Store
Subscribe!
Reports & Forecasts: July 2008
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
July is a great month for large numbers of trout. They can be found on the beach, at the Cameron Jetties, around nearshore oil platforms, and in the shipping canal. July is a time when the winds calm and we and are able to get offshore to some explosive trout frenzies. Most of the time, we throw shrimp imitations. Clear, glow, smoke, and avocado Sparkle Beetles are always a good choice. Sand Eels and Stingray Grubs in the same colors also work well. Topwaters will work really well on the beach early in the morning. Most of the time you can get a good topwater bite at any proven spot early in the morning. You can hit these spots on your way out of the lake, then head to the nearshore fishing holes. Some of our best trout limits come at this time of year because oftentimes the fish you catch at these platforms or on the beach are much larger than the schoolies caught in the main body of the lake.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James speaks in both positive and negative terms about the fishing in Galveston lately. On the bright side, he says the bays are loaded with "as many fish as I've seen since 1983. We whacked the trout real good last time the wind stopped blowing. One afternoon, drifting slowly over deep shell in East Bay, I and one client had a steady topwater bite for three solid hours. Caught at least 20 over five pounds. It was awesome. Also had a good five day run wading shorelines in East Bay during one relatively calm stretch. Limits every day, up to nearly six pounds." On the bad side, he says, "This is some of the worst fishing weather I've seen in years. We just lose so many days to the wind. If it's blowing 15 or more, you'll be lucky to scratch out 9 or 10 fi sh all day. What we really need are winds under ten miles an hour, then it will be on. If I'm able to get on that north shoreline of East Bay any time soon, I'll make 'em cry!"
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim's report echoes others from the Galveston area. "Fishing is totally dependent on the wind lately. When winds are light, it's about as good as it gets, but they aren't light much. We have had good success in a variety of areas on the calm days, mostly on the mid-bay reefs. We had one stretch there where we were catching trout over five pounds in decent numbers. Nothing over about 7 pounds, but nice fish. Also had some solid fish while wading shorelines on some of the medium wind days on which we were still able to go. In the murkier waters, I like to throw the Stanley Wedge Tails. When it's calmer and the water gets greener, I'll go to the Bass Assassins in plum or red. The surf has been on fire when it gets green to the beach. I'm still hearing of a few monster trout coming out of the Rollover area. Right now, it's all blown out, but the next time it clears, watch out. It will be Katy bar the door."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall's outings have been limited by the wind over recent weeks, but fishing is good when he can get out. "This new Jh Performance boat I'm running is quite a ride. It takes rough water well and is easy to get in and out of. On days when I've been able to leave the dock in it, we are catching some quality trout. Best lures have been the larger Norton Sand Eels on heavier heads, up to three eighths ounce. We use the heavier heads to maintain good contact with the lures and to ensure that we are bumping the bottom some. Light colors like bone diamond and pearl/pumpkin have been best." Like the rest of the Galveston guys, he's champing at the bit for calmer weather. "The surf is close again to being ready. If this wind will just lay a little, it will be on fire out there. The water in the rivers is in good shape too. As soon as we are able to fish wherever we want to, we'll be limiting out by ten o'clock."
