another productive area. The deeper water east of Bennie’s Island to the Pipeline is another good bet. Farther south, near Green Island and the area around the cabins north of it can hold lots of fish. Focus on color changes, active bait, and bird activity.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
As expected, fishing in the Lower Laguna Madre has been improving steadily as tides and water temperatures continue to rise. Our best trout fishing on recent trips has been along the ICW and in and around deeper guts on the flats. Key areas to target are potholes on the flats and shallow ledges lying adjacent to the ICW. Trout numbers in general appear quite healthy. Z-Man’s 4-inch StreakZ in sexy mullet rigged on 1/4-ounce Eye-Strike Redfish Eye jigheads have been the most productive soft plastics on recent trips; working the lure vigorously with sudden pauses seems to draw the most strikes. The redfish bite has been consistent for quite a while now. Sandy shorelines as well as spoil islands have been holding good numbers of reds. The early-morning topwater action has been steady on the bone Spook Junior rigged with single hooks. Later, toward mid-afternoon, when the winds pick up, we’re finding plenty of reds in potholes on grassy flats with water ranging from two to four-foot depths. Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ in Redbone rigged on 1/8-ounce Eye Strike Redfish-Eye jigheads have produced best. All anglers should keep an eye on weather forecasts this month. Conditions can change quickly, and some of June’s sudden storms are dangerous.