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Reports & Forecasts: September 2006
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
September as a general rule is a transitional month from summer to fail fishing patterns over here in the brackish marsh bays of the Magnolia State. The trout and redfish will still be stacked along the ship channel, jetties and along our many miles of beachfront, too, especially during the first half of the month, which falls in the summer season on the calendar, of course. We will still continue to have a large concentration of trout and redfish on the south end of the lake until our first cold front arrives. Once the fronts start to arrive regularly, we will see the fish moving further north into the system, staging there to intercept the schools of baitfish and other forage species flushing out of the marshes and rivers. Topwater plugs (Topdogs, Shedogs, and Skitterwalks) and soft plastics (Norton Sand Eels in a glow color) will be the lures of choice. Bull reds will be schooling up around the jetties and just off the beaches. The tripletail fishing should also be excellent at the close rigs.
Sabine Lake | Dickie Colburn
Colburn's Sabine Connection | 409.883.0723
We have really struggled since the first week of August. We were coming out of some serious flooding unscathed only to suffer through yet another deluge. The north end of the lake muddied up and the baitfish went into hiding. Our saving grace has been a very good bite on trout up to seven pounds at the jetties. The best bite has been very early in the morning on the east side. Topwaters have been good up until dawn, but it's soft plastics against the rocks after that. Look for the main lake to turn on overnight with a little clearing and some good tide changes. We were already seeing the redfish schooling prior to the last rain. Wall to wall gulls hustling shrimp in the mid-lake area will be the calling card on into the cooler months of fall. Even with the slower bite, the live bait fishermen have continued to do well fishing finger mullet and shad on the flats bordering the intracoastal. It will be dealer's choice on lures once the gulls start working in the open lake. Bass Assassin's Shrimp Cocktail fished under a popping cork will be on the menu.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James won the Tarpon Tomorrow Pro-Am tournament the first weekend of August, fishing with his wife, son and Travis Fisk. "We caught two fish, one about ninety pounds, the other about sixty. The neat thing about it is that these two fish were implanted with tags that will give us back data on the traveling habits of tarpon. They were the first two tarpon ever tagged in Texas with these types of tags. They are scheduled to surface at the end of the year, and we should learn some interesting things when we get the data back." He says the offshore fishing has been good lately, with relatively easy limits of snapper, lots of school dolphin, ling, and several sailfish caught within forty miles of the beach. He's seeing lots of tarpon closer to shore, though as usual, they are sometimes much easier to locate than to catch! Inshore fishing for trout has been outstanding when winds are light. Anglers in both East and Trinity Bays are using small topwaters to catch fast limits over shell.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
"It's a typical and classic summer scene around here lately," Jim says. "We are fishing primarily out in the middle of both Trinity and East Bays, finding large schools of trout in both locations. Not catching any real big ones, but lots of solid fish up to about five and a half pounds. Most of the better fish are on reefs. The key to locating them day to day is to key on slicks popping over shell." Topwaters have been working, he says, especially under the flocks of gulls. "Some days, I am seeing twenty or twenty-five groups of birds. You can lock and load with the topwaters on those days. They are also working when the winds are lighter and the water is relatively clear. One advantage to the floating plugs is that you can cast them further. When it gets windier and the waves start rolling, the soft plastics are a better choice." He reports that he's had several days lately on which they caught more than one hundred fish, with lots of three and four pound trout in the bunch.
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Fishing is variable in quality in Randall's area lately. "I'm averaging about fifteen keeper trout a day, and normally we have a few redfish too, but it's not as easy as it has been at other times this year. We have a bloom of grass out in West Bay that looks like sauerkraut. It can make it hard to work the lures. We keep getting a lot of rain, too, so the back bayous and marsh lakes are fresh. The redfish are still in there, but the water's kind of ugly." He says his best lure lately has been a pearl/pumpkinseed Sand Eel rigged on a three-eighth ounce head. He also mentions that a blue and chrome Super Spook has been losing a lot of paint, especially when thrown in the surf. "We hit the surf when we can, and venture offshore not he slickest days. We are still catching some kingfish on top. What a blast!" He's been locating trout regularly in open water under rafts of mullet and is hoping that pattern holds throughout September's early fronts.
