HotSPOTLight: UPPER TEXAS COAST

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LOCATION: Christmas/Bastrop Bay
HOTSPOT: Bastrop Bay Shell
GPS: N 29 6.373, W 95 10.447
(29.1062, -95.1741)

SPECIES: Redfish
BEST BAITS: Spoons, topwaters, mullet
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Gold spoons, plastics, Corkies, mullet.

LOCATION: Galveston Bay
HOTSPOT: April Fool Reef
GPS: N 29 29.077, W 94 54.773
(29.4846 -94.9129)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Live shrimp, finger mullet, work top and reef edges
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Live shrimp, finger mullet, work top and reef edges; dawn through morning, dusk through night.

LOCATION: Galveston Bay
HOTSPOT: Pine Gully Fishing Pier
GPS: N 29 35.348, W 94 59.389
(29.5891 -94.9898)

SPECIES: Redfish
BEST BAITS: Shrimp, finger mullet
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Live shrimp, finger mullet, work pilings and shady area; avoid midday.

LOCATION: Galveston East Bay
HOTSPOT: Deep Reef
GPS: N 29 30.802, W 94 40.581
(29.5134 -94.6764)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Soft plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Let soft plastics hit bottom, medium up & down retrieve; dawn through dusk.

LOCATION: Galveston East Bay
HOTSPOT: Moody’s Shoreline
GPS: N 29 32.861, W 94 38.589
(29.5477 -94.6432)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Bass Assassins
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Work shallows around pier pilings; dawn through dusk.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity Bay
HOTSPOT: Jack’s Pocket
GPS: N 29 44.077, W 94 45.852
(29.7346 -94.7642)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Soft plastics, silver spoons
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Drift, look for mudboils; dawn through midday, dusk.

LOCATION: Galveston West Bay
HOTSPOT: Carancahua Reef
GPS: N 29 12.694, W 94 59.788
(29.2116 -94.9965)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Soft plastics, live bait
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Watch for birds, drift while working entire reef, freeline; dawn through morn, dusk.

LOCATION: Galveston West Bay
HOTSPOT: Chocolate Bayou
GPS: N 29 11.622, W 95 9.948
(29.1937 -95.1658)

SPECIES: Redfish
BEST BAITS: Topwaters, shrimp
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Use topwaters early, other times use shrimp with cork; dawn through morning, afternoon-dusk.

LOCATION: Matagorda East Bay
HOTSPOT: Boggy Cut
GPS: N 28 44.043, W 95 49.658
(28.7341 -95.8276)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Shrimp
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Fish cut edges with moving tide, using shrimp under popping cork; morning-afternoon.

LOCATION: Matagorda West Bay
HOTSPOT: Culver’s Cut
GPS: N 28 39.349, W 96 0.509
(28.6558, -96.0085)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Mud minnows
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Anchor or wade and drag the bottom; dawn-morning, dusk-night.

LOCATION: Matagorda West Bay
HOTSPOT: Gold Bayou
GPS: N 28 35.328, W 96 2.286
(28.5888 -96.0381)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Soft plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Fish small plastics in a translucent color; early morning to noon.

LOCATION: Sabine Lake
HOTSPOT: Bridge Bayou
GPS: N 29 54.199, W 93 46.408
(29.9033 -93.7735)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Shad, mud minnows, soft plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Best on moving tides, use hook set count.

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HotSPOTLight: MIDDLE TEXAS COAST

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LOCATION: Aransas Bay
HOTSPOT: St. Joseph Island
GPS: N 28 0.7285, W 96 58.365
(28.0121 -96.9728)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Live croaker
SOURCE: Capt. Jack McPartland
361-290-6302
TIPS: Hook the croaker under the backbone and towards the back of the fish. You don’t want to hit the backbone, and if you hook toward the tail you won’t hit any vital organs.

LOCATION: Aransas Bay
HOTSPOT: Traylor Island
GPS: N 27 56.688, W 97 4.4639
(27.9448 -97.0744)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Touts or live bait
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Fishing is good everywhere for reds, trout, whatever you want to fish for.

LOCATION: Carlos Bay
HOTSPOT: Carlos Reef
GPS: N 28 6.8099, W 96 54.2029
(28.1135 -96.9034)

SPECIES: Speckled trout and redfish
BEST BAITS: Soft Plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Artificial soft plastics will work in whatever color your prefer, whether wading or drifting.

LOCATION: Copano Bay
HOTSPOT: Lone Tree Reef
GPS: N 28 4.474, W 97 6.862
(28.0746 -97.1144)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Live croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Drift and work the tops and edges of the reef; dawn through midday, dusk.

