It’s Big Fish Season LOWER LAGUNA MADRE

from Texas Fish & Game September/October 2023

Summer Lingers on Bafﬁn

Reported by CAPT. BRIAN BARRERA

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER are truly some of my favorite months to sh, and it’s going to take a whole lot to get me to leave the inlet and other deep surrounding areas to chase sh on the ats. It’s big sh season, time to break out the 6,000, 8,000 and 10,000 size reals and the 100lb leader! By this time, we will be in full tarpon migration mode targeting them as much as possible when weather permits, looking for rolling sh in 20-30 of

Hotspotlight

Arroyo Colorado

THE ARROYO COLORADO IS ONE OF ONLY TWO FRESHWATER INPUTS OF THE Lower Laguna Madre, entering the bay between Port Mansﬁeld and Port Isabel.

Lower Coast

water during this warmth is where I like to start. If they’re not rolling very much, I will use my Humminbird Solix and side scan and down scan along the inlets and channel edges looking for sh throughout the water column. Early morning and late evening they may rise up to party with the sherman commi ed to 4am alarm clocks and sun up to sunset days on the water. Tarpon are usually eating everything, or nothing, which can make it very hard when the stars aren’t aligned. But truth be told it is easier to feed ‘em than it is to fool ‘em so when push comes to shove don’t be afraid to sling a nice live bait at them and hold on, you might be in for the ght of a lifetime.

When the Tarpon aren’t playing nice, there’s other silver sh hanging around at the je y’s that seem to be a bit more “ sherman friendly”.

King sh, how many guide trips have I had that have been saved by a bunch of smokin’ kings? Plenty!

is time of year, king sh are plentiful if you can nd the clear water or get a good east wind for a few days to push the blue water in. Trolling very big ra le traps, casting big silver spoons, slow rolling heavy jigs with plastics, or free-lining ribbon sh are great ways to get bit while shing for king sh. Don’t forget some steel leader and be weary of the razor sharp teeth!

It’s also never a bad idea to have a bottom rod rigged and ready to drop down for bull reds when the time is right, the red sh run tends to kick in around this time of year, so I stay prepared for big schools. Sending down a heavy drop shot style rig with a live nger mullet never fails when they’re hanging around. If your favorite is arti cial, both the red sh and tarpon absolutely love the DOA Bait Buster in root beer or glow color. Good luck on the water and stay safe!

CONTACT CAPT. BARRERA:

Email: CaptBrianBFishing@gmail.com

Online: InshoreFishingSouthPadre.com

Lower Coast Hotspots

LOCATION: Bafﬁn Bay

HOTSPOT: Badlands

GPS: N 27 18.447, W 97 25.993 (27.3075, -97.4332)

LOCATION: Bafﬁn Bay

HOTSPOT: Rocky Slough

GPS: N 27 9.903, W 97 26.716 (27.1651, -97.4453)

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Topwater artiﬁcials

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Topwaters early, looking for sand potholes with weeds around the pothole.

LOCATION: Bafﬁn Bay

HOTSPOT: Kennedy Shoreline

GPS: N 27 15.598, W 97 27.6509 (27.2600, -97.4609)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout

BEST BAITS: Live Croaker

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Fish a 30 lb. test ﬂuorocarbon leader, tied to 20 lb. Windtamer Braid line, using a #8 or #6 black swivel to attach the two lines together.

LOCATION: ICW Lower Laguna Madre

HOTSPOT: Holly Beach Area

GPS: N 26 8.518, W 97 17.6639 (26.1420, -97.2944)

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Popping cork with live shrimp or Gulp!

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Rigging the popping cork: If you’re ﬁshing with live shrimp, use an 18 inch drop and 3/0 croaker hook. With Gulp, use a 1/16 ounce jig head.

