Reports & Forecasts: October 2026
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
With the fall season emerging, James’ primary focus is shifting toward tarpon fishing, chasing the Silver Kings nearly every day that conditions allow. “We haven’t really been spending much time in the bay; September success with trout fishing can become somewhat spotty. We see this at the beginning of fall every year. Unless you’re out there every day to keep up with their movements and patterns, it can be a struggle to find a steady bite. Lately it seems that most of the fish that were staged along the Ship Channel during August are now moving northward, toward Trinity Bay. There is some scattered action around some of the Trinity wells and in deeper water just off Smith Point. On the tarpon side, we’re just kind of getting in the groove. We haven’t put any in the boat yet, but we’re beginning to see fish pretty regularly and we’ve hooked several so far that we haven’t landed. All of that should begin to improve very soon as the migration progresses and more fish begin to show up, and we get a better read on their feeding and schooling patterns.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
We caught up with Jimmy as he was putting hunters out in a dove field. “We got really lucky,” he said. “Tropical Storm Eduardo came through here earlier in the week and dumped a ton of rain just a few miles east and north of us. We got only an inch and a half on this field. My dove numbers weren’t really all that strong but I believe the rain over that way pushed a lot of birds to us.” Jimmy will continue splitting time between the dove fields and High Island surf the next couple of weeks, as much as the wind and weather conditions will allow. “The surf has been phenomenal the last week or so; the water is green to the beach right now and it’s full of solid trout up to about 20 inches, no culling required. Throw whatever you like, topwaters or tails. The best plastics are anything close to natural shrimp color, with lots of metalflake. The good fish are running between knee and thigh deep.” Jimmy also said he will begin running boat charters again during October, as soon as the weather begins to cool down and the fish begin moving back into shallower water.
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall mentions high water temperatures and tide levels as things which can make fishing difficult in the San Luis Pass area. “Hot water and high tides can scatter the fish into every nook and cranny of the area. I do best this time of year by searching for schools of menhaden migrating through areas of the bay close to the beachfront. Around these schools of baitfish, white topwaters like pearl Skitter Walks usually work well, especially during the calm morning hours. Later in the day, as the sun rises higher and winds pick up, I often get out the cast net and catch some of the menhaden or other small fish to keep the bites coming at a steady pace. On some days, Norton Sand Eels in glow and silver glitter/chartreuse rigged on three-eighths ounce Screw-lock jigheads work fine when cast into deeper water, mostly in the open waters of the bigger bays. I like to work these faster than most people in hot water. My lightweight Laguna Rods allow me to make the presentations I need to make without becoming tired too fast. On another note, we should see some pelagics come into the surf this month, looking to intercept migrating baitfish.”
Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging - Glenn’s Guide Service
979.479.1460 - www.glennsguideservice.com
October starts the best fishing of the year in Matagorda. As the water cools and the shrimp migration ramps up, the options for anglers become numerous. As the fish school up to feed on migrating shrimp, the drift fishing will drop way off and we’ll spend a lot more time working birds. Wading will continue to produce well, especially on a falling tide, in areas where the shrimp are leaving the marsh and entering the main bay. Wading the reefs alongside the ICW will also be a good option. While live shrimp under popping corks will work just fine in October, I typically stop buying bait and just fish lures. I’m using more soft plastics than anything, but topwaters are great too. I fish paddletails like the Bass Assassin Sea Shads and Hogie Major Minnows on quarter-ounce heads most of the time. MirrOlure Lil’ Johns work great in the fall as well, and they can be fished by themselves or dangled under a popping cork. Natural shrimpy-looking colors like root beer, pumpkinseed, tequila gold and night glow are my favored colors in months when the fish are gorging on shrimp. Flounder fishing should pick up around the end of the month.
