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Reports & Forecasts: November 2006
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
Fishing on Calcasieu Lake is unbelievable lately. You can hook up on speckled trout, redfish and flounder from the Interstate 10 bridge all the way to the Cameron jetties. Large schools of trout are working under the birds at this time. The birds will continue to lead attentive anglers to the specks throughout the month of November. The water clarity is great, since we've had lots of light winds and the salinity is high for this time of year. Our weather conditions are very favorable for the big sow trout to start showing up in the shallows and over scattered shell just adjacent to the shorelines. Now is the time to stock up on your topwater plugs. Favorites over here include Super Spooks, Skitterwalks and SheDogs in bone, black and all of the colors added to chrome bellies. Our duck season will open on November 11th. Get ready to blast and cast!!! We will be hunting in the mornings and fishing in the afternoons. Wielding a shotgun for a while and then picking up a baitcasting rig is a great way to spend a day in the Sportsman's Paradise!
Sabine Lake | Dickie Colburn
Colburn's Sabine Connection | 409.883.0723
It will be difficult for Sabine to get any better than it has been since mid September. The only complaint has been size with the speckled trout, but even that problem is improving daily. The lake is in fantastic shape and already packed with bait in spite of the fact that the marshes still haven't emptied. Soft plastics are easily producing the greatest numbers fished under the gulls, but topwaters are the ticket for larger trout and redfish. For some reason, the redfish have schooled much more consistently on the south end while our larger trout are coming off the north end. Once the marshes purge, it should be wall-to-wall fish through November and December. Our hottest colors in topwaters have been black/chartreuse head and bone/chrome side. Glow/chartreuse, bone diamond, and pumpkin/chartreuse have been good colors in the Sea Shad and Split tail fished on quarter ounce heads. The redfish have preferred the longer soft plastics, Rat'l Traps, and the Hoginar. November should be red hot for both flounder and stripers once the water cools down.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James reports that his friend Jeremy Ebert caught a tarpon that should eclipse the current state record. He helped Jeremy tape, measure and weigh the fish, and it tipped the scales at a whopping 210 pounds, 11 ounces! "This summer was an exceptional one for tarpon; of course it's winding down now." He says the trout fishing has been steady if not spectacular. "Most of the people are boat fishing, but the wading is already getting good. The shorelines are holding fish under rafted mullet. I have been catching some on topwaters, but I've had better luck on a Bass Assassin rigged on a weighted worm hook. It has the weight lying all along the shank of the hook and when you work the worm, it will walk the dog just like a topwater, and then it sinks horizontally. It was designed for sight-casting to shallow redfish, but it works great for trout in shallow water too." He predicts that the fishing in November will be wide open. "Try wading Trinity Bay and the new cuts in the back of East Bay draining the marsh."
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim reports that fishing has been good lately, though in some ways it resembles a summer pattern. "We are catching quality fish early on topwaters, but then after about nine o' clock it gets pretty tough. The action under birds in the middle has been fast and furious, but the percentage of keepers is really low on most days." He says this on the day before the season's first predicted strong front. "This front should change everything for the better. We'll start seeing more and more fish up shallow and staying there. We'll focus then on the bayous, sloughs and back lakes. November should be wide open, lots of fish and good size too. We'll be wading and drifting, throwing topwaters and a lot of 51 and 52M Mirrolures."
He says that the dove hunting has been exceptional this year, and that he expects it to continue to be productive all the way through the late season this winter. "The duck hunting is shaping up nicely, too," he predicts. "The marshes have plenty of water in them and there is grass where it should be to attract the birds."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall says the fishing has been good in his area lately, especially for some bigger than average trout. "We had five trout that weighed a total of 27 pounds the other day. We released them all after getting the weights. I was proud of my customers for the way they stuck with it to get those fish. We were only getting one bite every forty minutes or so, but they wanted to catch some big fish and they did because they were patient and worked at it." The action that day and on several other big trout forays was best on chartreuse Skitter Walks and blue/chrome Super Spooks. "We also go to the She Dog some when it gets rougher." The fish are still hanging out in Lower West Bay under rafted mullet too, he says. "Lots of sand trout mixed in with small and keeper trout over there. The fish don't seem to be holding on shell yet. We need some colder fronts." He predicts that his big trout spots should produce into November and that mud-shell mixed bottoms will improve, especially when using a clear glitter/chartreuse Norton Sand Eel.
