Redfish fishing in South Padre & Corpus Christi

In South Padre & Corpus Christi, redfish peak April–May and September–November and are around year-round, spawning in September–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: Tailing on the shallow grass from Port Mansfield south as the water clears; wade and sight-cast.

1. JanuaryAroundSand pockets and potholes on the Lower Laguna flats on the warm afternoons; slow a gold spoon or a shrimp tail.
2. FebruaryAroundBig trout on the mud; black drum stack in the channels. Big sows on sun-warmed mud; spawning drum and sheepshead at Port Aransas and Brazos Santiago.
3. MarchAroundBlack drum run, big trout, the first pompano. Cracked crab in the ship channels for big drum; sand fleas for pompano in the Padre surf.
4. AprilPeakTailing on the shallow grass from Port Mansfield south as the water clears; wade and sight-cast.
5. MayPeakSchools pushing wakes on the east-side flats of the Laguna; topwater at first light.
6. JuneAround
7. JulyAroundDawn trout, tarpon off the jetties, blue water offshore. Fish the first two hours; tarpon on calm green days; offshore for sails, mahi and blue marlin.
8. AugustAroundPeak heat: tarpon, bull jacks and early bull reds. Jetties and passes at dawn; deep guts and the ICW edges at midday.
9. SeptemberSpawningBull reds stack on the Brazos Santiago and Mansfield jetties to spawn on the outgoing tide — cut mullet on the bottom.
10. OctoberSpawningBulls in the passes and the surf; schooling slot fish on the flats as the first front cools the bay.
11. NovemberPeakBig schools on the Laguna flats after each front; follow the mud and the birds.
12. DecemberAroundWinter sets in: deep guts, big trout on the warm days. Slow plastics in the guts and channels; mud flats on the warm afternoons between fronts.

The Laguna Madre — the hypersaline, gin-clear lagoon behind Padre Island — plus Baffin Bay's rock reefs, the Aransas and Corpus Christi bays, the Land Cut, and passes at Port Aransas, Packery, Port Mansfield and Brazos Santiago. Wade-fishing country; the Gulf beaches of Padre run 100 miles.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · The Lower Texas Coast, the whole year