Reports & Forecasts: April 2023

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James likes the fishing in the Galveston area during April. "This is a consistent month, from year to year," he says. "The fish have settled into their true spring habits, and locating them is pretty predictable. We catch best this time of year by wading, often in areas with a mix of sand and shell on the bottom, sometimes grass too. The shorelines of West Bay on both sides have areas like this. All of the major coves with little islands and sand bars fronting them produce well at times this month. We also begin to see an influx of bait and trout down around San Luis Pass this month. The fishing for trout in particular can be great down there in the mornings, when the tide is gushing in. Best bite this time of year is sometimes on topwaters, more often on sinking baits. I like to throw small topwaters like She Pups, but regular-sized ones work well too. We do really well on hard sinking twitchbaits like Catch 2000s, MirrOdines and old-school 51 and 52M MirrOlures. Assassin Sea Shads also work well. If reds are the target, the interior parts of the coves and back-lakes usually have plenty."

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim ranks the fishing in April in the Galveston area at or near the top, compared to the other months in the year. "I do love fishing in the fall, because of the cooling weather, but April is overall probably the best month, in terms of catching. We will have fish in lots of places, so it spreads the people out. We catch 'em good by wading lots of days, especially early in the mornings. When the tide is moving either in or out, the trout bite is normally good on the protected shorelines in both East Galveston and Trinity bays. We also have plenty of fish out in the middle, in water about four feet deep, around the reefs. We're able to do well with those fish plenty of days this month, since the strong winds of March usually let up some, and allow the water to clear, especially when the tide is rolling in with some strength. The topwater bite is excellent much of the time this month, so that makes for some extra fun. We do have days where the catching is much better on tails, though. Catching limits in a hurry is often just not a problem."

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall mentions a variety of productive options for anglers in the area around San Luis Pass during April. "We have good fishing for trout on the sandy flats close to the pass this time of year. Fishing is best there when the tide is moving, but not too strong. A moderate incoming flow during the morning is ideal. Pearl Skitter Walks work great when we're wading for the trout, especially if we get a surge of ribbonfish and big ballyhoo coming in from the Gulf. Fishing for trout along some of the sandy, grassy shorelines in the main bays can also be really good for some of the bigger trout. We usually have some pretty high tide levels this month, and this can make the fishing in the coves and back-lakes really good. We do catch some trout in those places, but the reds are more abundant. We find them under birds on many occasions. Sometimes, we see flocks of gulls working over shrimp pressured by the reds and trout. At other times, we key on shorelines where we find birds like herons and egrets wading in the shallows. The reds are usually easiest to catch on soft plastics like Norton Sand Eels."

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging
Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
April brings warmer weather, rising water temperatures and green tides to our bays. Waders will find both speckled trout and redfish in good numbers on the south shoreline of West Matagorda Bay, chasing and feeding on the newly arrived glass minnows. Anglers should match the hatch as closely as possible with small soft plastics like the 4" Bass Assassin Sea Shads in salt-n-pepper color or with chrome or clear topwaters like Spook Juniors for best results. Paul Brown Soft-Dines are another great option. In East Matagorda Bay, drifting over shell in depths of four feet or more will produce lots of trout and redfish when the wind and water quality allow for it, meaning when wind speeds fall below about fifteen knots for a while. Live shrimp under Coastal Corks is the old drifting standby, but plenty of fish will be caught on soft plastics as well. In April, try plum or Texas roach Bass Assassins in dirty water and chicken on a chain in green water. Redfish in the back lakes are a good April option as well. The lakes fill up with small shad and newly hatched shrimp, so small topwaters, spoons and paddletails will produce the best catching there.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
Good fishing continues as the weather continues to be warmer than normal. Redfish have remained our focus, as the trout bite has not been real consistent. The reds have been moving up on shorelines with shell reefs covered by about two or three feet of water. We've been throwing small, bone topwaters early and pumpkinseed/chartreuse Norton Bull Minnows later in the days for best results. The mouth of the river has been good for tight-lining with cut mullet and/or quartered crabs for reds on falling tides. Our trout bite has been slow for slot fish. We have been catching quite a few fish, but those in the slot have been hard to come by. We've focused on deep shell and have had best success with pearl/chartreuse Fat Boys and pink Skitter Walks. April is one of my favorite months as the bay fills with bait. Shrimp, glass minnows, crabs, shad and mullet all make their way back into the estuaries, creating tons of options. Wading around grass with the glass minnows in the afternoon, fishing around clouds of shad in the marshes, fishing lighted piers in town, and fishing the rigs and wrecks out in West Matagorda all work well at times.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn likes fishing around any cut connecting the bays to the Gulf this time of year. "I was down in Mesquite Bay recently and saw the crews working in Cedar Bayou. I like to fish down that way most of the time during the peak of spring. Good tidal flow really improves the catching in those bays down there. Normally, I'm fishing areas with some shell on the bottom, even some of the bigger reefs, and targeting the fish while the tide is flowing. We get a big influx of mullet, shrimp, glass minnows and other prey species this time of year, so finding concentrations of bait is a must. We usually catch some of the biggest trout of the year during April, wading in places like Carlos, San Antonio and Mesquite Bays, throwing slow sinkers like Paul Brown Lures and lots of topwaters too. Of course, the fishing in West Matagorda Bay, on the shorelines adjacent to the Port O'Connor Big Jetties and Pass Cavallo can be excellent too, this time of year, for the same reasons. In general, if the tides are in a less than good cycle, the fishing is better in backwater areas than in places close to a pass."

