UPPER LAGUNA MADRE

Reported by CAPT. RICHARD THOMPSON

Late Fall Legends

 

 

THIS IS THE TIME of the year we are all beginning to be rewarded from enduring the hellacious summer heat like we do and fall back to the trusted patterns year after year, slow and steady wins the race. 

When November arrives on the South Texas coast, we know exactly what’s coming. After years of fishing the upper Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay, we’ve learned that patterns rarely change. The north winds arrive, water temperatures drop, and the fish respond the same way they always do. That’s the beauty of this fishery — predictability built on generations of history.

We are wading flats this time of year targeting sand pockets and nervous bait ahead of us. Big trout are now roaming the shallow flats looking for their easy meal. If a front has just blown through, we’ll adjust — instead of chasing them skinny where the water temperature drops quicker, we’ll start working deeper guts and drop-offs where the water is more stable. Redfish, on the other hand, seem to welcome the cooler water. We often find them tailing in potholes or cruising along the shorelines in schools, easy to spot against the clearer winter water.

Our approach is simple because simplicity works. Topwaters are tied on for the early bite or when the skies are overcast. There’s nothing like hearing a big trout explode on a bone or chrome plug in waist-deep water. A great go to and tried and true lure I prefer is a pink and silver Heddon One Knocker Spook and a Mansfield Knocker. But when the sun climbs higher or a front has made them cautious, we switch to soft plastics. Slow presentations with colors like plum punch and  vanilla bean by Coastal Brew Bait, consistently fool both trout and reds. Over the years, we’ve tried plenty of new lures, but the results always come back to the same handful of proven options and colors. If I said it once, I’ll say it again, confidence in retrieve and mimicking a slower mullet with your cadence will get results. 

The conditions tell the story every day. North winds pull water off the flats, concentrating bait in predictable areas. A south wind after a front might push fish back along windblown shorelines. And the overall lower water of winter means fish group up tighter and are easier to pattern. On clear December days, sight-fishing reds on shallow flats feel like unwrapping an early Christmas gift when that thump goes off, which produces an adrenaline rush that can’t be described with words. 

These months don’t require reinventing the wheel. Trust us, you will be rewarded especially if you pay attention, adjust with the conditions, and trust the seasonal behavior that repeats itself year after year. We’ve learned to keep it simple, stay patient, and respect the fishery. Release those big trout, take care of the reds, and this bay system will keep giving us these moments and memories — the ones that keep us coming back, season after season.

Krystal and I hope to see you this winter down here at Laguna Shores Lodge as we celebrate the cooler temperatures and Christmas. We personally invite you to start the New Year with a new personal best!