UPPER LAGUNA MADRE

Reported by CAPT. RICHARD THOMPSON

Bundle Up for Winter Fun!

 

 

WE HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED… yes, at the BEST time of year, and no I’m not talking about sippin’ pina coladas and chilling on the beach. I’m talking about bundling up in our Simms G4s, built for performance and wicking technology that keeps us out longer as we are extremely focused on chasing down that potential lifetime trophy speckled trout. Who is with us? 

Krystal White with a big Upper Laguna shoreline trout.
(Photo: Richard Thompson)

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We have put in the work and have spent many hours, weeks, and months leading to this epic time of year to learn these big girls patterns. 

I want to share a couple known facts as to why our Trout grow longer and heavier here in the Upper Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay systems than in other ecosystems. It is because of the rich nutrients and according to biologists, the relatively consistent salinity level most significantly influences Baffin’s production of big trout. Because of this condition, it limits the time our resident fish have to adjust their swim bladders in response to changing salinity levels, which impacts and correlates to their growth.

The Upper Laguna, Baffin Bay, and Lower Laguna Madre all have one thing in common, not having large rivers feeding fresh water into the Bays causing salinity levels to temporarily drop. These awesome facts make our coastal paradise one that is world renowned for its Trophy Trout. 

From the Laguna Shores shoreline all the way down the King Ranch shoreline to Baffin Bay we have protected flats and shorelines that hold bait with easy deeper water access which creates the perfect environment for wade fishing these gator trout.

 One of our go to methods that is proven and highly practiced by many professional guides and especially my wife, Krystal Thompson, is the use of her 1/8” oz pink Salty Head lead head and with the combo, Plum Punch 6” and 8” dart bait from Coastal Brew Bait are constantly producing hook ups on these trout, as I am typically throwing a Corky and or XL Soft Dines nine times out of 10 still producing but not at the rate she is.

More times than not I see her out producing me with large Trout, making me doubt my lure of choice and eventually switching over. However, I prefer to use the Nuke Juice and the new White Flash 6” dart baits also made by Coastal Brew Baits. 

We are now moving further South and sometimes through the Land Cut and all the way down to Port Mansfield to hunt down the 30” beast! But it’s not always necessary because we are able to catch these big gals right around the corner from the boat ramp here in Corpus Christi. So in short, these fish are here in the Upper Laguna Madre too. 

To close, we want to applaud TPWD on the fact that the new size and bag limit placed on trout is paying off in dividends and we have personally witnessed the growth in bigger trout. Keep up the good work and continue to be a responsible advocate for conservation so we can continue restoring our historically rich trout population to what it once was.