Reports & Forecasts: June 2013
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
The last couple of weeks things have really been heating up. Water temperatures are in the mid to upper 70s and the fish are really biting well. One of our guides was lucky enough to experience the spawn yesterday afternoon. The result was the best box of fish of the season so far. All 40 of his trout were caught in less than two feet of water on Paul Brown's Original FatBoys. They ranged in size from two to six pounds. Topwaters are also starting to produce some really nice fish. We really haven't seen them produce lots of fish yet, but their time is coming. June should be excellent. The lake is loaded with mullet this year and we usually catch our biggest trout whenever we have lots of mullet. We've got solid trout in the lake this year. Their diet consists mostly of finfish so we are expecting to fish lots of slicks this summer. These are usually the fish you want to target because they will be larger than the ones under birds eating shrimp.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James mentions good results from wading in both Trinity and East Bays. "We have been catching 'em pretty good lately in several places. The surf has already coughed up some decent trout, and both Trinity and East Bays are holding lots of solid fish. We are seeing incredible numbers of trout from the upper four-pound class to the light-sixes. They are biting on a variety of things. Probably the most consistent producers have been Bass Assassins in smokin' chicken. We've been rigging them on sixteenth-ounce heads and just reeling them straight in, without jigging. Also catching pretty good on Catch 5s, the natural ones in green/white/silver. On a couple of days, we had great topwater action and caught 'em on pink/silver/pink TopDogs. We're already seeing a "summer" pattern start up. We'll be hopping slicks around the reefs out in the middle a lot over the next month. This is arguably the best run of fishing Galveston has seen since the early 80s. It's just off the charts!"
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim was talking up the fishing in Galveston in a big way when he gave this report. "We have been on a great run lately. There have really been some big fish caught. Just today, I stopped off at Rollover Pass and watched a few guys just whacking the trout over there. They have had a good run like they always do in the spring. We've been fishing out of the boat and wading too. Best day we had lately was just phenomenal; we had 11 trout between 5 and 6 pounds including a 29 1/2 inch fish that weighed well over 9 pounds. The fish are super fat right now with all the egg weight and the water being a little cooler than normal. That will likely change by the time this issue of the magazine comes out. When the water heats up, the trout will dump their eggs and lose body weight because they are more active. We'll be targeting them out of the boat on the mid-bay reefs. That's been good lately too. And we'll keep wading when we can. The early part of the summer is set up for some hot action."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall reports excellent action in his area leading into the time of this report. "Today we had thirteen and thirteen. That's thirteen trout and thirteen flounder. The flounder fishing has been on fire lately; we've had as many as seventeen in one day. Best lure for the flat fish has been Gulp! products, but we're catching good numbers on red magic Sand Eels too. In fact, that's what we are throwing almost exclusively lately. On some days, the pink/chrome One Knocker Super Spook is really working. I had one day lately where I literally wore all the paint off one and caught easy limits of solid trout on it. The action on topwaters is more of a day to day thing though. Next day was not the same. Things are shaping up nicely for the beginning of summer in general. We have a huge crop of shad blooming right now. They are about the size of a shirt button. When the fish are full of the little button shad, they throw a lot of slicks and are fat like footballs. Our pelagic fish have showed up already and we're champing at the bit to get into the surf."