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don reports that he's been fishing both out of the boat and wading lately, catching decent numbers and some quality fish on both lures and live shrimp. "Mostly, our better trout have come out of East Bay. We've been wading the mid-bays reefs and drifting scattered shell too. The trout in West Bay are generally smaller, but they are easier to catch in windy conditions over there, since there are so many more places to hide from it. The afternoon bite seems to be better when you go West. One day, we didn't catch anything until after three o'clock, then we got a really good bite, catching redfish, trout, and flounder." In September, Don expects to focus his efforts on the reefs in East Bay most of the time, again by drifting and wading. "We should start to find that our artificial lures are working better and better after we get some fronts. Usually, both topwaters and soft plastics will produce nicely on the reefs once the weather cools down." Until then, he plans to continue using live shrimp some of the time.
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing is starting to get better. All the rains have flushed bait out into the bays and the redfish and trout have been starting to school up and feed aggressively. Redfish are starting to school up a little early this year and have been busting bait on area shorelines over lots of sand and grass. The schools have been in pods of eight to twelve fish with average size around twenty-two to twenty-four inches. These fish have been in water depths of less than two feet, and have been hammering Berkley Gulps in the shrimp pattern. Small topwaters such as bone Super Spook Jrs. and blue/orange baby Skitterwalks have also been hot baits. The trout bite has really taken off with good fish feeding under birds in South Bay. The schoolies have been averaging fifteen to eighteen inches with a few over twenty inches. Most of the bigger ones have been located on the outside edges of the birds. Pumpkinseed/chartreuse Norton Bull Minnows and quarter ounce Johnson silver spoons have been good lures under the birds.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
"We have been fishing the surf as much as we can, and are catching some nice trout out there. The blue/chrome Super Spook has been the best lure lately. Fishing in the bays has been a little slower, but we've been catching some fish on deep grass beds. As we head into the second half of summer, I'll be keying on slightly shallower grass beds early in the morning with topwaters, then moving deeper with tails as the heat builds. Key is to find some good grass near dropoffs to deep water. We'll also start chasing the reds more and more in September. They tend to gang up on the flats and we find them tailing and making mud stirs." He's excited about a brand of rods he's been using. "They are made by Joe Meyer over at Fishing Tackle Unlimited. It's an All Pro model. I like the L1 and L2 versions. They are six-and-a-half-foot rods with an action that allows for versatility. I can throw both my soft plastics and my topwaters with these rods and get good action with both types of lures. It's nice to have that in one rod."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake has been concentrating his efforts on reefs in San Antonio Bay when the winds are light. "It's kind of fresh over there, but the fishing is good when you can get on the mid-bay reefs. Right after the rains, the fish seem to stack up on the shorelines where there is saltier water." He reports that St. Charles Bay has been fresh most of the summer, but that he might head in there in September if the salinity rises somewhat. He also intends to focus on hard sand and grass shorelines in San Antonio, Mesquite, and Aransas Bays. "Aransas is a good bay when it's windy," he remarks. Lately, soft plastics, notably Norton Sand Eels in purple and pumpkinseed/chartreuse, have produced best. The redfish should school up and migrate toward the passes in September, he says. "I'll be trying to locate the big schools of reds around the passes, especially after the middle of the month. I like Super Flats, the big flat in front of the cedars in Mesquite Bay, anywhere with large grassy flats next to a channel to the Gulf.