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
Fishing has been as hot as the weather in the Tres Palacios Bay Area lately. Redfish have been feeding aggressively on falling tides. I’ve found several schools of ten to fifteen fish chasing shrimp down shorelines in front of ditches and drains. Norton Bull Minnows in pearl/chartreuse and Down South Burner Shads in Color X have been hot baits. Trout fishing is still good over shell pads in five to six feet of water. Orange Marker 54 shrimp rigged under Harvey popping corks and Down South Lures in chicken of the sea, have been producing more trout than other lures. Flounder fishing has picked up some, with us catching a few good ones in ditches and cuts in the Tres Palacios River. We’ve been using chartreuse Gulp! curly tails for best results when targeting the flatfish. As we roll into a hopefully cooler month, we should start seeing some bird activity in East Bay and South Bay. With all the rain we had this year, we should have a great hatch of shrimp, giving the trout and reds and gulls plenty to fight over. When fishing birds, we like to use heavier jigheads because the bigger fish often lurk under the hordes of dinks.
Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn loves the options available in the Port O’Connor area once a few cool fronts bring temperatures down and tide levels rise in the first full month of fall. “The back-lakes are often a great option this time of year. We catch more reds than trout in those locations, but we also catch bigger trout than average on lots of trips into the lakes. Areas where we find fish in the back lakes include shorelines with small patch-reefs close to the bank, places with plenty of grass on the bottom and guts associated with drains. We like to wade in the back-lakes if the bottom isn’t too soft, and we throw small topwaters and slow-sinking twitchbaits most of the time, as long as we see ample bait activity. We also do pretty well fishing shorelines adjacent to the mouths of coves and lakes this time of year, especially when tides are falling. Trout, reds and flounder all tend to gather in numbers in the ripple created by water moving out of the shallows and into the main bay. Fishing can also be good around some of the major reef systems this time of year, as long as the water’s moving.”
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake expects to be splitting time between the fields and the bays this month, taking advantage of the changes the month usually brings. “In a normal October, we usually see a big tide roll in, filling up the bays and backwater areas. Bull tides make the fishing more difficult in some places, easier in others. On shorelines with a primarily sandy bottom with some scattered grass beds, the trout and redfish often lurk right along the emergent grass lines, tight to the bank. When we’re fishing places like these, we like to work topwaters and soft plastics within a few feet of the shore this time of year. Of course, live shrimp under popping corks, rigged on short leaders, often works great too. I do like fishing some of the reefs this time of year too, and in those locations the fish often concentrate right on top of the shell. We do best fishing around oysters throwing soft plastics which look somewhat like shrimp. In the back-lakes and coves, the fish often gang up in the shallow corners, around drains, when tides are really high. We spend plenty of days fishing the morning hours then moving into the fields to hunt doves during the afternoon hours. It’s a great time to be in the outdoors in the Coastal Bend.”
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay
Captain James Sanchez Guide Service - 210.260.7454
October is a month of transition, usually quite warm at the beginning and then cooler at the end, depending on the number and strength of the cool fronts. I’m hoping we get more of the cool weather this year, which will set the stage for some great fishing. Baitfish migrations will be in full swing, and where we target trout and redfish is based on where their food source is most concentrated. Two of my favorite areas to target are flats and spoil islands adjacent to the ICW. Walking in the shallows along the edges of the drop-offs can produce big numbers of regular-sized fish, with a few large trout and oversized reds thrown in, too. Fan-casting across sets of potholes with a Mansfield Knocker or KWigglers Ball-Tail Shad will work well. After weeks of extremely low tides, our annual fall bull tides will fill the bays to the brim this month. This is when wading newly flooded seagrass flats, back-lakes and tight to shorelines can result in a good redfish bite. Here, I recommend smaller topwaters like Spook Juniors, KWigglers paddletails and weedless spoons, not just for their effectiveness, but because they work well for covering water quickly when fish are scattered.