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don reports that the action is streaky lately in East Bay due to frequent high winds and off colored water. "We are having some good days drifting the reefs, but it's not as consistent as it can be. We'll limit out for a couple of days and then the fish seem to scatter or the wind comes up and messes up the water." On windier days, he's been concentrating his efforts in the river and diversion channel, catching decent numbers and variety of fish. "There seem to be small mangrove snappers everywhere," he says. Unfortunately, most of them are too small to keep. Mixed in with the snappers are trout, redfish, the occasional flounder and a few sheepshead. "Guys are wading the shorelines in East Bay and catching some nice trout, up to about six pounds, but I haven't seen or heard of any real big fish. The waders in West Bay are still having good luck with numbers of redfish." He plans on sticking with East Bay primarily in November. "When we get some real fronts, we'll find out if our fish are stacked up in there like they always have been in the past."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
The fishing in the area bays continues to be good. The highlight of late has been the abundance of flounder. We have been catching some huge flounder up to five pounds in area sloughs and bayous on three inch Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullets in pumpkinseed and on quarter ounce gold spoons tipped with two inch pearl Berkley Gulp Shrimp. Though the earlier red-hot redfish action has slowed a little, they continue to be found schooled up tight to the shorelines chasing shrimp and small baitfish. Chartreuse Super Spook Juniors have been tricking a good percentage of the spottails lately, as have pearl and pumpkin/chartreuse Norton Bull Minnows. Trout fishing has been sporadic, with best action coming under the birds. We are finding some keepers in the fifteen to eighteen inch range, but most have been under the legal limit. The north shorelines of Tres Palacios Bay and the area from the Baptist Encampment to the Turning Basins should start to produce solid limits of both reds and specks next month with predicted cooling water conditions.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn has been catching his fish lately on sand and grass shorelines. "Our topwater bite has been good when wading the flats." He also says that mid-bay areas are still holding fish with the unusually warm water temperatures. "We'll still find some of our fish in November on sand and grass shorelines, especially those adjacent to deeper water, but more of the focus will be on mud bottoms when wading flats. Fishing deeper shell will become more productive this month as well, especially on the colder days behind the fronts. As the water cools down into the sixties, we'll see fish moving back and forth between muddy flats and open water reefs, so we'll be trying to stay with them." He mentions that he likes to throw topwaters on the warm, sunny afternoons when wading, of course, but that this month marks the transition over to more soft plastics and slow-sinking plugs. "I prefer the Corky mostly when throwing slow sinkers, but I also still use the old 51M and 52M Mirrolures too."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake mentions a variety of interesting prospects for the Thanksgiving month. "I'll be running some cast and blast outings. We'll stay in Aransas Bay mostly on those, working the back lakes for the ducks and the redfish, and then moving out to grassy main bay shorelines for the trout. We have a lot of ducks in the marsh already, and with the long standing drought we've had in south Texas, there should be plenty more ducks on the coast this fall and winter." He plans on fishing mostly Aransas, Mesquite and San Antonio Bays this month, focusing on grass when wading. "I'll look for working birds in open water and will fish some reefs too, since we still have a lot of fish out there, but I'll be most interested in catching some big trout on topwaters along the grassy shores. In November, we usually catch some of our biggest trout of the year on topwaters." He admits that he is also partial to his Norton Sand Eels when the fish are finickier, especially the purple/chartreuse and the plum chartreuse ones.