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
Finger mullet migrations from the bay waters to the surf zone begin in earnest with the first cold fronts of September. Large groups have already moved for short time frames throughout July, so it could be an early beginning to our fine fall fishing. Some redfish have moved into the surf as of early August, following the movement of the mullet and stray five- to eight-pound jack crevasse are showing up daily. Trout remain scarce as they have for most of this entire calendar year on both PINS and South Padre beaches. Sargassum persists in varying amounts and I think we will have it to some degree throughout the year. I am of the opinion that we might as well get used to the sargassum because it seems to be here to stay. The last 20 days of September is the peak of "Big Game Fishing Season" on PINS with large numbers of fifteen- to thirty-pound jack crevalle, bull and blacktip sharks and tarpon peaking in abundance during this time frame. Very large numbers of ladyfish are expected as are Spanish mackerel and a few Atlantic bluefish.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
Fishing has been good in Baffin Bay. Semi-clear water has appeared in various parts of the bay, but it seems to move around from one place to another. Exude RT Slugs rigged on 1/8-ounce jig heads have been working on both trout and redfish. The trout have been up to 28 inches long and most of the reds we've caught have been 22 to 27 inches long. Wadefishing has been the most productive method, but I'm still having success fishing from the boat. I've spotted some stingrays, so don't forget the Ray Guards when wading. Live bait has been best in Baffin Bay, though the water in the Laguna Madre looks better, and small topwater baits thrown early on calm mornings have produced some fair catches of trout. I've been using them over sandy potholes in about two-and-a-half feet of water. The Exude RT Slugs in colors like plum/chartreuse, pearl/chartreuse and mangrove red have been the most productive when thrown in deeper potholes lying in waters with three- to four-foot depths.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe reports excellent action on trout and reds in his area, mostly on flats and dropoffs near the intracoastal. "I've been in the Land Cut, working the edge and doing good in there. Also on both sides of the intracoastal between the Cut and Baffin. Mostly, I've been using soft plastics, my Exudes in particular. The water is pretty in lots of places, including the front of Baffin." He says he's heard of some fish coming off the Tide Gauge Bar, for instance. Redifsh are numerous in the upper part of the ULM, on both the north and the south sides of the Kennedy Causeway. "I've been finding them pretty shallow," he says. "When you can locate them shallow enough, especially on the calmer days, they can be found tailing. We are doing some wading when we find them, and are also catching some out of the boat. There should be plenty of reds moving into that area as we get into September too. Usually, they start heading up this way by the end of summer."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Redfish should be schooling in large groups on the flats on the east side of the Laguna this month, according to Bruce. "We'll be looking for the schools of reds that are staging up to the head out to the Gulf. Mostly we will concentrate on the shallows, where we will be sightcasting our fish. We'll use soft plastics, topwaters and spoons and we like to throw flies at them too." Trout will be moving around some, he says, especially if we get some relatively strong early fronts. "The trout will start moving up shallow, particularly if we get some cool nights. We'll be targeting them early on topwaters and moving off the deeper drops with the soft plastics later." The last few years, September has been a great month offshore of Port Mansfield, Bruce reports. "We normally have some incredible fishing this month from the end of the jetties to the short rigs. Tarpon, kingfish, bonita, and other species will be schooled up and feeding, creating the opportunity for some fast and furious outings."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fishing success on shallow flats is governed by three things: the wind, the tide, and traffic. Low pressure is keeping the bay full of oxygen that has been churned into the water by windier than normal conditions. Adding length to our casts and allowing the boat to drift quickly, wind is increasing our chances to limit daily on slot redfish. Also, larger schools of reds are beginning to show up east of Gas Well. Trout and reds are hitting weedless gold spoons and Gulp shrimp under maulers equally well at first light, but as the sun rises, maulers rigged super shallow are working best for both species. We've been drifting on either side of the intracoastal. The overcast and windy conditions along with a tide that is beginning to go out in the mornings are motivating fish to continue biting well into mid-day, which means we don't have to move to deeper areas for sustained action. Freddy says, "If you want to catch flounder, all you have to do is stop on the edge of one of the old gas well channels and drop a jighead with a Gulp shrimp on the bottom and bounce it."