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don says that the wind is hampering most efforts lately, making it hard to drift open waters and keeping the tripletail safe from pressure too. "Our best luck on recent trips has been while we're wading. In both East and West Bays, there are places to find clear water if you are willing to wade. The drifting has been basically impossible much of the time. Best bite has been on live bait, though the Berkley Gulp are producing just about as many fish on some days. I've been on some decent fish in the river, and it's a good choice on the windiest days. During the Oil Man's tournament, we caught some solid trout and reds in there. You have to move around to find them; the other day we hooked a big blacktip shark in one stretch that had been holding some fish, so we had to move maybe a half a mile to find them again. Once this wind lays, we'll be looking to throw topwaters in the surf and also chasing the tripletail."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing has been hit or miss lately depending on the wind. Redfish have been our staple this past month with most fish coming on area shorelines in three feet of water or less. Bone Super Spook Jrs., pearl Skitterwalks and bone/chrome SheDogs have been the best topwaters as of late, while quarter ounce weedless gold spoons and Gulp shrimp seem to be working best when the fish don't like the tops. The trout bite has been tough to figure out. Some days they are are on shallow grass and and some days they are out on deeper shell. Glow Gulp rigged about two feet under corks have accounted for our best trout. Schools of Black Drum ranging from sixteen to twenty two inches are numerous in the bays this spring, and they are a good eating fish. Tripletail have been hard to come by. We have had a couple of days of hunting, but have come up short so far. I look for July to be a good month to hit the surf.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Like many other Upper Coast pros, Lynn is eagerly awaiting a break in the winds so he can get into the surf. "As soon as this wind lets up a bit, it will be a feast along the beachfront. Until then, we'll be targeting sandy pockets along area shorelines with deep water close by. Strong morning incoming tides are best. We are catching decent numbers on topwaters, mostly the smaller ones, mainly Super Spook Jrs.. With these bright skies, the light and flashy ones work best. I like the blue/chrome, pearl with chartreuse head and other lighter colors. When we shift to bigger plugs, the She Dog in blue/chrome is hard to beat. When things slow on the topwaters, we mostly move right down to the soft plastics, targeting deeper grass edges, grass beds and isolated potholes closer to the drop offs. Again, what we really want this time of year is to take our topwaters into the surf. I'm sure the trout are waiting for us out there!"
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
"We've been catching some big fish for the last couple of weeks," Blake reports, "both trout and reds. I've had several trout between about 25 and 28 inches. Decent weights too, up to seven and a half pounds. Today, we had some monster reds, up to 36 inches. Most of the reds are coming off shell, but the trout like the sand and grass. Even though it's windy, our water in all the bays is green. Copano, San Antonio and Aransas are all producing nice catches. I've been throwing everything from topwaters and Sand Eels to the Berkley Gulps and even croakers. As the summer wears on, we'll be sticking with the same plan, throwing topwaters if we can and switching to whatever else we need to after that. I'll still be targeting sandy pockets in the grass beds on most days, also checking the reefs more and more. And of course we want to head to the beachfront if winds allow. That should be good in July."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
July is traditionally the best month for speckled trout in the PINS surf on topwaters and Bass Assassins. The topwater bite MAY last all day and we can often sightcast to them. Typically Spanish mackerel and large schools of ladyfish are available and tarpon and king mackerel are present in varying numbers. Shark fishing is more productive at night than during daylight. As a rule the farther the bait is placed offshore the better the results; although we are at times able to sightcast to cruising bulls and occasional blacktips from the beach at midday. Whiting will be the mainstay of light-tackle bait fishermen using shrimp and "Fishbites." Calm conditions and clear water is the norm. Kemp's ridley sea turtle nesting season concludes early in July but green and loggerhead turtles will be nesting at night; be careful when driving the beach in the dark, keep speed down and report fresh turtle tracks to 1-866-887-8535. Good fishin'.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The fishing continues to improve! Despite the strong winds that we've been having, trout numbers and size have been on the increase. We've been catching many trout between 22 and 28 inches long and a few reaching 30 inches. The leeward sides of the islands and Kennedy Ranch shorelines have been holding beautiful water. I believe that once the winds settle to less than twenty miles per hour for a few days, big portions of Baffin Bay will holding beautiful water. My intentions for July are to look for grass lines and potholes in two feet of water or less and fish with natural colored Mirrolure She Dogs and Top Dogs or Bass Assassins in bone diamond and plum/chartreuse rigged on sixteenth ounce jigheads. After the fish move off of the shallow flats, I will probably be casting live croakers into deeper water along drop offs and grass lines. Wade as much as possible, but don't forget your ForEverlast RayGuards.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