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake likes to fish a variety of patterns in the Coastal Bend bays during the month of April. "We have good luck with trout in water about knee to waist-deep along the main bay shorelines this month. I like to fish close to the bank, in places where the bottom has a good bit of grass, but also plenty of sandy areas. We throw topwaters as much as we can, meaning as long as we're getting the fish to blow up pretty regularly, but we also throw the old standby Norton Sand Eels in dark colors with chartreuse tails. And, we don't hesitate to switch to the Gulp! lures when the bite gets tough. We do catch some reds in the same places, while targeting trout, and the reds will sometimes take the topwaters aggressively, but they're usually easier to catch on the other lures. If I'm not fishing the sandy, grassy shorelines in the big bays, I'm usually in the coves and back lakes on San Jose Island. In there, the redfish are the main targets, but we do have some big trout in those places. In fact, historically I catch some of the biggest trout of the year in April."

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
Spring is always welcomed by coastal anglers because its arrival ushers in some of the year's best fishing. Our fishery largely came through the cold temperatures we had this winter in great shape. April is a great month to go for trophy trout, partly because this month is when their average weight is the heaviest. The trout will be spawning intensely, so they will be loaded with eggs, and this will add much to their weight. Many of the trout will be found in the shallows along grassy shorelines. Nervous and jumping bait along those shorelines provide evidence that trout are in the vicinity. In the warming waters of spring, my favorite way to catch these fish is with topwaters. I like to start off each day throwing a MirrOlure Top Dog Junior or a She Dog in natural colors, trying different retrieve speeds until I find one that works. I will also have Bass Assassin Die Dappers in colors like chicken on a chain, salt & pepper/chartreuse and plum/chartreuse rigged on a sixteenth-ounce spring-lock jigheads. The same plastics dangled twelve to fifteen inches under Assassin Kwik Korks work well when the bite is more sluggish on the other offerings.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
In April, some of the best fishing in the Corpus Christi area for both trout and redfish can be found on the east side of Corpus Christi Bay, Joe says. "Especially when we have extra windy conditions in the middle of spring, East Flats, Little Flats, Shamrock Cove and the shorelines adjacent to those areas can produce really good catches of trout and reds. Because of the lay of the land, the water stays pretty and green, even clear in pockets along the shoreline and in the coves, even when strong southeast winds muck up the water over much of the rest of the area, including in Baffin and the ULM. In fact, fishing gets better in the protected pockets when it's windy from this direction, probably because the winds create movement in the water and stir up the bait. Calm weather can make the fish in the backwater areas really skittish and spooky. We do well with a variety of lures to target trout on East Flats and in Shamrock this time of year, including topwaters. Bite is best for reds on paddletails, mostly. The best catching in the shallows this time of year occurs on strong incoming morning tides."

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
61.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
In spring, most of the food chain is present in the surf, with a full range of species, from smallest prey to the largest predators. Jackfish should be storming the surf in great numbers, chasing mullet and other small fish. On a calm morning, sight-casting them is possible as they ambush bait. Topwaters and large spoons both get their attention, as do mullet put out to attract red drum. The pompano are on the tail end of their migration, and their numbers decrease as the water warms, but a few can still be caught on shrimp and/or Fish-bites. These baits also produce large whiting, black drum, and even sheepshead as they begin their migration. Different species will react differently to the water conditions. With good water clarity, any of these aforementioned species will be possible and lures work well. In dirty water, live and fresh-dead baits produce better. Sharks of all sizes invade the shallows, especially scalloped hammerheads and blacktips. In May, the number of large bulls will increase. When targeting the big sharks, deploying the biggest baits possible, like whole stingrays and large chunks of jack crevalle produces best, and discourages the smaller predators from stealing the baits.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
We have just about reached the time when the waders will come off for good. Water temperatures are up, and we're already wading wet much of the time. There may be the occasional front push in, but it will not be cold enough to affect the water temperatures enough to motivate us to wear waders or effect the fish much either. This month the Saucer Area can be productive. Best fishing is normally around the potholes behind the cabins. Best catching happens with plenty of mullet jumping with the occasional smaller bait flipping. Working a Mansfield Knocker Ruby Tuesday right out the gate is the way to go. KWiggler Mansfield Margarita Ball Tail Shads rigged on eighth-ounce heads also produce well. Close to there, the waist-deep water east of Bennie's Island also holds plenty of fish, mostly in the deeper potholes. south of Port Mansfield, drifting the deep water around Century Point is usually a good plan when winds are light. The sand pockets in the deepest water usually hold some solid fish. The area around the Oak Mottes usually does too. Wagner's Bar can also produce fast catching during the spring, with limits caught on a few drifts when the bite is best.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel

Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Spring weather has arrived with full effect on the Lower Laguna and with it comes higher tides and lots of wind. Trout fishing always picks up during spring and we are currently finding them mostly on shallow grass flats, holding in one- to three-foot depths. Trout of all sizes have been taking the Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ readily in Houdini color, rigged on 1/8-ounce Redfish Eye jigheads. The shallow flats sprinkled with potholes adjacent to deeper water has been our main focus. Working our plastics fast over potholes has been a favorite technique as the trout are quite aggressive with the warming water temperature. Redfish numbers remain very solid; windblown shorelines and spoil islands have been holding lots of reds. Topwaters like Spook Jr in bone color have been a great lure during early morning hours. Later, during afternoon in shallow water, we are finding steady action with Z-Man Scented PogyZ in Redbone color on 1/8-ounce jigheads. I expect these patterns will hold through April. Keep an eye on bait as tides will fluctuate, causing both baits to move according.