Matagorda | Tommy Countz
Bay Guide Service | 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037
Tommy likes to wade the shoreline grass beds and reefs in West Matagorda Bay in June as a primary option, but he mentions several other things that work well too, depending on the weather. "If it's calm, we will try to get in the surf as much as we can. With all the late-season cold fronts, everything is kind of behind time, but by June, the surf will have tremendous potential. Wading the mid-bay reefs early in the morning in East Bay is another good option. When doing that, we normally throw topwaters and some slow sinking twitch baits like Paul Brown's Original Lures. If it's a little windier, we will drift the west end of East Bay with soft plastics on quarter-ounce heads, bouncing them off the bottom and keying on areas where slicks are popping. The other thing that is right around the corner is tripletail season. As long as wind speeds are around fifteen knots or less, we have great luck targeting tripletails starting in June. Overall, it's a great month. Things usually settle out and become more consistent in June."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
What a spring! It has been tough for us to stay on a consistent bite with all these crazy weather changes. Thank goodness for redfish, because the trout have been hard to pattern with water temperatures swinging 10 degrees every other day. Reds have been plentiful on local shorelines and have been biting very good on big topwaters such as clown SheDogs, black/gold/orange TopDogs, and chartreuse Skitterwalks. We have been finding most of these fish in less than three feet of water, wading shorelines with scattered shell and sand. Trout have been hit or miss; one day they will be over deep shell, the next day gone. I think when temperatures settle out, we will get back on our regular routine of hitting wells and rigs, and catching numbers of trout consistently. The surf will hopefully turn on soon. We have a good hatch of bait in the bays, so I am looking forward for good things early in the summer.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn expects to be spending most of his time fishing a pattern involving hard sandy pockets in grass beds. "We'll key on sand and grass and throw topwaters most every day. I especially like the Super Spook Junior in white with chartreuse head and the pink/chrome Baby Skitterwalk. When fishing in the bays, we'll also hit some spoil banks along the ship channels. Best time to fish those is when the tides are coming in during the morning hours. Topwaters will work there too when the water is moving good. Soft plastics are a good bet around the shell humps too. We do spend a little time fishing reefs during June, especially on calmer days when the water in the middle of the bays clears out. Mostly though, when it gets calm, we head out into the surf. Last year, we did great in the surf several times during the month of June. The best plan out there is to stay close to the beach, keying on bait and slicks and bird activity in the first gut and throwing topwaters. There's really nothing like catching trout at the edge of the wide open ocean."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake expects to be fishing in areas adjacent to the main passes and along shorelines with sandy, grassy bottoms in bays like Aransas, Corpus Christi and Redfish Bay during June. "This is the month when I typically transition over to using live bait some of the time. We'll be wading mostly, using lures like Norton Sand Eels and Super Spooks when the bite is hot, and switching over to croakers when it is tougher. The fishing has been good lately, and we're catching fish pretty easily on topwaters on some days. On other days, the bait is definitely producing better. We are also keeping our eye on the surf. It hasn't been a really windy spring, and I'm hoping to get more of a chance to take advantage of the surf fishing this year. June is typically a great month for tossing topwaters along the beach front. This is what I like about the first part of summer; the weather usually settles down a bit and the options are many. We'll try to take advantage of whatever looks like the best idea for the moment."
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
June is such a consistent month for fishing. My fishing log reveals that I consistently bring in very good catches of fish during the last month of spring, first month of summer. The water temperatures are usually still cool enough to keep the trout and redfish in about two feet of water. The trout will be chunky because of feeding on finger mullet and perch. This is a great time to fish with MirrOlure Catch 5 suspending baits. If the water is semi-clear, I like to fish with the Catch 5 in color CHBL. The Bass Assassin Die Dapper in colors like plum/chartreuse, sand trout and chicken on a chain will imitate a finger mullet perfectly when rigged on a sixteenth-ounce Spring Lock jighead. The redfish will be running in schools, and I like to run slowly across flats with three feet of water and look for the schools to make wakes as they hear my outboard getting closer. I like to cast half-ounce gold weedless spoons or my favorite plastic baits at the outside edges of the schools in order to prevent spooking the fish too much.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Fishing in the Land Cut was productive in the time leading up to this report, Joe says. "The water in the south end of the cut has been pretty all spring. The fishing is steady, sometimes spectacular. We are doing the typical drill, keeping the boat in the channel with drift socks and the trolling motor and casting at the edge of the ditch. On most days, the fish will be hanging close to the grassy ledge. If the tide is low, they will usually be a little off the edge. If it's really high, they sometimes get up on top of the ledge and venture a short distance onto the flat. Topwaters and soft plastics are the best lures to use. Mostly we use topwaters early in the morning, and switch to jigs later, adjusting to heavier heads when it gets really windy. With any luck, the clear water will move further north as we head into summer. Usually, if the southeast wind starts cranking consistently, the water will move from south to north. If and when it does that, the areas all around the north end of the Land Cut should become more productive."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
