Saltwater Fishing Report

TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING REPORT

SABINE LAKE: 66 degrees. Black drum are fair on live shrimp under a popping cork on the bottom. On a calm day, black drum and bull reds are biting at the jetties. Redfish are fair on live shrimp under a popping cork.

BOLIVAR: 70 degrees. Redfish are fair on live finger mullet, fresh cut bait and squid.

TRINITY BAY: 70 degrees. Speckled trout are fair but small on live shrimp and soft plastics. Black drum are fair on live shrimp, fished on the bottom. Redfish are fair on live shrimp and soft plastics.

EAST GALVESTON BAY: 68 degrees. Bull redfish are fair at the jetties on fresh dead shad and cut mullet. Black drum are slow to fair on live shrimp.

WEST GALVESTON BAY: 68 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair on live shrimp and artificial lures.

FREEPORT: 71 degrees. Redfish are fair on live shrimp under a popping cork.

EAST MATAGORDA BAY: 73 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair on live and soft plastics in bays and in the Colorado River.

WEST MATAGORDA BAY: 73 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair on soft plastics and shrimp.

PORT O’CONNOR: 71 degrees. Speckled trout are good in the mornings on plastics and live shrimp. Large black drum and redfish are fair on sardines. Slot redfish are are fair on dead shrimp.

ROCKPORT: 70 degrees. Redfish are fair on mullet and pin perch. Black drum are fair on shrimp along the bottom around Aransas Pass.

PORT ARANSAS: 72 degrees. Bull reds are fair at the jetties on cut menhaden, cut mullet and cut sand trout. Black drum are fair on free-lined shrimp.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 73 degrees. Speckled trout are good on free-lined shrimp.

BAFFIN BAY: 72 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair on live shrimp under a popping cork.

PORT MANSFIELD: 65-75 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair in the potholes on willow tails.

SOUTH PADRE: 76 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair to good during warm fronts on soft plastics, then fair when water temperatures drop in the Intracoastal canal.

PORT ISABEL: 76 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair to good during warm fronts on soft plastics, then fair when water temperatures drop in the Intracoastal canal.

—TPWD

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MISSOURI College students take $1 million fishing prize

Logan Parks, 23, and Tucker Smith, 20, fishing buddies and Auburn University students from Shoal Creek, Alabama, claimed the $1 million first-place prize at the Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships on Table Rock Lake.

Logan and Tucker bested a field of 350 teams in the three-day event, hauling in five fish for a Sunday-best 16.41 pounds. In addition to the $1 million, both Logan and Tucker were awarded a new truck and bass boat. —Bass Pro Shops

Deer harvest numbers up slightly

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation showed that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 187,967 deer during the November portion of firearms deer season, Nov. 13-23. Of the 187,967 deer harvested, 101,501 were antlered bucks, 16,435 were button bucks, and 70,031 were does.

Last year hunters checked 177,769 deer during the November portion of firearms deer season.

—MDC

WASHINGTON, D.C. Wind projects and coastal fishing

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and affected coastal states, is developing guidance to mitigate potential impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries.

BOEM has issued a Request for Information in order to collect knowledge from people and organizations who know and use the areas that could be affected.

As part of this process, BOEM is hosting a series of two-hour virtual fisheries mitigation scoping dialogues in December. The Gulf of Mexico Workshop is being held on Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to noon CST. The workshops are intended primarily for commercial and recreational fishermen, but are also open to the public.

—BOEM

OKLAHOMA Proposals allow keeping smaller bass

The Wildlife Department’s Fisheries Division proposed a rule change that would allow anglers to keep smaller, more abundant largemouth and smallmouth bass. The proposal aims to remove the 14-inch minimum length limit from lakes and reservoirs, and would allow anglers to keep only one bass greater than 16 inches daily. If approved, biologists anticipate a positive impact on the overall quality of Oklahoma’s black bass populations.

WISCONSIN Deer rifle harvest dips

Hunters registered 175,667 deer during the state’s 9-day deer gun hunt, including 84,952 antlered and 90,715 antlerless deer. Since archery seasons opened Sept. 18, hunters have registered 270,046 deer statewide.

Compared to 2020, the total firearm deer harvest was down 7.9 percent statewide, with buck harvest down 1.3 percent and antlerless harvest down 13.2 percent.

Sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached 808,224, down 1.5 percent from last year.

WYOMING Eagle Claw to build Cheyenne plant

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced Wright & McGill Company, the owner of Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle, has purchased 60 acres in Cheyenne to build a new manufacturing plant.

“Growing up fishing here in Wyoming, some of my first fishing tackle was Eagle Claw,” Gordon said. “Having them locate in Wyoming is like a boyhood dream coming true.”

The company, based in Denver, Colorado, plans to add to its manufacturing capabilities by building the facility. —Gov. Mark Gordon

LLM specks

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Grass beds with sand pockets in about 2 feet of water have been producing well for Mahl, who said the amount of bait in the estuary is incredible.

“The Gas Well Flats area and Long Bar have been holding plenty of fish,” he said. “When the top-water bite dies, soft plastics rigged under a popping cork have been doing the trick. The fish are staging along slight drop-offs waiting to ambush baitfish as the tide moves, and that’s where you want to focus your efforts. And anywhere there are seagulls rafted up and sitting on the water is also likely to be concentrating both trout and redfish.”

In Port Mansfield, Capt. Joseph Prado said he’s seeing speckled trout of all sizes in a lot of areas along the Lower Laguna Madre.

“We’ve been catching our fair share of solid specks, but I’m also seeing a bunch of small undersized trout, some as little as 8 to 10 inches,” Prado said. “Seeing these small fish is encouraging, as far as the future is concerned.”

Prado has been catching and releasing plenty of trout from 4 to 7 pounds while wade-fishing in thigh- to waist-deep water.

“A lot of what’s been going on lately has to do with the weather,” he said “We’ve had some really great stretches of mild weather, and it seems like the bigger trout tend to be feeding more on the cooler days right now.”

According to Prado, the redfish have been thick in most areas right alongside the trout.

“There’s a ton of redfish to be caught,” he said. “They’re seemingly everywhere.”

Top-water lures and subsurface mullet imitation twitch baits have produced the most success.

“Just a few months ago, you could fish in the same areas that we are catching trout in right now and not catch a single one,” Prado said.

The staff at Getaway Lodge in Port Mansfield are reporting consistent action for both trout and redfish. They have been seeing a lot of specks from 18-24 inches being caught on soft plastics, as well as plenty of slot-sized redfish on top-waters over grass flats with potholes.

Baffin Bay guide Capt. Dom Lopez said when he’s been drift-fishing from his boat, he’s been focusing on areas near rocks in 2-3 feet of water for trout, and deeper, muddy potholes for reds. Live shrimp rigged under a popping cork has been his go-to bait presentation.

“The trout bite has really been on fire recently,” Lopez said. “We’ve had a few days where three or four guys can catch anywhere from 50-100 specks in a day when they’re feeding good. Most of these fish have been in the 16- to 22-inch range, with an occasional 24 incher mixed in.”

While wade-fishing, Lopez said both soft plastics and slow-sinking mullet imitation plugs have been producing a lot of strikes over stretches with mud and grass beds.

“The key has been targeting the stretches of water that have the most baitfish,” he said. “If you’re on the bait, there’s going to be predatory fish nearby.”