LOWER LAGUNA MADRE

Reported by CAPT. BRIAN BARRERA

Big Bulls, Tasty Ling, Calm Flats

 

ONCE JULY COMES AROUND, I’ll be spending 90% of my time chasing big fish, really big fish. Time will be spent fishing deep water such as deep channels, nearshore wrecks, offshore structure, and the local surrounding inlets. In July, the wind can still be pretty gusty in the late mornings, sometimes causing you to stay further inland, but for the most part, I like to hang out at the jetties chasing bullreds and large Jack Crevalle using many different styles of fishing and baits. I usually start with a big gold spoon or live finger mullet to target these fish.  Sometimes the schools of Jack Crevalle will school up near the surface creating opportunities for a great surface strike using big topwater poppers.

As the weather and winds start to lay consistently, late July through August, I like to get out to nearshore wrecks and other close by structures within state waters and target big ling using big live baits or buck tail jigs. These fish are great eating and are always invited to the cookout. They are known to be very curious so most of the time you’ll be able to sight cast them by the boat.  But on some days I have to use my electronics to locate how deep they are or on what side of the structure they are hanging out.  I use bigger gear like 6 to 10,000 size spinning reels with 65 pound braid and 80 pound leader.

This calm weather also brings great opportunities to find large schooling groups of redfish and black drum on the flats. Cruising around at a slow speed, I look for jumping bait and big schools of fish moving near the surface in certain or any direction. This makes cutting off their movement a lot easier, not only for fisherman using a trolling motor off of a boat but also wade fisherman. I love throwing quiet topwaters and heavy jigs to make sure I can get the distance if I need to for these fish.