June is one of the most dependable months for fishing the PINS surf with typically moderate wind conditions and clear water. Sargassum amount varies from year to year depending on how much northeast and/or east wind we get during the month. All shark species are present throughout the month and the greatest number will be caught on baits kayaked several hundred yards offshore. Jack crevalle, ladyfish, stingray and bluefish will all make very good shark bait. Tarpon, kingfish, jack crevalle, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout and whiting should be in good supply all through the month. Silver spoons, Rat-L-Traps and topwaters are good producers for lure fishermen and Fishbites and fresh-dead shrimp for bottom fisherman. Turtle nesting is at its peak level and speed limit is 15 mph for the entire length of the beach. June is a period of heavy family beach use with lots of traffic so be extra careful and always be kind to each other. Good Fishing! -Cap'n Billy
Port Mansfield | Terry Neal
www.terrynealcharters.com | 956.944.2559
The calendar says spring but some days it is hard to tell if it's spring, summer or even winter. Take your pick because you really couldn't miss by much. Our last front came through with high 40s temps and 50 mile-per-hour wind. Hopefully this will be our last major front. For good news; that front blew the water out and when the wind settled the Laguna Madre filled with beautiful water from the gulf. Tides have been super high, which should be good for the ecosystem. Don't mean to be Mr. Doom and Gloom, but 2013 has not given us normal fishing patterns thus far. Lots of wind direction changes and constantly strong wind speed have kept the bay system stirred up. Fishing as a whole remains uncharacteristically slow. Look for bait and you should find fish. The sea grass has yet to recover in many areas so without this structure the fish are on the move constantly. Enjoy the outdoors and maybe one day it will all go back to normal. Keep what you will eat; release the rest.
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
At the time of this writing we're experiencing a fall-out of many species of birds. The reason for this event is a couple of late-April fronts that affect migration. Heavy winds and some much needed rain have changed the weather patterns and brought us a bounty of trout. Freddy says, "When there is a lot of rain, and run-off of fresh water is causing brackish conditions, the best approach is to fish on the bottom, where the water is salty, especially if your target is trout." We're picking up good catches of nice trout, in the twenty to twenty-five inch range, throwing Cajun Thunder round corks with Berkley Gulp! shrimp. Although our aim is to hit the reds first, unless it's really windy, we've had more luck with specks early on deeper drop offs. We're still limiting on reds a couple of days a week, but boat traffic is messing with the shallow drifts, especially on weekends. We're starting to see a little more bait than earlier in the year, but most of the grass is still concentrated on the east side near South Padre Island. Help stop open bay dredge disposal!
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
The last couple of weeks things have really been heating up. Water temperatures are in the mid to upper 70s and the fish are really biting well. One of our guides was lucky enough to experience the spawn yesterday afternoon. The result was the best box of fish of the season so far. All 40 of his trout were caught in less than two feet of water on Paul Brown's Original FatBoys. They ranged in size from two to six pounds. Topwaters are also starting to produce some really nice fish. We really haven't seen them produce lots of fish yet, but their time is coming. June should be excellent. The lake is loaded with mullet this year and we usually catch our biggest trout whenever we have lots of mullet. We've got solid trout in the lake this year. Their diet consists mostly of finfish so we are expecting to fish lots of slicks this summer. These are usually the fish you want to target because they will be larger than the ones under birds eating shrimp.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James mentions good results from wading in both Trinity and East Bays. "We have been catching 'em pretty good lately in several places. The surf has already coughed up some decent trout, and both Trinity and East Bays are holding lots of solid fish. We are seeing incredible numbers of trout from the upper four-pound class to the light-sixes. They are biting on a variety of things. Probably the most consistent producers have been Bass Assassins in smokin' chicken. We've been rigging them on sixteenth-ounce heads and just reeling them straight in, without jigging. Also catching pretty good on Catch 5s, the natural ones in green/white/silver. On a couple of days, we had great topwater action and caught 'em on pink/silver/pink TopDogs. We're already seeing a "summer" pattern start up. We'll be hopping slicks around the reefs out in the middle a lot over the next month. This is arguably the best run of fishing Galveston has seen since the early 80s. It's just off the charts!"
