South Padre: April 2024

April is a love-hate month for me. I love that trout will begin spawning this month, and right before the first spawning event they will attain their heaviest weights of the year. If you are lucky to land a mature roe-laden female that just happens to have swallowed a large mullet, she could have potential to become your career-best specimen. On the other hand, I hate that we could receive days on end of thirty-plus southerly wind that can turn our normally pristine waters the color of chocolate milk.

Back to the love side of April; if you have high hopes for that career best fish, like I said, this could be the month to achieve it. Many things in nature must align, though, including being in the right place at the right time.

The moon, the tides, and water temperature all play important roles in triggering that first spawning event. Nature programs them to begin spawning toward dusk, mostly during full and new moon cycles, when strong tidal currents help disperse their fertile eggs to favorable habitat for newly hatched larvae to thrive. Naturally then, evening incoming tides become optimal periods to fool a giant female spawner. Remember that these big trout may not feed every day, so plan on spending lots of time on the water, and don't count your casts because you may surpass your arithmetic capabilities.

This past winter’s trophy trout season was the slowest I have experienced in quite a while. Plummeting temperatures during January’s cold snap definitely interrupted their patterns. We saw more big trout before that cold spell than we did afterward. I'm not saying the cold weather killed them, but it certainly caused them to relocate away from traditional wintertime staging areas. Tides levels will increase significantly this month and I'm hoping these trophy fish will respond by again staging in traditional springtime habitat. Good news for the future is the incredible numbers of smaller trout out there; and with the new regulations, look for the fishery to thrive and rebound quickly to its former world-class level.

Z-Man has a new bait called the Mulletron LT, which I recommend trying when fishing for trout in deeper water or areas with less grass. It's basically a swimbait with a very lively tail that requires very little twitching to impart lifelike swimming action. If you haven’t seen it at your local tackle shop, go to ZManFishing.com.

Redfish numbers remain steady and keep us busy even when the trout bite is off. Great structure to target has been potholes on grassy flats. Targeting water color changes has also been very productive. Color changes often signal changes in bottom contour, and also occur along edges where bottom grasses become suddenly thicker or more scattered. Redfish will hang around the color change to camouflage their presence and intercept unsuspecting prey.

During springtime, shrimp, crabs, and other small forage are high on the redfish menu. I recommend Z-Man's natural-looking baits such as the 3-inch MinnowZ in Redbone color, and also the scented Paddlerz in Beer Run. The Kicker CrabZ is another must-have, especially when most of the forage is smaller during spring.

Redfish tailing action is another possibility when small shrimp are plentiful and the wind really picks up in late afternoon. Quite often you will see redfish tails wagging above the surface amid swarms of swooping seagulls. If you want to catch more than one redfish out of a pod or school, try throwing on the outside of the activity and swiftly but quietly wrangle the fish away from the rest to avoid spooking them. Water clarity may not be great during April but redfish are good at locating lures that make noise or vibrate in the water.

In closing, I will say that April can be a month for outstanding angling accomplishments if you can land that personal best trout. By the same token, however, it can also be a month filled with frustration as winds can blow 30-plus or higher for many days in a row. With heavy winds, finding fishable water will be a task.

In the past, a technique that helped us turn a windy day into a successful one was fishing in late afternoon. When the bays got empty of boat traffic, the seagulls worked over tailing redfish, and trout were in the mix. The harder the wind blew, the more the birds worked over fish. This goes to show that you can sometimes use the wind to your advantage. Windy or not, I wish you the best fishing and luck finding that trout of a lifetime.