Reports & Forecasts: October 2025

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James begins doing more fishing in the bays by the second half of October, but he keeps his eye on the Gulf early this month, because fishing for silver kings can be outstanding. “If warm weather lingers into the first part of fall, and if we have some calm weather, tarpon fishing can be great. A bonus this time of year is that we often find our fish somewhat closer to shore than we do earlier in the season, sometimes right along the beachfront. In the bays, the deep water patterns will continue to produce best at the beginning of the month, if the weather stays warm, but the wading will pick up toward the end of the month if we get some decent fronts coming through. Lots of people look for working birds this time of year, and that’s certainly a productive option at times. Often though, the trout under the birds in the middle of the bays this time of year are small. Some better trout and more reds are caught by people working flocks in shallower water. And when birds are working out in the middle, the better trout often bite on the shorelines and in the coves.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim says he had experienced some fast fishing for trout in the surf in the weeks prior to giving this report, but that the action out there seems to be slowing down. “The last couple days, we had some pretty water move close to the beach, but the fishing was slow compared to what it had been. It’s better out in deep water in both Trinity and East bays lately. With water temperatures still running so high, the fish just don’t seem to want to pull onto the shorelines. That will all change, come October. We’ll get some fronts pushing through, and the fish will move shallow. The best action in this part of the world will center around Smith Point. If we don’t have too much runoff, it might be best in Trinity, close to the mouth of the river, and if it’s wetter, the action in East Bay might be better. I look forward to fishing this month, since the bite on topwaters and hard baits is often really good. I expect the dove hunting to pick up, too; I always have good shoots sometime in October, and I have one reservoir I’ll be hunting, once big duck season starts.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall ranks October high on the list of best months to fish in the bays and waterways close to San Luis Pass. “This time of year, we have so many productive options. If the weather’s relatively warm and calm, as it often is early in the month, we can have outstanding action in the surf and nearshore waters, not just targeting trout and reds, but also some of the migrating species like tarpon. In the bays, the options are also excellent. Normally, we get a push of strong tides after the fall equinox, and this influx of water moving through the pass can make for excellent fishing for flounder, reds and trout in the vicinity of the pass itself, also along some of the shorelines in bays like Christmas and Chocolate, and of course, in the back-lakes. Plenty of water covering the reefs in remote parts of the back-lakes and marshes makes for excellent action targeting reds in particular. We locate our fish during those times by keying on hovering gulls and concentrations of wading birds along shorelines. Because the shrimp migration is such a big deal this time of year, soft plastics in natural colors work well, but topwaters work great too.”

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging - Glenn’s Guide Service
979.479.1460 - www.glennsguideservice.com
When the cooler weather of fall arrives, fishing the birds is always a good bet in the Matagorda area. I like to throw soft plastic paddletails like Bass Assassin Sea Shads or Hogie’s Major Minnows rigged on quarter-ounce jigheads when fishing the birds. Hogie’s shrimptails or Vudu shrimp under a Coastal Cork work really well too. The best colors usually look something like shrimp, including pumpkinseed, tequila gold, root beer and similar natural ones. Other options during the fall include targeting redfish in the back-lakes, marshes, and along grassy shorelines in the main bays. Live shrimp dangled under popping corks or cut mullet fished close to the bottom are great options for those who like to use bait, while small topwaters like Halloween or bone Spook Juniors and root beer colored soft plastic paddletails work well for those who like chunking lures. Gulp! lures dangled under corks will get the attention of both the trout and reds. As the weather cools down more later this month, we usually see more birds working out in the middle of the bays. Wading drains and mid-bay reefs should be good this entire month too, and it helps us stay out of the crowds chasing birds.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
With winds finally laying, the fishing around Palacios has improved. The trout have been eating lures better than bait since the water has cleaned up. We’ve been catching solid keepers on Saltwater Assassins in Chicken on a Chain and Magic Grass, rigging them on quarter-ounce heads and working them around deep shell pads out in West Matagorda Bay. The surf has been phenomenal at times. Topwaters have worked out there just about all day when the waves are calm and the water green. She Dogs in green/chrome and pink/silver Skitter Walks have produced best for us. Throwing them parallel to the beach early, then moving out deeper as the day warms has been the key to keeping the blowups coming. Redfish are finally behaving in fall patterns, schooling in good numbers on all the local shorelines. Cajun Magic Matrix Shads and pearl Norton Bull Minnows have been the best lures to throw at the herds of reds. Flounder are starting to be more prevalent on area shorelines around bends and cuts coming out of drains. Curlytail Gulp! lures rigged on eighth-ounce jigheads have worked best when we’re targeting the flatfish. Bird activity should increase next month as the weather cools off more.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn says the fishing in and around Port O’Connor can be excellent in the first full month of fall. “This time of year, we usually see true fall patterns become settled. This means we catch more fish in the shallows than we did during the peak of summer, and we don’t have to spend so much time keying on places close to deeper water. In Port O’Connor, this opens up the fishing in large expanses of shallow water, mainly in the coves and back-lakes on the south sides of all three of our main bays. When the strong tides send the water level rising, the lakes and coves fill to the brim and the bite in those places is often outstanding. We like to wade in some of these locations, the ones with firmer bottoms, targeting the trout and reds tight to the emerging grass on the shorelines, also along stretches of shoreline with patch reefs and scattered shell on the bottom. Small topwaters and slow-sinking twitchbaits work well for us in such places. As always, one of the keys to catching this time of year is to stay in places loaded with plenty of active, fearful bait.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake likes fishing the Coastal Bend Bays during October, after the short teal season comes to an end. “We’ll hunt doves some during October, and the shooting in the afternoons can be fast, but we’re more focused on fishing this month, waiting for the true cast-n-blast season to arrive with the big duck season. The fishing in our area bays can be easy this month. When we have periods with calm, mild weather, the action around reefs out in the middle of all the bays can be spectacular. As long as the tides are moving, the bite is often great on topwaters and twitchbaits for waders working the edges of some of the bigger reefs in Aransas, Mesquite and San Antonio Bays. This pattern produces mostly trout. When the winds are stronger out of the southeast, the action in the south shoreline coves and back-lakes is often better. In those places, redfish are the main targets. We do well throwing bait and soft plastics at the reds. Sandy, grassy main-bay shorelines also produce well at times, more trout than reds. If we get some fairly strong fronts around Halloween, the tide will fall out, and the birds will begin working all over.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay
Captain James Sanchez Guide Service - 210.260.7454
October weather makes for pleasant days on the water, especially after we’ve spent all summer dealing with a heat wave. Additionally, the shorter days prompt our fall baitfish migrations, and schools of mature redfish begin to depart our bays, heading out through passes to spend their adult lives in the Gulf. With so many creatures on the move, wise anglers stay mobile too. Areas which produce well one day can become dead the next. Trout will be found in fairly deep water as warm temperatures persist at the beginning of the month, but will move shallow once water temperatures drop as we get closer to Halloween. Good numbers can be caught wading sand bars, shorelines and on flats with scattered potholes, especially those covered in thigh to waist-deep water lying close to the ICW. After the bull tide rolls in, we target redfish on submerged spoil islands, high up on the big flats, or in back-lakes flooded with new water. Working a Mansfield Knocker, Spook Junior or Texas Custom Double D around schools of baitfish can produce some good action during the morning hours. KWigglers Ball-tail Shads work better later, when the trout are less active.

