Reports & Forecasts: August 2024

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James finds the fishing best in Galveston in pretty deep water during August, especially when he’s targeting trout. “We do okay catching reds in shallow water this time of year, especially when we find birds working in some of the satellite bays, but the action for both trout and reds is usually better in deep water in August. We fish around some old structures on the bottom a lot this time of year, setting the boat up with the anchor, so we can cast and retrieve our lures close to the structures. People wanting to take advantage of this pattern have to learn how to use long anchor ropes and position the boat just right, then work on the depth and speed of their retrieves. And, of course, making the pattern work means knowing where the structures are. For other folks, fishing around big mud stirs in places like East Bay is easier. But, we’ve had so much rain this year, it may be difficult to see the mud boils in the murky water. If it keeps raining and the rivers stay swollen, the fishing in the open basin of West Bay might be better than anything else, especially for trout.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim acknowledges how the heavy rains have made things difficult for anglers in the area around Bolivar. “When we get so much rain and freshwater flowing down the rivers, the fishing gets tough in some areas. We don’t have many fish in the bayous and back-lakes, so it’s tough to hide from the wind. But, on the calmer days, the options are better. Normally, the fishing out on the major reefs in East Bay is good when the bay gets really fresh. We will have a shallow layer of water right close to the bottom which has more salt than the water closer to the surface. Soft plastics on jigheads which keep them in close contact with the bottom work best when this is the case. Other places allow for better fishing with different methods. The fishing in the surf can be great, even when winds are pretty strong, as long as there’s no east in the wind. Then, the Bolivar Pocket can light up. On calmer days, with normal southeast breezes, fishing around the jetties is better. In either place, playing the tide is critical. An incoming tide favors the gulf side of the jetties; outgoing tide favors the channel side.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall expects excellent fishing in and around San Luis Pass in August, as long as the storm season doesn’t wreak too much havoc. “In a normal year, we have tons of food in the water for the predatory species, and August is a great month to fish for trout and reds around the pass. Of course, when the weather allows, we like to hit the surf early in the mornings. Out there, we throw chrome topwaters mostly. On the best days, we sometimes jet offshore and target king mackerel with the same lures. On the flats behind the pass, the fishing is best on incoming tides. We catch best by wading in places close to deep guts and throwing our lures on shallow sand bars. The reds are concentrated in the back-lakes this time of year, biting best around small reefs and towheads, especially where we see numbers of different kinds of egrets and herons working together in the shallows. We also have excellent trout fishing out of the boat this time of year in some of the deeper, open areas of West Bay. Out there, we generally fish where we find giant rafts of jumping mullet with slicks popping regularly in the area.”

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging
Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
In August, with the summer heat still in play, drifting the mid-bay reefs in East Matagorda Bay will continue to be a solid game plan for people looking to catch both trout and redfish. Drifting with live shrimp or Vudu Rattlin’ Shrimp under Coastal Corks or soft plastics like Bass Assassin 5” shad or Coastal Brew Darts will be good options for catching both species. Wading the grass beds in West Matagorda Bay should continue to be good as well, especially early in the mornings. Look for redfish numbers on the shorelines to grow as we get closer to September. It’s hard to beat lures like gold weedless spoons, roach-colored paddletails on light jigheads and small bone or gold topwaters like Spook Juniors when targeting the reds in the shallows around the grass beds. Hopefully, the surf will be kind to us as well. We always expect to make good catches in the surf and at the jetties in both August and even more so in September, on both live bait and lures. As we head toward September the tarpon action should pick up on Coon Pops and live mullet, in stretches of the beach not far from the jetties.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
Fishing has been great in the Tres Palacios area lately. Redfish action has been good in a variety of places; we’ve been catching them good on small topwaters over bottoms with a mix of sand and grass in about two feet of water, using bone Spook Juniors and chartreuse Baby Skitter Walks. Cut skipjack and live shrimp fished around shell points and humps have also been good baits for reds not wanting lures. Black drum continue to bite steadily around shell bars and cuts leading to the bay, mostly preferring fresh peeled dead shrimp and pink Fish-Bites. Trout fishing has picked up from last month, as we have had some good surf days with trout eating She Dogs in green and chrome early and chicken of the sea Down South Lures later in mornings. Well pads and deep shell continue to produce when we can get out into West Matagorda Bay with live shrimp rigged about five feet deep under corks. Flounder gigging is getting better as it seems tropical storm tides pushed some fish out of the backcountry to the shorelines, with lots of 18-20” fish coming to hand. This action should continue to improve as we head into September.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
In August, Lynn likes to stay close to the pass most of the time, either in West Matagorda Bay or in the surf. “We fish the surf as much as we can in August. Historically, it’s the month with the most days with fishable green water close to the beach. When we’re able to get out there, we run a familiar drill, starting off close to the sand throwing topwaters around the first sand bar. Sometimes, the best bite is inside the first bar, in the shallow gut close to the beach. As the day warms, we normally move away from the beach and switch over to slow-sinking twitch baits or soft plastics, but not always. On the best days, the trout continue biting topwaters all morning. Inside the bays, the patterns we prefer are similar. We usually start off throwing around rafts of bait milling and flipping over grass beds in the shallows, then target the fish in a little deeper water in some of the guts adjacent to the sand bars after the sun rises higher in the sky in the middle of the morning, starting with topwaters and switching to sub-surface lures as we move into deeper water.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake has been experiencing excellent action on his charters in the Rockport area lately, and he expects the hot fishing to continue right into August. “We’re always ready to hit the surf this time of year. When conditions allow, we do well catching both trout and reds on live bait and on topwaters and soft plastics along the beach, sometimes closer to the Port Aransas jetties, other times close to Cedar Bayou. In the bays, we do best on live croakers this time of year, but we do have some days with fast and furious action for trout on small, shiny topwaters. Best concentrations of fish are usually found in relatively deep water, with shell reefs nearby. The reds start schooling up in earnest this time of year. We often find big numbers of slot fish with some oversized fish making huge mud stirs on flats close to the channels, in places like Super Flats and East Flats. On the best days, with tide movement and decent water clarity, we’re able to catch plenty of them on topwaters, but more of the time, we do better throwing Norton Sand Eels in dark colors with bright tails or Gulp! split-tails.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
In August, we find good fishing for trout and redfish in the waters of the ULM and Baffin Bay. Since the weather is hot, the fish don’t stay in the shallows as long as they do at other times of the year, but we find them in shallow water on a daily basis early in the mornings. Typically, I like to start off throwing around rocks and grass and sand in about two or three feet of water as the sun comes up, then move out into deeper water as the sun heats the shallow water. I normally have good luck throwing She Dogs when winds are light, and on Catch 5s in color patterns which include some chartreuse on them, as long as floating and suspended grass don’t create too much of a problem. If the grass does become a problem, we usually try switching over to soft plastics like Bass Assassin Die Dappers on light jigheads. If those lures become fouled too regularly, we’ll just wind up heading for another area to fish. If we can find a stretch of water with wind blowing into a shallow structural element across a broad expanse of deep water, we usually don’t have much of a grass problem.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
Fishing in the Corpus Christi area can be excellent in August, with several productive options and areas available to anglers. The area around the JFK Causeway produces good catches of both trout and redfish for people who understand how to play the tides, meaning they work spots in the Boat Hole and the Crash Channels with consideration of when the tide will be moving, and in which direction it’s moving. The fishing is usually best early in the mornings on incoming tides, but can also be great in the afternoons on either type of tide. Making efforts in places with shallow feeding stations lying close to deeper channels and holes works best, and working lures with or at least cross-ways with the current is critical. Down South, areas around the front of Baffin and south produce well too, meaning mostly the Badlands, Penascal Point, the spoils in those areas, the spoils between Baffin and the Land Cut, and the outside edge of the line of rocks along the shore from Penascal to Summer House. In all these places, soft plastics produce most consistently, but topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits work well during prime feeding windows, especially when winds are light.

