Springtime bite begins

Upper coast trout, reds and more

By Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News

Springtime patterns are gaining momentum from East Matagorda Bay to Sabine Lake and everywhere in between. Speckled trout and redfish are feeding in a variety of areas, both shallow and deep, and black drum and sheepshead are providing rod-bending action. With plenty of options, anglers have been able to decide where they will fish and what species they will target, according to the prevailing weather

East Matagorda Bay angler Chris McKinley has been finding trout and reds while wade -fishing and drift-fishing in a variety of loca-

“I’ve been catching a lot of trout in the 20inch range, with a few stretching to 25 inches lately,” McKinley said. “The bigger trout have been feeding along shallow, thigh-deep flats near main bay shorelines in areas where there are a lot of baitfish. Top-water plugs, soft plastics, and slow-sinking twitch baits have all been producing strikes.”

McKinley said the best action has occurred during the peak feed times as indicated on sol“A couple of my best wade-fishing trips have taken place in the middle of the night during a major feed period,” he said. “There have been a ton of sand eels showing up in the shallows during the nighttime hours, and the fish have been gorging themselves on them.”

Open water stretches of scattered oyster shell across East Matagorda have also been holding “There’s a lot of fish in the middle of the bay right now, you just have to have the right weather to be able to target them,” McKinley explained. “Slot redfish have been feeding in just about every place I’ve been finding trout

Capt. Billy Penick has been finding a steady bite for both redfish and trout near Baytown, upstream across the satellite bays off of the San Jacinto River. He’s also been catching good numbers of fish along upper Galveston Bay near Sylvan Beach.

“Areas with harder, sandy bottoms and heavy shell in 3 to 5 feet of water have been the ticket lately,” Penick said. “You’ve got to be in close prox imity to oyster shell or you’re not going to get a bite.”

Live shrimp rigged under a popping cork has been working best.

“There’s also hoards of sheepshead hanging tight to the rocks along the edges of the Houston Ship Channel near Baytown,” Penick said. “You can catch all of the sheepshead you want right now on live shrimp fished tight to the rocks.”

Photo by Nate Skinner

Ross Battistoni found limits of trout and redfish recently along sand flats with scattered shell on the north end of the Galveston Bay Complex in Burnett Bay. Slow-sinking twitch baits and soft plastics produced the most hook-ups.

Capt. Ryan Battistoni has been keeping his anglers hooked up in various places across the Galveston Bay Complex.

“Spoil islands and shell humps in Chocolate Bay have been holding plenty of redfish, both slot-sized and undersized, lately,” he said. “The bigger reds have been staging right along the edges of shallow oyster reefs near the channel.”

Speckled trout from 15 to 18 inches have been mixed in.

“There have been some sheepshead and black drum around this shell as well,” Battistoni said. “Live shrimp under a popping cork has been producing steady action.”

Battistoni also has been catching some solid trout along the south jetty leading into Galveston Bay.

“Free-lined live shrimp casted parallel to the rocks has been working well to fool trout from 16 to 24 inches along the granite,” Battistoni said. “There’s also plenty of sheepshead feeding along the jetty rocks as well, and most of them are pretty large.”

Folks fishing from the rocks along the Texas City Dike are catching plenty of black drum, most of which are oversized. Cut bait and chunks of fresh crab have been the best bait options, and the most consistent action has been occurring during periods of tidal movement. When the tide goes slack, the bite tapers off quickly.

South of Sabine Lake, Capt. Chris Phillips has been catching solid specks and redfish along drop-offs and shell humps on the edges of the Sabine Pass Channel.

“The fish have been hitting both live shrimp and soft plastics fished under a cork,” Phillips said. “There have been some bull reds in the mix as well, and it seems like the springtime bite is really starting to get underway.”