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
November affords surf anglers opportunities at a wide variety of fish species of all sizes. Pompano are plentiful and join whiting as the most sought after smaller species. Peeled, fresh dead shrimp and "Fishbites" are most productive. Slot and bull redfish remain in excellent numbers throughout the month and bite live mullet and cut bait. The bull red run is starting very late on PINS this year. Large Spanish mackerel to eight plus pounds peak in abundance this month and scattered Atlantic bluefish are encountered. The jack crevalle fall run has been delayed due to warm temperatures and they can be expected to appear throughout the month. Throw topwaters and large silver spoons and hang on. Drive the shoreline watching for surface action and diving birds. Sharks of all sizes can be plentiful, and often they are cruising the shoreline where they can be targeted by casting baits as successfully as by kayaking them. For sharks, key on areas with concentrations of jack crevalle and other schools of bait fish. Be careful, as high tides make travel tough.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The fishing has been good the last few weeks. We've been catching lots of trout between 18 and 24 inches, along with many redfish in the upper end of the slot, with a few oversized ones. Recent cold fronts have made the fishing tough on some days, but usually these conditions only last for a day or two. The water level in the Laguna Madre and Baffin has come up recently as well. Because of the higher tides, the fish are now roaming around higher in the flooded flats. Most of the fish we've been catching have been in three feet of water or less. The most exciting fishing this time of the year with the high tides is sight-casting at redfish, trout and drum in water that is ten to eighteen inches deep and seeing acres of redfish tails waving at you. I have been working the edges of pot holes and grass lines with natural colored Exude RT Slugs rigged on 1/16 ounce jig heads. As a reminder, don't forget the Ray Guards, because I'm also seeing many sting rays in the shallow water.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe reports catching some nice trout recently. "Ronnie Cox had a twenty six and a twenty nine inch trout one day. The next outing, I had some law professors from Monterrey, and one of them caught a twenty seven on a pumpkinseed/silktreuse Exude RT Slug." He says he's been fishing the mouth of Baffin quite a bit lately, where the water is still in decent shape, without much influence of brown tide and making some forays to the Land Cut too. "The reds are still lined up pretty good on the edges of The Cut," he reports. "But I'll be spending quite of bit of my time up north in November." The large grassy flats of Corpus Christi Bay are good in fall, he states. "When we get the rapidly changing winds and variable water temperatures, those big coves on the east end of the bay can be better than a lot of places. The water holds up nicely on most winds and we will usually find some bigger than average trout up shallow." Shamrock Cove and East Flats are known to hold fish in high winds and flood tides.
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Bruce says that the fishing has been steady in the Port Mansfield area lately, especially for redfish. "We've got our fall herds gathered up and they have been pretty easy to locate and catch. We are finding good numbers of trout too. Not the really big trout, but the average size is up and should continue to get better as we get some more fronts with enough clout to drop the water temperatures. In November, he plans to focus more on the drains connecting deeper waters to large muddy flats. "The big trout will begin to be more predictably located in transitional waters that allow them easy access back and forth from deep holes when it's cold and shallow mudflats on the warm ups." He's been throwing mostly small topwaters at the fish lately, but anticipates switching over to She Dogs and Super Spooks by about the middle of the month when the water cools down some more, preferring white or bright ones on clear days. "I favor a Corky a lot this time of year too," he says. "Particularly that New Penny color on the cloudy days."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fall is one of the most productive times of the year for redfish action. Herds of reds are roaming Gas Well in loose formations or spread out grazing on the West Side near Unnecessary Island. We're also seeing trout moving in to feed shallower as the water cools down and the tide levels are rising slightly on the flats. Freddy says, "Halloween is the time for flounder to move into the bay and this year we'll be throwing Gulp New Penny Shrimp at them rigged on a quarter ounce jig head with Shakespeare Cajun Advantage 30 lb. leaders. We're also excited about our new reels from Okuma; if you haven't tried one you're missing out on some awesome action. After guiding for 26 years, we've used about every brand available and are sold on the EF-30 Series spinning and AE-200 bait casters." Our clients are limiting daily on slot reds throwing gold weedless spoons early then switching to Mauler/Gulps later and tagging oversized fish out of roaming herds. Bring on the rain; it makes the fish bite harder and besides, they're already wet!
