Aransas Bay-Upper Laguna Madre
Reported by CAPT. RICHARD THOMPSON
Deep in the Heat of Texas
LISTEN: (3 Min, 59 Sec)
SUMMER IS HERE and we are feeling it as the temperature and heat index are brutal. It is no surprise to us down here in South Texas. Being prepared for this type of harsh environment allows you to manage through these dog days of Summer on the water. With that said, wade fishing is a must for us, almost like jumping in a cool pool after mowing the lawn.
Our strategy during the summer months is leaving the dock early before sunrise so we can be at our spot as the sun is coming up. After doing this thousands of times, it still gets my adrenaline pumping as we prepare ourselves to slide into the water anticipating that first massive top water blow up.
Typically, our first stop of the day is on some type of flat that we know has been holding a lot of bait. These fish are cruising the flats looking for that first meal of the day (South Texas breakfast taco) haha! Our early morning arsenal is top waters, Mansfield Knocker, with j hooks, allows us to fish areas that typically have floating grass here in the Upper Laguna Madre. It allows the grass to shed off the j hooks unlike the treble hooks. You will definitely have a few miss hook ups with the j hook but being able to work a top water on these flats will pay off tremendously.
We are also still throwing our soft plastics early as well but utilizing lighter lead heads, 1/16 oz Salty Head and or a weedless style. This allows you to keep the lure moving through the tighter water column without hanging up on the grass on the bottom. One of our favorite baits lately has been the 6” Coastal Brew Baits, Nuke Juice, as they have been producing larger solid Trout and it gives you an opportunity to catch your PB with this larger profile lure.
As the water temperature climbs the Trout and Redfish will slide off the flats and head to the ledges as they position themselves to ambush the bait coming off the flats. This can be no less than 1 ft to 3 ft drop in depth. During the major or minors after the temperature rises, we definitely are keeping an eye out for slicks and nervous bait. Depending on the type of customers I have, we also do a lot of drift fishing, and our strategy is consistent and very similar to our wade fishing techniques.
One of our favorite locations we key on is the East shoreline of the Upper Laguna Madre from Bird Island to the Meadows. This area has an abundance of flats with distinct drop offs from 3-4 ft in some areas. The Redfish, Black Drum, and Trout use this ledge as a highway and are always on the move. We also fish the spoils off the Intracoastal in this same area which has an obviously quite deeper drop off with the Intracoastal being nearby.
Something that is really fun for novice fishermen, is targeting the huge schools of Black Drum this time of year. In my opinion, Black Drum doesn’t get the recognition as it deserves being a sport fish. They fight as hard as a Redfish and are pretty darn tasty to boot. With the new Trout regulations this year, this will be a species we will be targeting.
I want to recommend that you plan your day around the major and minor feed times and as these times arrive you are positioned in an area with good water and bait as you will see an increase in your successful harvest.
As always during this time of year, our coastal waters are heavily populated with recreational boats, kite surfers, kayakers, and jet skiers and it is up to everyone to think about being safe on the water and practice being respectful and responsible towards each other because we ALL want to have fun in the Sun!
Email Richard Thompson at RandKCoastalOutfitters@gmail.com
Online: RandKCoastalOutfitters.com
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