South Padre: September 2026

I thought last summer’s big trout bite was noticeably better than average. Well, just for the record, this summer’s big trout bite has been even bigger and better. Trout do not pack their heaviest weights during summer, so we judge them by length, and we’ve been seeing some really long ones. I remember thinking last summer how good our winter trophy season would be but it didn’t happen as I expected. So, this year, I will take what we have currently happening, and to say that my clients have been landing their personal best in the middle of the summer is the absolute truth.

September is by far our wettest month. The average number of rainfall days for September is ten. Cloudy days and decreasing hours of daylight will contribute to both air and water temps beginning to dip down a bit. Fishing success always seems to improve as this change occurs after a long, hot summer.

Tides should soon return to normal from summertime lows, and could receive a boost from tropical weather developments anywhere in the gulf. If this happens and they rise higher than normal, expect our fish to spread out with the excess water in the bays. If the water doesn’t rise much above normal levels, the same areas you have been catching fish this summer will continue producing this month.

Redfish action almost always begins to improve during the fall months in and around the middle section of the Lower Laguna Madre, especially at or near the Arroyo Colorado. Currently, we’ve been noticing a few redfish schools forming in that area and several schools of mostly oversize reds staging in the ICW. A good GPS can help you locate them from the deep, and a trolling motor like Power Pole’s MOVE is an effective tool to stay on them.

When fishing the ICW, it’s best to use a heavier jighead, like Eye Strike’s 1/4-ounce Trout Eye, bounced off the bottom. I like to alternate my casts between the three- to four-foot depths along the edge of the drop-off, as well as twenty or more yards out toward the middle, and all the water in-between. I use this same technique whether wading or drifting.

Redfish diet this time of year in the Lower Laguna is mostly mullet and pinfish. Knowing this, I try to target areas with plenty of both. In general, these areas tend to be shallow in the morning with incoming tides. Experience has taught me to never underestimate how shallow a redfish can swim or crawl, sometimes with half their body exposed. I often think it's funny how bank fishermen try to throw their bait or lure as far away from the bank as they can while anglers with boats end up as shallow as their boat can go.

This time of the year, the east side sand flats will hold stable salinity levels, whereas the west side back-bay areas will often become fresher, due to land-based runoff.

We continue to have great success tricking reds on the five-inch Z-Man PaddlerZ, four-inch DieZel MinnowZ, and five-inch Big Ballerz. Good colors have been Plum/Chart, Sexy Penny, and Gold Fire in all three.

Trout fishing has been off the charts for both keeper-size and big trout. Catching scores of trout has been and will continue to be easily attainable. Like the redfish schools in the ICW, the trout can also be found there but in even bigger numbers along the drop-off. Trout like to feed in slightly off-colored water – green, slightly murky, or even brown can be productive. If we’re not somewhere along the ICW we are probably working flats holding 3-4 foot depths.

For trout in clearer water I like the Z-Man MinnowZ in Beer Run and Pearl. In murky to off-colored, I go with Sexy Penny and Redbone. I like to rig all my Z-Man baits on Eye Strike’s Texas Eye jig heads on the larger baits and the Texas Eye Finesse jig heads on the smaller models. These lures are as close to completely weedless as you can get when rigged properly. Check out the accompanying video on how to rig a Z-Man ElaZtech bait properly.

Flounder fishing has been pretty solid when targeting them along the edges of the ICW, deeper guts on the flats, and old oil field channels.

Snook fishing has been and will continue to be good on September’s two-tide days. The majority of snook spawning occurs earlier in summer, which means the fall months can be prime time for landing a heavyweight trophy.