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
September as a general rule is a transitional month from summer to fail fishing patterns over here in the brackish marsh bays of the Magnolia State. The trout and redfish will still be stacked along the ship channel, jetties and along our many miles of beachfront, too, especially during the first half of the month, which falls in the summer season on the calendar, of course. We will still continue to have a large concentration of trout and redfish on the south end of the lake until our first cold front arrives. Once the fronts start to arrive regularly, we will see the fish moving further north into the system, staging there to intercept the schools of baitfish and other forage species flushing out of the marshes and rivers. Topwater plugs (Topdogs, Shedogs, and Skitterwalks) and soft plastics (Norton Sand Eels in a glow color) will be the lures of choice. Bull reds will be schooling up around the jetties and just off the beaches. The tripletail fishing should also be excellent at the close rigs.
Sabine Lake | Dickie Colburn
Colburn's Sabine Connection | 409.883.0723
We have really struggled since the first week of August. We were coming out of some serious flooding unscathed only to suffer through yet another deluge. The north end of the lake muddied up and the baitfish went into hiding. Our saving grace has been a very good bite on trout up to seven pounds at the jetties. The best bite has been very early in the morning on the east side. Topwaters have been good up until dawn, but it's soft plastics against the rocks after that. Look for the main lake to turn on overnight with a little clearing and some good tide changes. We were already seeing the redfish schooling prior to the last rain. Wall to wall gulls hustling shrimp in the mid-lake area will be the calling card on into the cooler months of fall. Even with the slower bite, the live bait fishermen have continued to do well fishing finger mullet and shad on the flats bordering the intracoastal. It will be dealer's choice on lures once the gulls start working in the open lake. Bass Assassin's Shrimp Cocktail fished under a popping cork will be on the menu.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James won the Tarpon Tomorrow Pro-Am tournament the first weekend of August, fishing with his wife, son and Travis Fisk. "We caught two fish, one about ninety pounds, the other about sixty. The neat thing about it is that these two fish were implanted with tags that will give us back data on the traveling habits of tarpon. They were the first two tarpon ever tagged in Texas with these types of tags. They are scheduled to surface at the end of the year, and we should learn some interesting things when we get the data back." He says the offshore fishing has been good lately, with relatively easy limits of snapper, lots of school dolphin, ling, and several sailfish caught within forty miles of the beach. He's seeing lots of tarpon closer to shore, though as usual, they are sometimes much easier to locate than to catch! Inshore fishing for trout has been outstanding when winds are light. Anglers in both East and Trinity Bays are using small topwaters to catch fast limits over shell.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
"It's a typical and classic summer scene around here lately," Jim says. "We are fishing primarily out in the middle of both Trinity and East Bays, finding large schools of trout in both locations. Not catching any real big ones, but lots of solid fish up to about five and a half pounds. Most of the better fish are on reefs. The key to locating them day to day is to key on slicks popping over shell." Topwaters have been working, he says, especially under the flocks of gulls. "Some days, I am seeing twenty or twenty-five groups of birds. You can lock and load with the topwaters on those days. They are also working when the winds are lighter and the water is relatively clear. One advantage to the floating plugs is that you can cast them further. When it gets windier and the waves start rolling, the soft plastics are a better choice." He reports that he's had several days lately on which they caught more than one hundred fish, with lots of three and four pound trout in the bunch.
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Fishing is variable in quality in Randall's area lately. "I'm averaging about fifteen keeper trout a day, and normally we have a few redfish too, but it's not as easy as it has been at other times this year. We have a bloom of grass out in West Bay that looks like sauerkraut. It can make it hard to work the lures. We keep getting a lot of rain, too, so the back bayous and marsh lakes are fresh. The redfish are still in there, but the water's kind of ugly." He says his best lure lately has been a pearl/pumpkinseed Sand Eel rigged on a three-eighth ounce head. He also mentions that a blue and chrome Super Spook has been losing a lot of paint, especially when thrown in the surf. "We hit the surf when we can, and venture offshore not he slickest days. We are still catching some kingfish on top. What a blast!" He's been locating trout regularly in open water under rafts of mullet and is hoping that pattern holds throughout September's early fronts.