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim was talking up the fishing in Galveston in a big way when he gave this report. "We have been on a great run lately. There have really been some big fish caught. Just today, I stopped off at Rollover Pass and watched a few guys just whacking the trout over there. They have had a good run like they always do in the spring. We've been fishing out of the boat and wading too. Best day we had lately was just phenomenal; we had 11 trout between 5 and 6 pounds including a 29 1/2 inch fish that weighed well over 9 pounds. The fish are super fat right now with all the egg weight and the water being a little cooler than normal. That will likely change by the time this issue of the magazine comes out. When the water heats up, the trout will dump their eggs and lose body weight because they are more active. We'll be targeting them out of the boat on the mid-bay reefs. That's been good lately too. And we'll keep wading when we can. The early part of the summer is set up for some hot action."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall reports excellent action in his area leading into the time of this report. "Today we had thirteen and thirteen. That's thirteen trout and thirteen flounder. The flounder fishing has been on fire lately; we've had as many as seventeen in one day. Best lure for the flat fish has been Gulp! products, but we're catching good numbers on red magic Sand Eels too. In fact, that's what we are throwing almost exclusively lately. On some days, the pink/chrome One Knocker Super Spook is really working. I had one day lately where I literally wore all the paint off one and caught easy limits of solid trout on it. The action on topwaters is more of a day to day thing though. Next day was not the same. Things are shaping up nicely for the beginning of summer in general. We have a huge crop of shad blooming right now. They are about the size of a shirt button. When the fish are full of the little button shad, they throw a lot of slicks and are fat like footballs. Our pelagic fish have showed up already and we're champing at the bit to get into the surf."
Matagorda | Tommy Countz
Bay Guide Service | 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037
Tommy likes to wade the shoreline grass beds and reefs in West Matagorda Bay in June as a primary option, but he mentions several other things that work well too, depending on the weather. "If it's calm, we will try to get in the surf as much as we can. With all the late-season cold fronts, everything is kind of behind time, but by June, the surf will have tremendous potential. Wading the mid-bay reefs early in the morning in East Bay is another good option. When doing that, we normally throw topwaters and some slow sinking twitch baits like Paul Brown's Original Lures. If it's a little windier, we will drift the west end of East Bay with soft plastics on quarter-ounce heads, bouncing them off the bottom and keying on areas where slicks are popping. The other thing that is right around the corner is tripletail season. As long as wind speeds are around fifteen knots or less, we have great luck targeting tripletails starting in June. Overall, it's a great month. Things usually settle out and become more consistent in June."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
What a spring! It has been tough for us to stay on a consistent bite with all these crazy weather changes. Thank goodness for redfish, because the trout have been hard to pattern with water temperatures swinging 10 degrees every other day. Reds have been plentiful on local shorelines and have been biting very good on big topwaters such as clown SheDogs, black/gold/orange TopDogs, and chartreuse Skitterwalks. We have been finding most of these fish in less than three feet of water, wading shorelines with scattered shell and sand. Trout have been hit or miss; one day they will be over deep shell, the next day gone. I think when temperatures settle out, we will get back on our regular routine of hitting wells and rigs, and catching numbers of trout consistently. The surf will hopefully turn on soon. We have a good hatch of bait in the bays, so I am looking forward for good things early in the summer.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn expects to be spending most of his time fishing a pattern involving hard sandy pockets in grass beds. "We'll key on sand and grass and throw topwaters most every day. I especially like the Super Spook Junior in white with chartreuse head and the pink/chrome Baby Skitterwalk. When fishing in the bays, we'll also hit some spoil banks along the ship channels. Best time to fish those is when the tides are coming in during the morning hours. Topwaters will work there too when the water is moving good. Soft plastics are a good bet around the shell humps too. We do spend a little time fishing reefs during June, especially on calmer days when the water in the middle of the bays clears out. Mostly though, when it gets calm, we head out into the surf. Last year, we did great in the surf several times during the month of June. The best plan out there is to stay close to the beach, keying on bait and slicks and bird activity in the first gut and throwing topwaters. There's really nothing like catching trout at the edge of the wide open ocean."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake expects to be fishing in areas adjacent to the main passes and along shorelines with sandy, grassy bottoms in bays like Aransas, Corpus Christi and Redfish Bay during June. "This is the month when I typically transition over to using live bait some of the time. We'll be wading mostly, using lures like Norton Sand Eels and Super Spooks when the bite is hot, and switching over to croakers when it is tougher. The fishing has been good lately, and we're catching fish pretty easily on topwaters on some days. On other days, the bait is definitely producing better. We are also keeping our eye on the surf. It hasn't been a really windy spring, and I'm hoping to get more of a chance to take advantage of the surf fishing this year. June is typically a great month for tossing topwaters along the beach front. This is what I like about the first part of summer; the weather usually settles down a bit and the options are many. We'll try to take advantage of whatever looks like the best idea for the moment."