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
Fishing on Calcasieu Lake is unbelievable lately. You can hook up on speckled trout, redfish and flounder from the Interstate 10 bridge all the way to the Cameron jetties. Large schools of trout are working under the birds at this time. The birds will continue to lead attentive anglers to the specks throughout the month of November. The water clarity is great, since we've had lots of light winds and the salinity is high for this time of year. Our weather conditions are very favorable for the big sow trout to start showing up in the shallows and over scattered shell just adjacent to the shorelines. Now is the time to stock up on your topwater plugs. Favorites over here include Super Spooks, Skitterwalks and SheDogs in bone, black and all of the colors added to chrome bellies. Our duck season will open on November 11th. Get ready to blast and cast!!! We will be hunting in the mornings and fishing in the afternoons. Wielding a shotgun for a while and then picking up a baitcasting rig is a great way to spend a day in the Sportsman's Paradise!
Sabine Lake | Dickie Colburn
Colburn's Sabine Connection | 409.883.0723
It will be difficult for Sabine to get any better than it has been since mid September. The only complaint has been size with the speckled trout, but even that problem is improving daily. The lake is in fantastic shape and already packed with bait in spite of the fact that the marshes still haven't emptied. Soft plastics are easily producing the greatest numbers fished under the gulls, but topwaters are the ticket for larger trout and redfish. For some reason, the redfish have schooled much more consistently on the south end while our larger trout are coming off the north end. Once the marshes purge, it should be wall-to-wall fish through November and December. Our hottest colors in topwaters have been black/chartreuse head and bone/chrome side. Glow/chartreuse, bone diamond, and pumpkin/chartreuse have been good colors in the Sea Shad and Split tail fished on quarter ounce heads. The redfish have preferred the longer soft plastics, Rat'l Traps, and the Hoginar. November should be red hot for both flounder and stripers once the water cools down.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James reports that his friend Jeremy Ebert caught a tarpon that should eclipse the current state record. He helped Jeremy tape, measure and weigh the fish, and it tipped the scales at a whopping 210 pounds, 11 ounces! "This summer was an exceptional one for tarpon; of course it's winding down now." He says the trout fishing has been steady if not spectacular. "Most of the people are boat fishing, but the wading is already getting good. The shorelines are holding fish under rafted mullet. I have been catching some on topwaters, but I've had better luck on a Bass Assassin rigged on a weighted worm hook. It has the weight lying all along the shank of the hook and when you work the worm, it will walk the dog just like a topwater, and then it sinks horizontally. It was designed for sight-casting to shallow redfish, but it works great for trout in shallow water too." He predicts that the fishing in November will be wide open. "Try wading Trinity Bay and the new cuts in the back of East Bay draining the marsh."
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim reports that fishing has been good lately, though in some ways it resembles a summer pattern. "We are catching quality fish early on topwaters, but then after about nine o' clock it gets pretty tough. The action under birds in the middle has been fast and furious, but the percentage of keepers is really low on most days." He says this on the day before the season's first predicted strong front. "This front should change everything for the better. We'll start seeing more and more fish up shallow and staying there. We'll focus then on the bayous, sloughs and back lakes. November should be wide open, lots of fish and good size too. We'll be wading and drifting, throwing topwaters and a lot of 51 and 52M Mirrolures."
He says that the dove hunting has been exceptional this year, and that he expects it to continue to be productive all the way through the late season this winter. "The duck hunting is shaping up nicely, too," he predicts. "The marshes have plenty of water in them and there is grass where it should be to attract the birds."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall says the fishing has been good in his area lately, especially for some bigger than average trout. "We had five trout that weighed a total of 27 pounds the other day. We released them all after getting the weights. I was proud of my customers for the way they stuck with it to get those fish. We were only getting one bite every forty minutes or so, but they wanted to catch some big fish and they did because they were patient and worked at it." The action that day and on several other big trout forays was best on chartreuse Skitter Walks and blue/chrome Super Spooks. "We also go to the She Dog some when it gets rougher." The fish are still hanging out in Lower West Bay under rafted mullet too, he says. "Lots of sand trout mixed in with small and keeper trout over there. The fish don't seem to be holding on shell yet. We need some colder fronts." He predicts that his big trout spots should produce into November and that mud-shell mixed bottoms will improve, especially when using a clear glitter/chartreuse Norton Sand Eel.
