UTERThe Texas Gulf coast fishes all year, in a clear yearly pattern: winter is big speckled trout on the mud flats and black drum in the channels, spring wakes the redfish and trout up on the shell and grass, summer brings "green to the beach" days with tarpon and kings close in, and fall is the best of it, with bull reds at the jetties in September and October, birds over trout, and the flounder run to the passes in October and November. The same pattern runs from Sabine Lake to South Padre, with the Lower Laguna Madre a few weeks ahead in the warm months and famous for winter trophy trout.
Below is the year on the two halves of the coast, the upper coast (Sabine, Galveston, Freeport and Matagorda) and the lower coast (Port O'Connor and Rockport to Port Aransas, Baffin Bay, Port Mansfield and South Padre), from the calendar Fish Scouter's forecast runs on.
Texas coast fishing calendar
| Season | Galveston & upper coast | Laguna Madre & lower coast |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | Reds in the marsh drains on low tides; big trout on East Bay mud; drum and sheepshead spawn at the jetties | Trophy trout wading on the Lower Laguna; black drum stack in the channels |
| Spring (Mar–May) | Big drum in the ship channel; flounder return; everything wakes up on the shell; trout spawn at the jetties | Black drum run peaks; reds tail on the grass; Spanish, cobia and the first tarpon |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | Green to the beach: surf trout, kings, tarpon off the jetties | Kings, tarpon, snook at the jetties; dawn trout; blue water offshore |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | Bull reds at the jetties; birds over trout; the flounder run | Bull reds spawn in the passes; trout under the birds; flounder stack at the passes |
Redfish
Galveston-area redfish spend winter in the bayou mouths and deep marsh drains of East Bay and Sabine on the low winter tides (soft plastics slow on the bottom), then sight-casting in the clear marsh lakes on calm days. In April they're back on the shorelines of West and East Galveston Bay, with shrimp under a popping cork over shell, and in May they work the marsh drains on the outgoing and the grass of Christmas Bay and Chocolate Bay on gold spoons.
Down south, Laguna Madre redfish sit in the sand pockets and potholes on warm winter afternoons, then tail on the shallow grass from Port Mansfield south as the water clears in April, and push wakes on the east-side flats in May, with topwater at first light.
The bull red run (September–October)
The big spawning reds arrive at the passes in September: the Galveston and Sabine jetties and the surf up north, and the Brazos Santiago and Mansfield jetties in the south, fishing best on the outgoing tide with cut mullet on the bottom. The run peaks in October in San Luis Pass and at the jetties, while slot reds school under birds in the bays. In November reds stack at the bayou mouths on big north-wind tides, and big schools cruise the Laguna flats after each front.
Speckled trout
Trout are the backbone of Texas bay fishing, and the calendar barely has an off month.
- Winter trophy season: on the Lower Laguna Madre, January through March is when the big sows feed on muddy, sun-warmed flats from Port Mansfield south. Wade with a slow plastic, a Corky or a slow-sink twitchbait on the warmest afternoons. In Galveston, February means wading East and West bays' mud and shell for big winter trout.
- Spring: topwater as the water climbs past 65°F, then shell reefs and drains of Galveston and Trinity bays with live shrimp under a cork.
- Spawn (May–June): Galveston trout spawn at the jetties, the wells and the reefs (croaker on a Carolina rig), and on green-to-the-beach days they feed in the Galveston surf at dawn. Laguna trout spawn on the sand-grass edges and the spoil banks along the ICW.
- Summer: first light or nothing. Fish the first two hours, then drop to the deeper guts and the wells.
- Fall: October is the month: birds over trout on the shrimp in East Bay and Trinity Bay, and on the Laguna and around the Arroyo mouth. The bird action carries into November, with slicks over the reefs.
The flounder run
TPWD describes the pattern: adult southern flounder leave the bays in fall to spawn in the Gulf, and fishing is best in the channels and passes leading to the Gulf while they're heading out. They return to the bays gradually in spring, without the big fall concentrations.
On the upper coast the fish come back through Rollover Pass, San Luis Pass and Sabine Pass in March, and work the marsh drains and shell edges in May (mud minnows on a Carolina rig). The fall run starts in October in the drains and passes on the outgoing tide after a front, and by November the fish are stacked at the Galveston jetties and Sabine Pass. On the lower coast the run builds at Brazos Santiago and the Mansfield cut in October and stacks at the passes in November.
Texas has closed flounder harvest during the fall run in recent years to protect spawning females. That makes November a catch-and-release fishery for many anglers, but the dates and limits are set each year, so check the TPWD saltwater regulations before you keep a fish.
Black drum, sheepshead and winter at the jetties
Late winter is jetty season. Big black drum spawn at the Galveston jetties and the Sabine Pass channels in February, and the run peaks in the Galveston ship channel and San Luis Pass in March. Cracked crab is the bait. Down south the big drum spawn at the Port Aransas and Brazos Santiago jetties and peak in the channels and the Packery and Mansfield passes in March. Sheepshead spawn at the Galveston and Sabine jetties in February and March; fiddler crabs or shrimp on the rocks.
Summer: tarpon, kings and snook
From June, calm days put green water on the beach, and the fishing comes close: kings on the nearshore rigs (slow-troll hardtails or ribbonfish), tarpon off the Galveston jetties on live mullet around the bait schools, with the peak in August. On the lower coast, tarpon and snook hold at the Brazos Santiago jetties in May and June, snook in South Bay and the Brownsville channel pilings at night, and offshore boats run for sails, mahi and blue marlin. Midday heat drives everything deep, so fish the dawn and the deep guts.
Reading Texas water
- Wind beats tide. Texas bays have small tides, and strong north winds behind a front can drain the marsh and the flats far below the predicted low. Those big outgoing "north-wind tides" are the best drain fishing of the year in fall and winter.
- Fronts: the first fronts of fall push bait and flounder out of the marsh. In winter, fish the warm afternoons between fronts.
- Water temperature: Fish Scouter scores redfish as ideal in 65 to 82°F water, speckled trout 62 to 78°F and flounder 60 to 75°F. When a front drops the bay through the 60s in fall, all three feed hard.
Rules
Texas Parks and Wildlife sets the seasons, slots and closures for redfish, trout, flounder and the rest, and it has changed trout and flounder rules several times in recent years. We don't print limits; check the TPWD Outdoor Annual before every season.
Fish the Texas coast with Fish Scouter
We think Fish Scouter is the best way to know what is biting on the Texas coast, because it scores the things that actually move these fish: the season stage for each species in your bay, the tide and how hard it's moving, the live water temperature, the wind, and the pressure ahead of a front. It ranks reds, trout, flounder and the rest for the hour you're fishing and scores the next seven days. Open the Galveston guide or the Laguna Madre guide, then try Fish Scouter free.