"The water has cleared up nicely around here and I'm loving it," Joe says. "I'm able to fish a bunch of different areas and sightcasting opportunities exist in all of them. We've been seeing and catching mostly big reds on Bass Assassins and Gamblers on recent trips. A couple of days ago, I had a client Kyle and his son. They caught and released fifteen or eighteen reds between them. It was a blast. We're also seeing quite a few big trout on some of the flats. They are a little harder to catch than the reds most of the time, but the clear water definitely helps. I've been working areas north of the JFK, as well as spoil banks and ledges south of Bird Island. A few times, I've run all the way down to Nine Mile Hole and caught fish too. It's not really necessary to go that far from the dock, though. With the brown tide disappearing, you have potential to catch a bunch of quality fish without making such a long run."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
"Typical summer patterns are in full swing in Port Mansfield," Bruce says. "The reds are up on the sugar sand and are easy to catch early mornings on topwaters. The trout are hanging around the deep edges of the grass flats. They're biting topwaters too, but soft plastics are more effective later in the day. Haven't been able to get offshore much at all with the winds, but once we are able to do that, we'll be targeting snapper a few miles out early, then returning to the beachfront areas for bull reds and tarpon. Inshore, I'll be looking to do some night wading around the full moons next month, four days before and four days after. It's a great way to beat the heat and the crowds." he mentions that Pradco has some new stuff headed to the shelves in tackle stores. "Super Spooks will be made in a more durable material and will be available with two different types of rattles. They also have a soft plastic minnow that is killer."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
This month started out slow, with tide movement in the mornings mostly non-existent. We are still bringing in reds, but it can take half the day scouring the flats to get our limits. Trout are hanging with the reds early, then gradually easing into deeper water as the sun comes up. Although we don't usually target flounder, we're seeing better numbers than last year. The bait of choice continues to be Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp under a Mansfield Mauler in new penny or glow (check with Kyle at Johnny's True Value). The time of the year to fish off the Convention Center on the East Side is almost over; however our tides are not as high as expected, so conditions aren't normal. Look for the fishing to start popping in potholes south of Gas Well. Freddy says, "Get out your weedless spoons and topwaters because the Lower Laguna is the perfect place to experience sport fishing in unbelievably clear, shallow water."
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
July is a great month for large numbers of trout. They can be found on the beach, at the Cameron Jetties, around nearshore oil platforms, and in the shipping canal. July is a time when the winds calm and we and are able to get offshore to some explosive trout frenzies. Most of the time, we throw shrimp imitations. Clear, glow, smoke, and avocado Sparkle Beetles are always a good choice. Sand Eels and Stingray Grubs in the same colors also work well. Topwaters will work really well on the beach early in the morning. Most of the time you can get a good topwater bite at any proven spot early in the morning. You can hit these spots on your way out of the lake, then head to the nearshore fishing holes. Some of our best trout limits come at this time of year because oftentimes the fish you catch at these platforms or on the beach are much larger than the schoolies caught in the main body of the lake.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James speaks in both positive and negative terms about the fishing in Galveston lately. On the bright side, he says the bays are loaded with "as many fish as I've seen since 1983. We whacked the trout real good last time the wind stopped blowing. One afternoon, drifting slowly over deep shell in East Bay, I and one client had a steady topwater bite for three solid hours. Caught at least 20 over five pounds. It was awesome. Also had a good five day run wading shorelines in East Bay during one relatively calm stretch. Limits every day, up to nearly six pounds." On the bad side, he says, "This is some of the worst fishing weather I've seen in years. We just lose so many days to the wind. If it's blowing 15 or more, you'll be lucky to scratch out 9 or 10 fi sh all day. What we really need are winds under ten miles an hour, then it will be on. If I'm able to get on that north shoreline of East Bay any time soon, I'll make 'em cry!"