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Topwaters or soft plastics

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: In September the bigger reds move in. It’s not uncommon to encounter 20 ﬁsh at a time.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre

HOTSPOT: Marker 45 sandbar

GPS: N 26 46.1219, W 97 26.8249 (26.7687, -97.4471)

SPECIES: Speckled trout

BEST BAITS: Corkies, big topwater artiﬁcials, live croaker and live piggy perch

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Use a chatter weight on your rig. Small or big depends on how deep you are ﬁshing — knee deep, smaller; waist to chest deep, bigger.

LOCATION: Middle Ground

HOTSPOT: Century Point

GPS: N 26 38.506, W 97 26.768 (26.6418, -97.4461)

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Gold/chartreuse topwaters, red/ yellow plastics

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Drift; best dawn to midday.

LOCATION: Port Mansﬁeld

HOTSPOT: East Bay

GPS: N 26 23, W 97 17.029 (26.3833, -97.2838)

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Live Bait, Gulp! Shrimp pearl, soft plastics in pearl/red, strawberry/white, topwaters in bone, chartreuse.

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Fish topwaters in the cuts early morning, move back as the sun rises iand ﬁsh the edges. Fish soft plastics deeper on a ¼ ounce jighead.

LOCATION: Port Mansﬁeld

HOTSPOT: The Saucer

GPS: N 26 28.134, W 97 23.667 (26.4689, -97.3945)

SPECIES: Redﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Topwaters, soft plastics in LSU, Black/Chartreuse, Gold spoons.

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Tarpon will be cruising up and down the beachfront in the summer. When the wind is down and “ice cream” conditions prevail, an angler can run his boat out and watch for these silver marauders.

East Texas Hotspots

Reported by TF&G STAFF

LOCATION: Lake Bob Sandlin

HOTSPOT: Ridge Main Lake

GPS: N 33 4.208, W 95 1.149 (33.0701, -95.0192)

TIPS: Hydrilla normally forms a point at the intake, hit edges with soft plastics; best ﬁshing at dawn through the morning, and at dusk.

LOCATION: Caddo Lake

HOTSPOT: Jackson’s Arm and Alligator Bayou

GPS: N 32 43.1699, W 94 5.4359 (32.7195, -94.0906)

BEST BAITS: Pop’r, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, Bass Assassin shad

SOURCE: Richard Tatsch 936-291-1277

SPECIES: Catﬁsh

BEST BAITS: Liver, prepared bait

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Fish liver or prepared bait on Carolina rig, anchor & tightline; dawn, morning, dusk, night.

LOCATION: Brandy Branch Res.

HOTSPOT: Intake/Spillway

GPS: N 32 25.835, W 94 29.051 (32.430583, -94.484183)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass

BEST BAITS: Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and swimbaits

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas FishGame.com/FishGameGear

TIPS: Fall time is beginning this month and as the water cools the bass will begin to feed much more and school up. Any type baits listed above in light or shad colors work well. Watch for shad grouped up along the grass edges and you will ﬁnd the bass.

LOCATION: Lake Conroe

HOTSPOT: 1097 Bridge

GPS: N 30 26.226, W 95 35.508 (30.4371, -95.5918) www.ﬁshdudetx.com

TIPS: The Black Bass will begin to feed on shad in preparation for the cold weather when they will begin to selectively feed. This is good for us ﬁshermen who enjoy the top water bite. Baits like Pop’rs and buzzbaits will work good on overcast days. If you’re on the water this time of year immediately after a cold front (up to the 3rd day after) and it is at daylight or an overcast day, locate the rip rap rock around the lake and start by throwing a small single blade spinner bait at the rocks then retrieving it back at a very fast rate where the bait is waking the surface. This is a very productive and very fast way to catch a lot of ﬁsh that will attempt to pull the rod out of your hand. The next thing to try would be a Pop’r, working this bait in the same areas and alternate between the spinnerbait to determine which they want on that particular day. Another tried and true method is the Bass Assassin shad. Rig them using a barrel swivel and about a 10 inch leader to keep my line from twisting. Then depending on what you want the bait to do or how fast you want to work it will determine the hook size you use. If you want it on the surface, rig with a 2/0 or 3/0 hook. If you want it deeper, use a 5/0 hook. The way to work it is an erratic fast twitching action.