Corpus Christi & Baffin Bay | Capt. Chris Elliott’s Guide Service
[email protected] - 361.834.7262
During the early parts of the fall season, anglers can start looking forward to cooler temperatures on a daily basis, leading to what is typically some of the best fishing of the year. The summer heat may still be hanging around, especially at the beginning of the month, but the seasonal transition will eventually bring more comfortable conditions and plenty of opportunities to catch quality fish. Redfish and trout both love hanging out in shallow water when cool weather first arrives, so we will continue to focus our efforts on the flats, especially during the early morning hours, but also throughout the day when conditions allow. Topwaters, soft plastics and slow-sinking twitchbaits like the Double D will be our main lure choices when we’re targeting the trout and reds in water less than waist-deep. Black drum will be available throughout the month and beyond, in good-sized schools, usually in ultra-shallow water. We often locate these schools while running the boat in shallow water over flats with a mostly sandy bottom. A piece of peeled, dead shrimp or most any kind of Gulp! product will work great for sight-casting these tasty fish from the bow of the boat.
P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
Cold water upwellings have plagued much of the Texas coast this summer, especially along our southern coastline. The Upper Coast has had warmer, clear water, which resulted in some amazing catches. The migrations of baitfish along the beaches are starting to take shape. Dusky anchovies will kick it off and get driven in acre-sized baitballs right up onto the beach. These baitballs will be getting demolished by mackerel, skipjacks, jackfish, tarpon and sharks. Throwing a topwater or a large spoon into these frays is usually a real hoot. When these baitballs do get pushed almost up on the sand, It is important to note that sharks will practically beach themselves gorging on the anchovies. Be careful and alert when you wade, not just for sharks but for stingrays still present. The majority of action in September will completely revolve around bait presence. Fishing structures for trout with topwaters or soft plastics can be really good, but skipjacks can be a nuisance. Shark fishing will begin to pick back up as well, with blacktips and bulls coming to the beaches to feast on the anchovies and other abundant prey species. This is a chaotic but extremely fun time in the surf.
Port Mansfield | Mike & Michelle Frazier
Mohawk Mafia Charters - 956.607.4681
October is one of the most enjoyable months to fish the Lower Laguna Madre around Port Mansfield. The summer heat begins to ease, with water temperatures generally cooling into the mid to upper-70s, helping trigger fall feeding activity. Winds commonly average around 12-14 mph, but passing fronts can temporarily bring stronger north winds and cooler, drier conditions. Speckled trout and redfish should be active across grassy flats, around sandy potholes, along shorelines, and on some of the drop-offs near deeper water. Early mornings are a great time to work Mansfield Knockers in shallow water over grass around schools of mullet. Explosive surface strikes can make October fishing exciting. As the sun rises or the wind increases, we switch to KWigglers soft plastics rigged on light jigheads. Paddletails in natural baitfish patterns worked through potholes and along grass lines should produce plenty of bites from both trout and redfish. To locate the fish, we often watch for birds, nervous mullet, slicks and wakes from cruising redfish. Flounder may also become more active around drains, channel edges, and drop-offs this month. October weather can change quickly, so it’s wise to watch for approaching fronts and check wind forecasts.
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Fishing in the Lower Laguna Madge fishing has been great over recent days and weeks. Trout fishing early in the mornings has been best on shallow grass flats in two to three feet of water, also on spoil Islands adjacent to the ICW. Topwaters have worked great in the morning calm. Bone Spook Juniors rigged with single hooks to combat the floating grass have worked best for us. Later in the day, the trout have been moving over to drop-offs and guts along the ICW. Z-Man StreakZ plastics in motor oil color rigged on quarter ounce Trout-Eye jigheads slow-hopped off the bottom have worked well. Working the lower part of the water column helps avoid the smaller, schooling trout. Redfish numbers are great this time of year. We’re finding most of our redfish in water less than two feet deep. Spoil islands produce plenty of reds during the early morning bite. Gold rush colored Big BallerZ on eighth-ounce heads work well for the reds, when worked fast through potholes in the grass. Later in the day, when temperatures and winds pick up, the redfish will move over to grass flats in deeper water. Drifting color changes is another tactic to locating redfish in the afternoon.