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim's report echoes others from the Galveston area. "Fishing is totally dependent on the wind lately. When winds are light, it's about as good as it gets, but they aren't light much. We have had good success in a variety of areas on the calm days, mostly on the mid-bay reefs. We had one stretch there where we were catching trout over five pounds in decent numbers. Nothing over about 7 pounds, but nice fish. Also had some solid fish while wading shorelines on some of the medium wind days on which we were still able to go. In the murkier waters, I like to throw the Stanley Wedge Tails. When it's calmer and the water gets greener, I'll go to the Bass Assassins in plum or red. The surf has been on fire when it gets green to the beach. I'm still hearing of a few monster trout coming out of the Rollover area. Right now, it's all blown out, but the next time it clears, watch out. It will be Katy bar the door."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall's outings have been limited by the wind over recent weeks, but fishing is good when he can get out. "This new Jh Performance boat I'm running is quite a ride. It takes rough water well and is easy to get in and out of. On days when I've been able to leave the dock in it, we are catching some quality trout. Best lures have been the larger Norton Sand Eels on heavier heads, up to three eighths ounce. We use the heavier heads to maintain good contact with the lures and to ensure that we are bumping the bottom some. Light colors like bone diamond and pearl/pumpkin have been best." Like the rest of the Galveston guys, he's champing at the bit for calmer weather. "The surf is close again to being ready. If this wind will just lay a little, it will be on fire out there. The water in the rivers is in good shape too. As soon as we are able to fish wherever we want to, we'll be limiting out by ten o'clock."
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don says that the wind is hampering most efforts lately, making it hard to drift open waters and keeping the tripletail safe from pressure too. "Our best luck on recent trips has been while we're wading. In both East and West Bays, there are places to find clear water if you are willing to wade. The drifting has been basically impossible much of the time. Best bite has been on live bait, though the Berkley Gulp are producing just about as many fish on some days. I've been on some decent fish in the river, and it's a good choice on the windiest days. During the Oil Man's tournament, we caught some solid trout and reds in there. You have to move around to find them; the other day we hooked a big blacktip shark in one stretch that had been holding some fish, so we had to move maybe a half a mile to find them again. Once this wind lays, we'll be looking to throw topwaters in the surf and also chasing the tripletail."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing has been hit or miss lately depending on the wind. Redfish have been our staple this past month with most fish coming on area shorelines in three feet of water or less. Bone Super Spook Jrs., pearl Skitterwalks and bone/chrome SheDogs have been the best topwaters as of late, while quarter ounce weedless gold spoons and Gulp shrimp seem to be working best when the fish don't like the tops. The trout bite has been tough to figure out. Some days they are are on shallow grass and and some days they are out on deeper shell. Glow Gulp rigged about two feet under corks have accounted for our best trout. Schools of Black Drum ranging from sixteen to twenty two inches are numerous in the bays this spring, and they are a good eating fish. Tripletail have been hard to come by. We have had a couple of days of hunting, but have come up short so far. I look for July to be a good month to hit the surf.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Like many other Upper Coast pros, Lynn is eagerly awaiting a break in the winds so he can get into the surf. "As soon as this wind lets up a bit, it will be a feast along the beachfront. Until then, we'll be targeting sandy pockets along area shorelines with deep water close by. Strong morning incoming tides are best. We are catching decent numbers on topwaters, mostly the smaller ones, mainly Super Spook Jrs.. With these bright skies, the light and flashy ones work best. I like the blue/chrome, pearl with chartreuse head and other lighter colors. When we shift to bigger plugs, the She Dog in blue/chrome is hard to beat. When things slow on the topwaters, we mostly move right down to the soft plastics, targeting deeper grass edges, grass beds and isolated potholes closer to the drop offs. Again, what we really want this time of year is to take our topwaters into the surf. I'm sure the trout are waiting for us out there!"