Corpus Christi & Baffin Bay | Capt. Chris Elliott’s Guide Service
[email protected] - 361.834.7262
With so much boat traffic on the water during the cool fall months, planning trips which include many options is a key to consistent success. Another key to catching on a day-to-day basis is to pay close attention to what’s happening throughout the drives to identified destinations. Often, working signs of activity leads to better results than relying on favorite honey holes during this season of change. On one recent trip, we left the dock with the idea of fishing a certain spot in mind, but we called an audible as we passed by a shallow flat close to a drop-off that had copious amounts of active bait jumping around the right ways. As we pulled into the area and set up for a wade, we noticed that all the mullet were packed tight, right on top of the shallowest part the flat; they didn’t seem to want to be anywhere near the ledge. A short thirty-minute wade to check things out turned into an all-day affair, with us catching good numbers of redfish and trout up to six pounds. We threw topwaters off the flat into deeper water and earned blowups when our plugs reached the edge.

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
We are now in migration mode, with dusky anchovy activity in the surf down south and mullet beginning to run on the Upper Coast. The beaches along the entire coast are about to be consumed in chaos, with many different species possible. Those in search of red drum should rely on live mullet, understanding that skipjacks, jack crevalle and mackerel also attack them. The jackfish will really start to run the beaches in October. Large topwaters work well to trick them into biting when they’re herding schools of bait on the surface. With respect to speckled trout, finding structures and experimenting with lures is often necessary to earn strikes, since they’re present, but less numerous than several other species. Spanish mackerel will be found under working birds, mixed with skipjacks, which outnumber all other species this time of year. With so many skipjacks around, plenty of sharks will also be present. The blacktips and bulls will move back inshore, trailing all the active bait. Casting or kayaking a skipjack will almost guarantee a bite from a shark. Folks wading out to cast baits should be cautious, as both large blacktips and bulls will swim on top of the bars, following the mullet.

Port Mansfield, Texas | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
GetAway Lodge - 956.944.4000
With the recent cooling weather and shorter days, the schooling redfish are making their move to the Gulf. We’ve been finding plenty both north and south of the East Cut. During this time, targeting the reds on shallow sand flats early and following them and the herds of mullet into deeper areas with grass and potholes works best. When this action wanes, fishing for reds around the jetties can be much better. The best time to find the schooling redfish is usually in calm conditions. Traditionally the winds are light in the morning, but by noon or so the winds will pick up. Those less interested in chasing redfish can hit the west shoreline for some great trout action on topwaters, particularly on calmer mornings. If (likely when) floating grass is an issue, rigging the floating plugs on single hooks is the only way to cope. Mansfield Knockers are offered with either in-line singles or treble hooks, and purchasing some of both makes good sense. My favorite colors include Ruby Tuesday, Zombie, Sweet Heat and Bone Daddy. KWiggler Ball Tail Shads in colors like Plum/Chartreuse and Bone Diamond rigged on eighth-ounce screw-lock jigheads also work well to catch both trout and reds in the fall.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Autumn is a great season for fishing the Lower Laguna Madre. Early in the mornings, the trout will be lurking in the shallows, favoring grassy flats covered by two or three feet of water, somewhat close to the ICW, most of the time. While the sun is low, topwaters work great, especially Spook Juniors in the bone color. With so much floating grass around this time of year, rigging the little plugs with single hooks is basically a must. Later in the days, the trout generally move into a bit deeper water and ZMan StreakZ in Motor Oil rigged on quarter-ounce jigheads work better to make them strike. Keeping them close to the bottom and working them slow helps attract the attention of the bigger fish and discourages some of the smaller “schoolies.” Targeting redfish is a great option this time of year, too. We find most of our reds early in the mornings in quite shallow water, sometimes only about a foot deep, normally near sandy spoils. As the days warm up and wind speeds increase, we do best targeting them in deeper potholes, throwing Big BallerZ in colors like Gold Rush rigged on eighth-ounce Eye Strike Texas-Eye jigheads and working them fast.