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don reports that the action is streaky lately in East Bay due to frequent high winds and off colored water. "We are having some good days drifting the reefs, but it's not as consistent as it can be. We'll limit out for a couple of days and then the fish seem to scatter or the wind comes up and messes up the water." On windier days, he's been concentrating his efforts in the river and diversion channel, catching decent numbers and variety of fish. "There seem to be small mangrove snappers everywhere," he says. Unfortunately, most of them are too small to keep. Mixed in with the snappers are trout, redfish, the occasional flounder and a few sheepshead. "Guys are wading the shorelines in East Bay and catching some nice trout, up to about six pounds, but I haven't seen or heard of any real big fish. The waders in West Bay are still having good luck with numbers of redfish." He plans on sticking with East Bay primarily in November. "When we get some real fronts, we'll find out if our fish are stacked up in there like they always have been in the past."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
The fishing in the area bays continues to be good. The highlight of late has been the abundance of flounder. We have been catching some huge flounder up to five pounds in area sloughs and bayous on three inch Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullets in pumpkinseed and on quarter ounce gold spoons tipped with two inch pearl Berkley Gulp Shrimp. Though the earlier red-hot redfish action has slowed a little, they continue to be found schooled up tight to the shorelines chasing shrimp and small baitfish. Chartreuse Super Spook Juniors have been tricking a good percentage of the spottails lately, as have pearl and pumpkin/chartreuse Norton Bull Minnows. Trout fishing has been sporadic, with best action coming under the birds. We are finding some keepers in the fifteen to eighteen inch range, but most have been under the legal limit. The north shorelines of Tres Palacios Bay and the area from the Baptist Encampment to the Turning Basins should start to produce solid limits of both reds and specks next month with predicted cooling water conditions.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn has been catching his fish lately on sand and grass shorelines. "Our topwater bite has been good when wading the flats." He also says that mid-bay areas are still holding fish with the unusually warm water temperatures. "We'll still find some of our fish in November on sand and grass shorelines, especially those adjacent to deeper water, but more of the focus will be on mud bottoms when wading flats. Fishing deeper shell will become more productive this month as well, especially on the colder days behind the fronts. As the water cools down into the sixties, we'll see fish moving back and forth between muddy flats and open water reefs, so we'll be trying to stay with them." He mentions that he likes to throw topwaters on the warm, sunny afternoons when wading, of course, but that this month marks the transition over to more soft plastics and slow-sinking plugs. "I prefer the Corky mostly when throwing slow sinkers, but I also still use the old 51M and 52M Mirrolures too."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake mentions a variety of interesting prospects for the Thanksgiving month. "I'll be running some cast and blast outings. We'll stay in Aransas Bay mostly on those, working the back lakes for the ducks and the redfish, and then moving out to grassy main bay shorelines for the trout. We have a lot of ducks in the marsh already, and with the long standing drought we've had in south Texas, there should be plenty more ducks on the coast this fall and winter." He plans on fishing mostly Aransas, Mesquite and San Antonio Bays this month, focusing on grass when wading. "I'll look for working birds in open water and will fish some reefs too, since we still have a lot of fish out there, but I'll be most interested in catching some big trout on topwaters along the grassy shores. In November, we usually catch some of our biggest trout of the year on topwaters." He admits that he is also partial to his Norton Sand Eels when the fish are finickier, especially the purple/chartreuse and the plum chartreuse ones.
