UTERJanuary
Low winter tides: reds in the drains, big trout on the mud
Bayou mouths on the falling tide; slow-sink twitchbaits for big trout on warm afternoons.
Matagorda to Sabine Pass
Galveston Bay & Sabine Lake fishing
What's biting in Galveston Bay & Sabine Lake in October: pompano, redfish and spotted seatrout at their peak, with tarpon, cobia and king mackerel around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 32 fish here month by month, from Matagorda to Port Arthur.
Birds over trout; the bull red run peaks
Galveston Bay's East, West, Trinity and Christmas bays, Matagorda's East and West bays and Sabine Lake — shell reefs, mud flats, marsh drains and bayous behind barrier islands — with jetties at Galveston, Freeport and Sabine Pass, and a ring of oil and gas platforms just offshore.
MatagordaFreeportGalvestonKemahAnahuacHigh IslandPort Arthur
Updated
Now · October
Birds over trout; the bull red run peaks
Follow the gulls over shrimp in East and Trinity bays; drag mud minnows at the drains.
Spotted seatroutRedfishFlounderBlack drumPompano
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Pompano
Fall fish in the surf and at San Luis Pass.
Redfish
The bull run peaks in San Luis Pass and the jetties; birds over slot reds in the bays.
Spotted seatrout
Birds over trout on the shrimp in East Bay and Trinity Bay — the best month to find fish.
Flounder
The fall run starts: drains and passes on the outgoing tide after a front.
Whiting
Fall fish in the surf.
Wahoo
Wahoo on the floaters.
Blackfin tuna
Tarpon
The last fish leave with the first real front.
Cobia
King mackerel
Spanish mackerel
The last of them before the fronts.
Tripletail
Jack crevalle
Ladyfish
Blue marlin
Blacktip shark
Bull shark
Bonnethead shark
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Atlantic croaker
Atlantic cutlassfish (ribbonfish)
Gafftopsail catfish
Sheepshead
Mangrove snapper
Black drum
Sand seatrout
Red snapper
Greater amberjack
Yellowfin tuna
Little tunny (bonito)
Gray triggerfish
The water
The tide here
Diurnal, 1–2 ft
One high and one low most days and a small range — wind and fronts move more water than the moon. A moving tide matters twice as much here. Strong north winds blow the bays out after a front; south winds stack water into the marsh.
Structure that matters
Oyster barGrass flatChannel edgePass / inletBeach / surfFishing pierBridgeDock / pilingsArtificial reefWreck
After a cold front
North winds after a front drain the marsh: reds and trout pile into the bayou mouths, deep channels and the ship channel. Big winter trout come out onto the mud in East Bay on the warm, calm afternoons that follow.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Wade East Bay for big trout; drum and sheepshead spawn
Mud and shell in East and West bays; cracked crab for big drum at the jetties.
March
Big drum in the ship channel; trout on the reefs
Drum at the Galveston jetties and San Luis Pass; flounder come back through the passes.
April
Everything wakes up on the shell
Shrimp under a cork over shell reefs; whiting and pompano in the surf.
May
Spawning trout at the jetties and wells
Croaker on a Carolina rig at the jetties and bay wells; cobia on the buoys.
June
Green to the beach: surf trout, kings on the rigs, first tarpon
Wade the Galveston surf at dawn on calm days; slow-troll hardtails on the nearshore rigs.
July
Tarpon off the jetties; snapper and kings offshore
Drift live mullet around the bait schools off the jetties; red snapper on the rigs when open.
August
Peak tarpon; trout early, deep at midday
First light or nothing in the bays; tarpon off the beaches.
September
Bull reds at the jetties; flounder start moving
Cut mullet at the Galveston and Sabine jetties; first fronts move bait out of the marsh.
October · now
Birds over trout; the bull red run peaks
Follow the gulls over shrimp in East and Trinity bays; drag mud minnows at the drains.
November
Flounder run (catch and release); marsh drains
Flounder stacked at the passes — harvest closed for the run, check TPWD; reds at the drains on north winds.
December
Winter marsh: clear water, schooled reds
Sight-cast reds in the clear marsh lakes on calm days; trout in the deep bayous.
Fish guides for Galveston Bay & Sabine Lake
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAtlantic croakerAtlantic cutlassfish (ribbonfish)Atlantic sharpnose sharkBlack drumBlackfin tunaBlacktip sharkBlue marlinBonnethead sharkBull sharkCobiaFlounderGafftopsail catfishGray triggerfishGreater amberjackJack crevalleKing mackerelLadyfishLittle tunny (bonito)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)Mangrove snapperPompanoRed snapperRedfishSand seatroutSheepsheadSpanish mackerelSpotted seatroutTarponTripletailWahooWhitingYellowfin tuna
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