LOCATION: Corpus Christi Bay
HOTSPOT: Shamrock Island
GPS: N 27 45.9679, W 97 9.7829
(27.7661 -97.1631)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Live croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: You twitch the croaker to make it grunt and to keep it from burrowing down in the grass.

LOCATION: Espirito Santo Bay
HOTSPOT: Contee Lake
GPS: N 28 17.779, W 96 33.157
(28.2963 -96.5526)

SPECIES: Redfish
BEST BAITS: Live croaker, crab
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Anchor or wade along grass beds; this location is good all day.

LOCATION: Espirito Santo Bay
HOTSPOT: Josephine Reef
GPS: N 28 20.055, W 96 31.423
(28.3343 -96.5237)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Live croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Anchor on reef edge and freeline croaker on the top; dawn through afternoon.

LOCATION: Port O’Connor
HOTSPOT: Army Cut
GPS: N 28 25.212, W 96 19.544
(28.4202, -96.3257)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Live Shrimp, Croakers
SOURCE: Capt. Benny Judice
713-817-2471
TIPS: Free line live shrimp, drifting down real slow, allowing the live shrimp to swim around.

LOCATION: Redfish Bay
HOTSPOT: Dagger Islands
GPS: N 27 50.1019, W 97 10.2659
(27.8350 -97.1711)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Live croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Pop the croaker a little bit with rod tip every 30-40 seconds. Do it with your wrist, not your arm.

LOCATION: Rockport
HOTSPOT: Spalding Reef
GPS: N 28 6.2689, W 96 54.4709
(28.1045 -96.9079)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Corkies or Soft Plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
FishGame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Not all structure is visible above the water. Using your sonar locate well pads that the superstructure has been removed from.

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HotSPOTLight: LOWER TEXAS COAST

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LOCATION: Arroyo City
HOTSPOT: The Saucer
GPS: N 26 28.134, W 97 23.677
(26.4689 -97.3946)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Look for long, thin grass sticking up out of the water. The females when they lay their eggs, the eggs usually stick on that long grass.

LOCATION: Arroyo Colorado
HOTSPOT: Fishing Shack N of Arroyo
GPS: N 26 23.932, W 97 20.591
(26.3989 -97.3432)

SPECIES: Flounder
BEST BAITS: Mud minnows
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Fish mud minnows with a slip shot rig, work the shack structure; dawn through midday.

LOCATION: Arroyo Colorado
HOTSPOT: West of Green Island
GPS: N 26 23.31, W 97 19.876
(26.3885 -97.3313)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Live bait, soft plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Drift potholes between island & spoils, cast into potholes; dawn, dusk, night.

LOCATION: Baffin Bay
HOTSPOT: Laguna Rocks
GPS: N 27 16.599, W 97 25.003
(27.2767 -97.4167)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Live shrimp
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Anchor upwind of rocks, cast to the edge; morning, dusk.

LOCATION: Baffin Bay
HOTSPOT: Los Coralles
GPS: N 27 14.869, W 97 30.22
(27.2478 -97.5037)

SPECIES: Speckled trout
BEST BAITS: Corky Fat Boy
SOURCE: Capt. Tommy Countz
281-450-4037
TIPS: Chartreuse Fat Boys also work quite well.

LOCATION: Baffin Bay
HOTSPOT: The Meadows Central
GPS: N 27 17.567, W 97 24.089
(27.2928, -97.4015)

SPECIES: Redfish
BEST BAITS: Shrimp, croaker
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Freeline shrimp with pop-n cork, freeline croakers; dawn.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre
HOTSPOT: Holly Beach
GPS: N 26 8.392, W 97 17.257
(26.1399, -97.2876)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Topwaters, soft plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Fish topwaters early, Firetiger plastics later in the day, best after cold front, drift; dawn, afternoon.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre
HOTSPOT: Islands at Holly Beach
GPS: N 26 8.839, W 97 16.377
(26.1473, -97.2730)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Shrimp
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Drift live shrimp under cork, best after a cold front; dawn, midday, dusk.

LOCATION: Port Mansfield
HOTSPOT: Sand Bar N of Bennie’s Shack
GPS: N 26 29.85, W 97 23.5
(26.4975, -97.3917)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout
BEST BAITS: Topwaters, plastics
SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
Fishgame.com/fishgamegear
TIPS: Cast onto the sand and retrieve across the grass; dawn through morning.

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