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
"We've been catching some big fish for the last couple of weeks," Blake reports, "both trout and reds. I've had several trout between about 25 and 28 inches. Decent weights too, up to seven and a half pounds. Today, we had some monster reds, up to 36 inches. Most of the reds are coming off shell, but the trout like the sand and grass. Even though it's windy, our water in all the bays is green. Copano, San Antonio and Aransas are all producing nice catches. I've been throwing everything from topwaters and Sand Eels to the Berkley Gulps and even croakers. As the summer wears on, we'll be sticking with the same plan, throwing topwaters if we can and switching to whatever else we need to after that. I'll still be targeting sandy pockets in the grass beds on most days, also checking the reefs more and more. And of course we want to head to the beachfront if winds allow. That should be good in July."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
July is traditionally the best month for speckled trout in the PINS surf on topwaters and Bass Assassins. The topwater bite MAY last all day and we can often sightcast to them. Typically Spanish mackerel and large schools of ladyfish are available and tarpon and king mackerel are present in varying numbers. Shark fishing is more productive at night than during daylight. As a rule the farther the bait is placed offshore the better the results; although we are at times able to sightcast to cruising bulls and occasional blacktips from the beach at midday. Whiting will be the mainstay of light-tackle bait fishermen using shrimp and "Fishbites." Calm conditions and clear water is the norm. Kemp's ridley sea turtle nesting season concludes early in July but green and loggerhead turtles will be nesting at night; be careful when driving the beach in the dark, keep speed down and report fresh turtle tracks to 1-866-887-8535. Good fishin'.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The fishing continues to improve! Despite the strong winds that we've been having, trout numbers and size have been on the increase. We've been catching many trout between 22 and 28 inches long and a few reaching 30 inches. The leeward sides of the islands and Kennedy Ranch shorelines have been holding beautiful water. I believe that once the winds settle to less than twenty miles per hour for a few days, big portions of Baffin Bay will holding beautiful water. My intentions for July are to look for grass lines and potholes in two feet of water or less and fish with natural colored Mirrolure She Dogs and Top Dogs or Bass Assassins in bone diamond and plum/chartreuse rigged on sixteenth ounce jigheads. After the fish move off of the shallow flats, I will probably be casting live croakers into deeper water along drop offs and grass lines. Wade as much as possible, but don't forget your ForEverlast RayGuards.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
"The water has cleared up nicely around here and I'm loving it," Joe says. "I'm able to fish a bunch of different areas and sightcasting opportunities exist in all of them. We've been seeing and catching mostly big reds on Bass Assassins and Gamblers on recent trips. A couple of days ago, I had a client Kyle and his son. They caught and released fifteen or eighteen reds between them. It was a blast. We're also seeing quite a few big trout on some of the flats. They are a little harder to catch than the reds most of the time, but the clear water definitely helps. I've been working areas north of the JFK, as well as spoil banks and ledges south of Bird Island. A few times, I've run all the way down to Nine Mile Hole and caught fish too. It's not really necessary to go that far from the dock, though. With the brown tide disappearing, you have potential to catch a bunch of quality fish without making such a long run."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
"Typical summer patterns are in full swing in Port Mansfield," Bruce says. "The reds are up on the sugar sand and are easy to catch early mornings on topwaters. The trout are hanging around the deep edges of the grass flats. They're biting topwaters too, but soft plastics are more effective later in the day. Haven't been able to get offshore much at all with the winds, but once we are able to do that, we'll be targeting snapper a few miles out early, then returning to the beachfront areas for bull reds and tarpon. Inshore, I'll be looking to do some night wading around the full moons next month, four days before and four days after. It's a great way to beat the heat and the crowds." he mentions that Pradco has some new stuff headed to the shelves in tackle stores. "Super Spooks will be made in a more durable material and will be available with two different types of rattles. They also have a soft plastic minnow that is killer."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
This month started out slow, with tide movement in the mornings mostly non-existent. We are still bringing in reds, but it can take half the day scouring the flats to get our limits. Trout are hanging with the reds early, then gradually easing into deeper water as the sun comes up. Although we don't usually target flounder, we're seeing better numbers than last year. The bait of choice continues to be Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp under a Mansfield Mauler in new penny or glow (check with Kyle at Johnny's True Value). The time of the year to fish off the Convention Center on the East Side is almost over; however our tides are not as high as expected, so conditions aren't normal. Look for the fishing to start popping in potholes south of Gas Well. Freddy says, "Get out your weedless spoons and topwaters because the Lower Laguna is the perfect place to experience sport fishing in unbelievably clear, shallow water."