If you’ve never explored the backwaters of a winding marsh, you’re missing out on some of the best fishing Texas has to offer. While it may be a bit daunting looking at miles of maze-like marsh, just like a lake or river you can “read” it to figure out where the fish are likely to be, and to keep your rod bent.
- One key feature that will hold fish of basically any species is a quick change in depth, and the easiest way to find a good ledge in the marsh is to find a sharp bend. The current will generally cut out a nice hole around bends in the marsh, and these holes will often hold redfish, speckled trout, and flounder depending on where you are and the time of year. I like to work scented jigs along the ledges, as well as through the water column in the middle of the hole. Redfish and flounder will usually be hanging out on bottom along the ledge and at the bottom of it, while trout will generally sit suspended. Creek and pond drains will also often have a ledge at the edge of them, and most of our tasty finned critters call these areas home as well. Drains like these are generally best fished during the outgoing tide.
- Looking for speckled trout heaven? Try to find the confluence of at least two marsh systems, where you have kind of a Y or a Y with extra arms. These confluences have multiple points of current that will hit each other and create rips and eddies that specks love to hang out in. These areas often will have lumpy bottoms with lots of variable depth, giving trout the perfect place to sit and ambush prey. These areas are usually only good for the part of the tide cycle that has the currents hitting each other, rather than splitting away.
- Ponds lying within the bowels of the marsh often hold lots of grasses. These grasses filter out dirty water, and give crabs and baitfish plenty of places to hide—and redfish plenty of food to eat. Look for the largest ponds you can find, ideally with multiple feeder points for redfish to use to enter and exit. These ponds can be crystal clear, leading to incredibly spooky fish. You can never move through a backwater pond too slowly, and if you go too fast and you may end up running over the only fish you see. Get there a bit too late during the outgoing and there’s not enough water to head inside? Don’t forget, pond drains are a great place to catch redfish during an outgoing tide.