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
Don reports that he's been fishing both out of the boat and wading lately, catching decent numbers and some quality fish on both lures and live shrimp. "Mostly, our better trout have come out of East Bay. We've been wading the mid-bays reefs and drifting scattered shell too. The trout in West Bay are generally smaller, but they are easier to catch in windy conditions over there, since there are so many more places to hide from it. The afternoon bite seems to be better when you go West. One day, we didn't catch anything until after three o'clock, then we got a really good bite, catching redfish, trout, and flounder." In September, Don expects to focus his efforts on the reefs in East Bay most of the time, again by drifting and wading. "We should start to find that our artificial lures are working better and better after we get some fronts. Usually, both topwaters and soft plastics will produce nicely on the reefs once the weather cools down." Until then, he plans to continue using live shrimp some of the time.
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing is starting to get better. All the rains have flushed bait out into the bays and the redfish and trout have been starting to school up and feed aggressively. Redfish are starting to school up a little early this year and have been busting bait on area shorelines over lots of sand and grass. The schools have been in pods of eight to twelve fish with average size around twenty-two to twenty-four inches. These fish have been in water depths of less than two feet, and have been hammering Berkley Gulps in the shrimp pattern. Small topwaters such as bone Super Spook Jrs. and blue/orange baby Skitterwalks have also been hot baits. The trout bite has really taken off with good fish feeding under birds in South Bay. The schoolies have been averaging fifteen to eighteen inches with a few over twenty inches. Most of the bigger ones have been located on the outside edges of the birds. Pumpkinseed/chartreuse Norton Bull Minnows and quarter ounce Johnson silver spoons have been good lures under the birds.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
"We have been fishing the surf as much as we can, and are catching some nice trout out there. The blue/chrome Super Spook has been the best lure lately. Fishing in the bays has been a little slower, but we've been catching some fish on deep grass beds. As we head into the second half of summer, I'll be keying on slightly shallower grass beds early in the morning with topwaters, then moving deeper with tails as the heat builds. Key is to find some good grass near dropoffs to deep water. We'll also start chasing the reds more and more in September. They tend to gang up on the flats and we find them tailing and making mud stirs." He's excited about a brand of rods he's been using. "They are made by Joe Meyer over at Fishing Tackle Unlimited. It's an All Pro model. I like the L1 and L2 versions. They are six-and-a-half-foot rods with an action that allows for versatility. I can throw both my soft plastics and my topwaters with these rods and get good action with both types of lures. It's nice to have that in one rod."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake has been concentrating his efforts on reefs in San Antonio Bay when the winds are light. "It's kind of fresh over there, but the fishing is good when you can get on the mid-bay reefs. Right after the rains, the fish seem to stack up on the shorelines where there is saltier water." He reports that St. Charles Bay has been fresh most of the summer, but that he might head in there in September if the salinity rises somewhat. He also intends to focus on hard sand and grass shorelines in San Antonio, Mesquite, and Aransas Bays. "Aransas is a good bay when it's windy," he remarks. Lately, soft plastics, notably Norton Sand Eels in purple and pumpkinseed/chartreuse, have produced best. The redfish should school up and migrate toward the passes in September, he says. "I'll be trying to locate the big schools of reds around the passes, especially after the middle of the month. I like Super Flats, the big flat in front of the cedars in Mesquite Bay, anywhere with large grassy flats next to a channel to the Gulf.