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
June is such a consistent month for fishing. My fishing log reveals that I consistently bring in very good catches of fish during the last month of spring, first month of summer. The water temperatures are usually still cool enough to keep the trout and redfish in about two feet of water. The trout will be chunky because of feeding on finger mullet and perch. This is a great time to fish with MirrOlure Catch 5 suspending baits. If the water is semi-clear, I like to fish with the Catch 5 in color CHBL. The Bass Assassin Die Dapper in colors like plum/chartreuse, sand trout and chicken on a chain will imitate a finger mullet perfectly when rigged on a sixteenth-ounce Spring Lock jighead. The redfish will be running in schools, and I like to run slowly across flats with three feet of water and look for the schools to make wakes as they hear my outboard getting closer. I like to cast half-ounce gold weedless spoons or my favorite plastic baits at the outside edges of the schools in order to prevent spooking the fish too much.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Fishing in the Land Cut was productive in the time leading up to this report, Joe says. "The water in the south end of the cut has been pretty all spring. The fishing is steady, sometimes spectacular. We are doing the typical drill, keeping the boat in the channel with drift socks and the trolling motor and casting at the edge of the ditch. On most days, the fish will be hanging close to the grassy ledge. If the tide is low, they will usually be a little off the edge. If it's really high, they sometimes get up on top of the ledge and venture a short distance onto the flat. Topwaters and soft plastics are the best lures to use. Mostly we use topwaters early in the morning, and switch to jigs later, adjusting to heavier heads when it gets really windy. With any luck, the clear water will move further north as we head into summer. Usually, if the southeast wind starts cranking consistently, the water will move from south to north. If and when it does that, the areas all around the north end of the Land Cut should become more productive."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
June is one of the most dependable months for fishing the PINS surf with typically moderate wind conditions and clear water. Sargassum amount varies from year to year depending on how much northeast and/or east wind we get during the month. All shark species are present throughout the month and the greatest number will be caught on baits kayaked several hundred yards offshore. Jack crevalle, ladyfish, stingray and bluefish will all make very good shark bait. Tarpon, kingfish, jack crevalle, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout and whiting should be in good supply all through the month. Silver spoons, Rat-L-Traps and topwaters are good producers for lure fishermen and Fishbites and fresh-dead shrimp for bottom fisherman. Turtle nesting is at its peak level and speed limit is 15 mph for the entire length of the beach. June is a period of heavy family beach use with lots of traffic so be extra careful and always be kind to each other. Good Fishing! -Cap'n Billy
Port Mansfield | Terry Neal
www.terrynealcharters.com | 956.944.2559
The calendar says spring but some days it is hard to tell if it's spring, summer or even winter. Take your pick because you really couldn't miss by much. Our last front came through with high 40s temps and 50 mile-per-hour wind. Hopefully this will be our last major front. For good news; that front blew the water out and when the wind settled the Laguna Madre filled with beautiful water from the gulf. Tides have been super high, which should be good for the ecosystem. Don't mean to be Mr. Doom and Gloom, but 2013 has not given us normal fishing patterns thus far. Lots of wind direction changes and constantly strong wind speed have kept the bay system stirred up. Fishing as a whole remains uncharacteristically slow. Look for bait and you should find fish. The sea grass has yet to recover in many areas so without this structure the fish are on the move constantly. Enjoy the outdoors and maybe one day it will all go back to normal. Keep what you will eat; release the rest.
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
At the time of this writing we're experiencing a fall-out of many species of birds. The reason for this event is a couple of late-April fronts that affect migration. Heavy winds and some much needed rain have changed the weather patterns and brought us a bounty of trout. Freddy says, "When there is a lot of rain, and run-off of fresh water is causing brackish conditions, the best approach is to fish on the bottom, where the water is salty, especially if your target is trout." We're picking up good catches of nice trout, in the twenty to twenty-five inch range, throwing Cajun Thunder round corks with Berkley Gulp! shrimp. Although our aim is to hit the reds first, unless it's really windy, we've had more luck with specks early on deeper drop offs. We're still limiting on reds a couple of days a week, but boat traffic is messing with the shallow drifts, especially on weekends. We're starting to see a little more bait than earlier in the year, but most of the grass is still concentrated on the east side near South Padre Island. Help stop open bay dredge disposal!