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
As we reach our annual summer doldrums the surf action will tend to slow down mid-day. If water conditions are ideal and clear between our tropical weather events, then it is a great time for surf trout action. While the bite can vary in regards to the tides, it is a no-brainer to hit any surf structure such as holes and pinches, both early in the morning or late in afternoon. Trout are aggressive towards topwater lures, suspended baits and soft plastics, in addition to smaller live baits. While fishing these same locations targeting trout, people occasionally land snook or redfish as well. As we progress closer toward the fall, the bait-balls and general migrations will come closer to the beach. In this chaos, which usually starts mid-August, it’s not uncommon to see hundreds if not thousands of birds feeding on a single bait-ball. In the midst of these large frenzies surf anglers can expect everything from Spanish mackerel and skipjacks to sharks and tarpon. Folks lucky enough to find these mass concentrations of bait and predators in the surf should definitely throw spoons, as they are often attacked by several different species. Casting live mullet into the frays often results in fast hook ups, too.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
Historically, early-morning topwater action is an August highlight. The west shoreline up north is an ideal location to put this pattern in play, most anywhere from Port Mansfield to Gladys Hole. Since that’s a long stretch of water, it’s important to key on flipping bait and herons stalking the shoreline in order to find a productive stretch. Another thing to look for are the flocks of gulls working above schools of reds in shallow water. Lots of anglers pass them up this time of year, but others realize it’s always fun sight-casting at tailing fish. And as the day gets hotter, fish will move to deeper water. The stretch from the Saucer to the Pipeline is ideal during this time of day. Other areas with deeper water include the Weather Station, Butchers Island, Wagner’s Bar and Dubb’s Island. Topwaters will produce in deeper water at times, but a better bet is KWiggler plastics on eighth-ounce jigheads. Bone diamond, Mansfield Margarita, Plum-Chart and Lagunaflauge are great colors. If the seas allow, making a run to the jetties and the surf can be productive. Tarpon sightings have been numerous, and birds have been working the bait balls on a regular basis lately.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Summer has attained its full stride and the weather and water temperatures certainly show it. Trout fishing has remained very steady and they seem to be congregated in fairly large schools; catching one or two often leads to many in the same area. The best action of late has been in sandy bottomed potholes lying in depths of four feet and more, and also along the ICW drop-offs. ZMan StreakZ in Sexy Mullet rigged on 1/4-ounce Eye Strike Trout Eye jigs have been very reliable producers. It seems the elevated water temps have caught up with the redfish too, as they are also now staging in 3- to 4-foot depths. The most consistent key to locating redfish lately has been focusing efforts along edges of color changes on open flats. With both trout and redfish holding steadily in deeper water, we have found heavier jigs fished slower near bottom to be most effective. Fish are on the move this time of the year as tides and air temperature play a big factor. The fish feel the heat the same as we do, be sure to cover up and stay hydrated.