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
November affords surf anglers opportunities at a wide variety of fish species of all sizes. Pompano are plentiful and join whiting as the most sought after smaller species. Peeled, fresh dead shrimp and "Fishbites" are most productive. Slot and bull redfish remain in excellent numbers throughout the month and bite live mullet and cut bait. The bull red run is starting very late on PINS this year. Large Spanish mackerel to eight plus pounds peak in abundance this month and scattered Atlantic bluefish are encountered. The jack crevalle fall run has been delayed due to warm temperatures and they can be expected to appear throughout the month. Throw topwaters and large silver spoons and hang on. Drive the shoreline watching for surface action and diving birds. Sharks of all sizes can be plentiful, and often they are cruising the shoreline where they can be targeted by casting baits as successfully as by kayaking them. For sharks, key on areas with concentrations of jack crevalle and other schools of bait fish. Be careful, as high tides make travel tough.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The fishing has been good the last few weeks. We've been catching lots of trout between 18 and 24 inches, along with many redfish in the upper end of the slot, with a few oversized ones. Recent cold fronts have made the fishing tough on some days, but usually these conditions only last for a day or two. The water level in the Laguna Madre and Baffin has come up recently as well. Because of the higher tides, the fish are now roaming around higher in the flooded flats. Most of the fish we've been catching have been in three feet of water or less. The most exciting fishing this time of the year with the high tides is sight-casting at redfish, trout and drum in water that is ten to eighteen inches deep and seeing acres of redfish tails waving at you. I have been working the edges of pot holes and grass lines with natural colored Exude RT Slugs rigged on 1/16 ounce jig heads. As a reminder, don't forget the Ray Guards, because I'm also seeing many sting rays in the shallow water.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe reports catching some nice trout recently. "Ronnie Cox had a twenty six and a twenty nine inch trout one day. The next outing, I had some law professors from Monterrey, and one of them caught a twenty seven on a pumpkinseed/silktreuse Exude RT Slug." He says he's been fishing the mouth of Baffin quite a bit lately, where the water is still in decent shape, without much influence of brown tide and making some forays to the Land Cut too. "The reds are still lined up pretty good on the edges of The Cut," he reports. "But I'll be spending quite of bit of my time up north in November." The large grassy flats of Corpus Christi Bay are good in fall, he states. "When we get the rapidly changing winds and variable water temperatures, those big coves on the east end of the bay can be better than a lot of places. The water holds up nicely on most winds and we will usually find some bigger than average trout up shallow." Shamrock Cove and East Flats are known to hold fish in high winds and flood tides.
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Bruce says that the fishing has been steady in the Port Mansfield area lately, especially for redfish. "We've got our fall herds gathered up and they have been pretty easy to locate and catch. We are finding good numbers of trout too. Not the really big trout, but the average size is up and should continue to get better as we get some more fronts with enough clout to drop the water temperatures. In November, he plans to focus more on the drains connecting deeper waters to large muddy flats. "The big trout will begin to be more predictably located in transitional waters that allow them easy access back and forth from deep holes when it's cold and shallow mudflats on the warm ups." He's been throwing mostly small topwaters at the fish lately, but anticipates switching over to She Dogs and Super Spooks by about the middle of the month when the water cools down some more, preferring white or bright ones on clear days. "I favor a Corky a lot this time of year too," he says. "Particularly that New Penny color on the cloudy days."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fall is one of the most productive times of the year for redfish action. Herds of reds are roaming Gas Well in loose formations or spread out grazing on the West Side near Unnecessary Island. We're also seeing trout moving in to feed shallower as the water cools down and the tide levels are rising slightly on the flats. Freddy says, "Halloween is the time for flounder to move into the bay and this year we'll be throwing Gulp New Penny Shrimp at them rigged on a quarter ounce jig head with Shakespeare Cajun Advantage 30 lb. leaders. We're also excited about our new reels from Okuma; if you haven't tried one you're missing out on some awesome action. After guiding for 26 years, we've used about every brand available and are sold on the EF-30 Series spinning and AE-200 bait casters." Our clients are limiting daily on slot reds throwing gold weedless spoons early then switching to Mauler/Gulps later and tagging oversized fish out of roaming herds. Bring on the rain; it makes the fish bite harder and besides, they're already wet!