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TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING REPORT SABINE LAKE: 65 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair to good on soft plastic tails and jigs. Flounder are good in the ship channel on mud minnows and scented plastics. BOLIVAR: 69 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair to good in the surf on shrimp. Black drum are good on crab. Flounder are good at Rollover Pass or near the rocks on mud minnows. TRINITY BAY: 66 degrees. Speckled trout are fair to good on live shrimp under a popping cork and soft plastics. Redfish are good in the marsh on live mullet, soft plastics and topwaters. Flounder are good on mullet. EAST GALVESTON BAY: 62 degrees. Speckled trout are good on shrimp and mullet around the reefs and under the birds. Redfish are good in the marsh on shrimp. WEST GALVESTON BAY: 66 degrees. Speckled trout are good on shrimp, top-waters and soft plastics. Redfish and flounder are good over shell reefs on shrimp under a popping cork. TEXAS CITY: 64 degrees. Redfish and flounder are good at San Luis Pass on shrimp and cut shad. Speckled trout are good under the birds in the afternoon over shell on shrimp and soft plastics.
FREEPORT: 71 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are good in Bastrop Bay on fresh-cut mullet and shrimp. Black drum are good on live shrimp around the reefs. Flounder are good along the drains on mullet or mud minnows. EAST MATAGORDA BAY: 71 degrees. Speckled trout are good on live shrimp under popping corks and soft plastics. Redfish are very good on soft plastics and live shrimp. Flounder are good on mud minnows. WEST MATAGORDA BAY: 71 degrees. Speckled trout are good on live shrimp under popping corks and soft plastics. Redfish are good in the
December 11, 2020
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Good-sized specks
marsh on live mullet, soft plastics, and topwaters. Flounder are good on mullet. PORT O’CONNOR: 71 degrees. Speckled trout are very good on shrimp or crab in the shallow sand bars. Redfish are good in back bays on live shrimp. Flounder are fair on mullet. ROCKPORT: 69 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are good on shrimp under a popping cork and mullet. PORT ARANSAS: 72 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are good on cut mullet and shrimp in bays and along shorelines.. Black drum are good on crab around vegetation or structure. Flounder are good on mullet around rocks.
CORPUS CHRISTI: 72 degrees. Speckled trout are good on the flats on shrimp under popping corks and cut mullet. Flounder are good around the docks and channel edges on mullet. Black drum are good on crab and shrimp late in the afternoon. BAFFIN BAY: 66 degrees. Redfish are excellent in the flats on top-waters and live bait. Flounder are good on jigs and mud minnows. Speckled trout are fair on mullet-imitation lures. PORT MANSFIELD: 76 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair on the flats in deeper water on soft plastics. SOUTH PADRE: 74 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair to good on shrimp and mullet. PORT ISABEL: 74 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are good on shrimp around shallow flats. Flounder are good on mullet. Black drum are good on crab and shrimp.
—TPWD
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his success by chunking soft plastics and working them slowly along the bottom. Upper Laguna Madre angler James Sanchez said after water temperatures dropped at the beginning of the month, most of the trout were staging in waist- to belly button-deep water in drop-offs adjacent to shorelines and seagrass flats. “I’ve been focusing on areas with plenty of mullet or where I find pelicans or ospreys feeding,” Sanchez explained. “The largest trout that I’ve seen caught recently, including one that measured 28 inches and weighed 7 pounds, have been concentrating in thigh-deep seagrass beds with muddy potholes.” Sanchez has been throwing soft plastics and Paul Brown Fat Boys to coax the trout into striking. In Port O’Connor, Corey Almaguer said trout have begun pulling off of the shorelines in reaction to the most recent cold spell. “We have been using this pattern to our advantage to target trout,” he said. “Soft plastics and slow-sinking twitch baits have been working well. There’s been a lot of solid specks in the 3.5- to 5-pound range caught, and a few closer to 6 and 7 pounds.”
Made i n U SA
C.A.L. 5” Swim Bait C.A.L. 3” Shad Tail
C.A.L. 4” Shad Tail C.A.L. 4” Jerk Bait C.A.L. 5.5” Jerk Bait C.A.L. Curl Tail C.A.L. Paddle Tail
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Catfish turn on Continued from page 8
is improving every day as things begin to really cool off. “We’ve got catfish all over the lake right now,” he said. “Trophysized catfish have been hanging out in 20 to 50 foot depths, while the eating-sized fish have been concentrating anywhere from 5 to 20 feet.” Cut shad has been his bait of choice lately. “When targeting large catfish, I’ll use a much bigger chunk of bait than I would if I were just trying to catch a bunch of smaller ones,” Pennebaker explained. “The schools of smaller catfish in shallower water have been in the 2- to 8-pound range, and the fish out deeper have been tipping the scales to 50 pounds or more.” On Lake Conroe, guide Darrell Taylor said the cooler weather has gotten the catfish going. “Most of my trips have been focused on catching numbers of Tammy Cummings, left, caught this 52-pound catfish while fishing eating-sized catfish for my custom- on Lake Tawakoni. Photo from Tony Pennebaker. ers,” he said. “We’ve been averaging keepers in the 2- to 3-pound range, with quite a few 4 and 5 pounders mixed in.” The catfish have been concentrating in a variety of depths, and Taylor’s preferred range lately has been 20-26 feet deep, right along the edge of the creek channel. Punch bait has been his go-to offering, and he’s been landing a good mix of both blue and channel cats. Taylor said the largest catfish that he’s seen caught recently was landed by angler, Suriwan Ainsworth. “The blue cat weighed in at 18 pounds, and it put up a sporting fight for her on light tackle,” Taylor said. Catfish guide Jason Barton has been splitting his time on both Lake Belton and Lake Waco, where he said fall patterns are finally starting to set in. “The recent cold fronts have really put the big fish into feeding mode,” Barton said. “We’ve been catching quite a few yellow cats lately, mixed in with the blues. We don’t usually land as many yellows as we have been during the month of December, but everything seems to be running a little late this year.” Barton’s anglers have been landing a lot of fish in the 15- to 45-pound range in water depths ranging from 5 to 15 feet. Fresh cut shad and live shad have been producing the most bites.
w w w. d o a l u r e s . c o m 2/17/20 3:37 PM