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
Finger mullet migrations from the bay waters to the surf zone begin in earnest with the first cold fronts of September. Large groups have already moved for short time frames throughout July, so it could be an early beginning to our fine fall fishing. Some redfish have moved into the surf as of early August, following the movement of the mullet and stray five- to eight-pound jack crevasse are showing up daily. Trout remain scarce as they have for most of this entire calendar year on both PINS and South Padre beaches. Sargassum persists in varying amounts and I think we will have it to some degree throughout the year. I am of the opinion that we might as well get used to the sargassum because it seems to be here to stay. The last 20 days of September is the peak of "Big Game Fishing Season" on PINS with large numbers of fifteen- to thirty-pound jack crevalle, bull and blacktip sharks and tarpon peaking in abundance during this time frame. Very large numbers of ladyfish are expected as are Spanish mackerel and a few Atlantic bluefish.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
Fishing has been good in Baffin Bay. Semi-clear water has appeared in various parts of the bay, but it seems to move around from one place to another. Exude RT Slugs rigged on 1/8-ounce jig heads have been working on both trout and redfish. The trout have been up to 28 inches long and most of the reds we've caught have been 22 to 27 inches long. Wadefishing has been the most productive method, but I'm still having success fishing from the boat. I've spotted some stingrays, so don't forget the Ray Guards when wading. Live bait has been best in Baffin Bay, though the water in the Laguna Madre looks better, and small topwater baits thrown early on calm mornings have produced some fair catches of trout. I've been using them over sandy potholes in about two-and-a-half feet of water. The Exude RT Slugs in colors like plum/chartreuse, pearl/chartreuse and mangrove red have been the most productive when thrown in deeper potholes lying in waters with three- to four-foot depths.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe reports excellent action on trout and reds in his area, mostly on flats and dropoffs near the intracoastal. "I've been in the Land Cut, working the edge and doing good in there. Also on both sides of the intracoastal between the Cut and Baffin. Mostly, I've been using soft plastics, my Exudes in particular. The water is pretty in lots of places, including the front of Baffin." He says he's heard of some fish coming off the Tide Gauge Bar, for instance. Redifsh are numerous in the upper part of the ULM, on both the north and the south sides of the Kennedy Causeway. "I've been finding them pretty shallow," he says. "When you can locate them shallow enough, especially on the calmer days, they can be found tailing. We are doing some wading when we find them, and are also catching some out of the boat. There should be plenty of reds moving into that area as we get into September too. Usually, they start heading up this way by the end of summer."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Redfish should be schooling in large groups on the flats on the east side of the Laguna this month, according to Bruce. "We'll be looking for the schools of reds that are staging up to the head out to the Gulf. Mostly we will concentrate on the shallows, where we will be sightcasting our fish. We'll use soft plastics, topwaters and spoons and we like to throw flies at them too." Trout will be moving around some, he says, especially if we get some relatively strong early fronts. "The trout will start moving up shallow, particularly if we get some cool nights. We'll be targeting them early on topwaters and moving off the deeper drops with the soft plastics later." The last few years, September has been a great month offshore of Port Mansfield, Bruce reports. "We normally have some incredible fishing this month from the end of the jetties to the short rigs. Tarpon, kingfish, bonita, and other species will be schooled up and feeding, creating the opportunity for some fast and furious outings."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fishing success on shallow flats is governed by three things: the wind, the tide, and traffic. Low pressure is keeping the bay full of oxygen that has been churned into the water by windier than normal conditions. Adding length to our casts and allowing the boat to drift quickly, wind is increasing our chances to limit daily on slot redfish. Also, larger schools of reds are beginning to show up east of Gas Well. Trout and reds are hitting weedless gold spoons and Gulp shrimp under maulers equally well at first light, but as the sun rises, maulers rigged super shallow are working best for both species. We've been drifting on either side of the intracoastal. The overcast and windy conditions along with a tide that is beginning to go out in the mornings are motivating fish to continue biting well into mid-day, which means we don't have to move to deeper areas for sustained action. Freddy says, "If you want to catch flounder, all you have to do is stop on the edge of one of the old gas well channels and drop a jighead with a Gulp shrimp on the bottom and bounce it."