Reports & Forecasts: June 2018

Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268
We look forward to excellent trout fishing in June. Opportunities arise all over the estuary to catch trout. However, most of our efforts will be focused on the south end. The southern ship channel will become a superhighway for trout. Oyster reefs along the edges of the channel will produce most of the fish, but any current breaks such as points or docks will also produce. Eddies are created by these land masses or structures, which in turn create the perfect ambush point for trout. In these currents, use the lightest jighead possible for the situation. You want your bait to flutter freely, but you also want to be able to maintain contact with the bottom. We usually stick with quarter-ounce heads, but three-eighths are sometimes necessary. We'll use lighter ones, but the tide is usually completely slack if we do. Choosing what sort of plastic to throw is important, due to each style's rate of fall. Paddletails sink slower than rat tails, so for heavy currents, paddletails aren't ideal. For slack currents they often produce more bites.

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
In the Galveston area, it's possible to catch plenty of trout and redfish in numerous places and in many ways during the month of June. “The beginning of summer is a great time to fish the coast. People who like to wade along the beachfront can key on rafted bait and working birds on calm mornings. Other folks who like stalking fish in the shallows will find fast action on the flats behind San Luis Pass, especially on incoming tides which aren't too strong. Shorelines on islands close to the ship channel produce some good catches this time of year for wading anglers too, especially for some of the bigger trout coming up out of the depths. And, we usually see the fishing out in deeper parts of the open bays perk up, especially in Trinity and East Bays. People who would rather fish from the boat can usually find plenty of fish by keying on slicks, nervous bait and birds. This works best when winds are light enough to make running around in deep, open water safe and comfortable. Overall, June is normally a really productive month.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
In June, Jim expects to find good fishing in open water around the reefs in East Bay much of the time. “With all the wind we've had this spring, you really have to be willing to wade to have much of a chance to catch fish at all. Normally, in June, the winds dies down on more days than not, and we can get at the fish out in the middle more of the time. When fishing out around the reefs, we usually key on slicks and places where lots of mullet are jumping. When the water gets green and clear, we also have good luck targeting schools of reds when they are creating mud-stirs. Birds work better when the wind lays too, and we have good days targeting trout under the gulls. People willing to work the surf have been doing well already, especially when the wind is from the west, or just really light. I expect a typical run of summer fishing coming up. When it's windy, waders will do better, but when it's not, we'll catch plenty in open water, mostly throwing topwaters when lots of bait is jumping and tails the rest of the time.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall mentioned one of his favorite fishing patterns when he gave this June forecast. “We got in the surf for the first time today, and it was on fire. All the fish we caught were solid keepers; they were in great shape. Best catching was on 51M MirrOlures. We had good luck with several different ones having pink on them. Natural colors like black and green also worked well. Locating the fish with topwaters like gold and pink Super Spooks is a good plan. The sinking twitch baits often produce a much better hookup ratio once the fish are found. I expect to hit the surf any time winds and currents are right over the next few months. When we can't get out to the beachfront, we'll target our trout and reds in open areas of the bays, where water depths run from four to about six feet, with a mix of shell and mud on the bottom. When fishing this drill, we like to key on areas with large rafts of bait, slicks, and birds of some kind picking at the water. Soft plastics often perform better than hard baits when we're working this kind of pattern.”

Matagorda | Tommy Countz
Bay Guide Service | 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037
“When I'm wading in June, I'm usually in West Matagorda, focusing on the grass beds in the cool water close to the shorelines early, then moving out to deeper beds when the sun gets higher. MirrOlure Lil' Johns with chartreuse tails on sixteenth-ounce jigheads work great when we're working this pattern. As always, we key on slicks and jumping bait. During the middle of the day, we try to be persistent, making repeated casts around the same grass beds we fished earlier. In East Bay, we fish out of the boat most of the time, in places near Half Moon Shoal, throwing live shrimp suspended about three feet under a popping cork. If the water has good clarity, I prefer throwing paddletails in dark colors with light tails rigged on heavier jigheads, to keep contact with the bottom. The same drill works on the deep, artificial reefs in West Bay early on June mornings too. Also, we are itching to get into the surf when conditions get right. And, I'm anticipating exciting action on tripletail hunts. June marks the beginning of the season for those brutes.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Winds have played a big role in fishing our local waters lately. When the winds have been howling, we've been fishing up bayous and sloughs and catching good numbers of reds and drum with live shrimp rigged under popping corks. On calmer days, we've been chasing trout out in the bay over shell reefs. Down South Lures in blue moon and dirty Tequila rigged on eighth-ounce heads have accounted for some good fish over deep shell. Floundering has probably been the most consistent fishing we have had with all these north winds. Area shorelines protected from the winds have coughed up solid fish from sixteen to eighteen inches almost daily. June should be fantastic as winds start to lay, and we can work shell pads out in West Matagorda Bay and start hitting the surf. We have a great hatch of bait in the bays with lots of brown shrimp moving in and tons of shad. Tides play a big role in catching during the summer months. Try to get out and fish when the tides are falling or rising to help increase your chances to put some fish in the box.

Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn likes throwing a wide variety of things at the fish in June, everything from live bait to topwater lures. “We spend a lot of time fishing along shorelines with plenty of grass and sandy pockets breaking up the bottom cover. It's always effective to throw a live finfish into the middle of a bright spot on the bottom and wait for a trout to attack it. Of course, for people who enjoy the thrill of making the fish strike something artificial, topwaters do tend to work well this time of year. Early in the morning, especially when the tide is coming in, topwaters cast in shallow areas close to the bank draw plenty of strikes from both trout and redfish on flats adjacent to deeper water where the fish can easily retreat to beat the heat. As we do every year, we'll keep a keen eye on the surf this month. Standing on the second bar and tossing either a live baitfish or a topwater into the first gut soon after daybreak is a great way to catch a trout in June. Over all, this is one of my favorite times of year, because of the consistent action and the patterns in play.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake hopes to be fishing mostly with artificial lures in June, though he normally switches over to using live croakers some too. “In June, I generally fish some of the same areas in the same bays as I do in other months, though I tend to move out a little deeper from the shorelines. I do like to fish the sandy, grassy stretches close to the bank early in the morning, but I tend to move out to navel to chest-deep water a little earlier than I do in the spring. I also like to fish some of the areas with lots of reefs, like Copano, St. Charles and San Antonio Bays. The mid-bay reefs with deep, cool water close by usually hold plenty of trout in June. It's a great month to catch fish on topwaters, especially early in the mornings, when winds are usually calm. One place where the topwaters seem to work well is the surf zone. Maybe it's because we tend to head out there when the weather is nice, meaning pretty calm, but topwaters do work most every time we find ourselves moving along the beachfront looking for trout.“

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
There are two words I use to describe the month of June, consistent and confident. The nice weather conditions lead to consistently better catches that are evident at the end of the day. The better catches make my confidence soar to incredibly high levels during June. The topwater action is great in the early morning hours, with MirrOlure SheDogs and then as the sun gets higher in the sky, the MirrOlure Catch Fives will work better as the fish tend to suspend a bit below the surface of the water. If we have too much floating or suspended grass for these hard baits, I'll switch to the Bass Assassin Die Dappers in colors like salt & pepper/chartreuse or chicken on a chain rigged on sixteenth-ounce Spring Lock jigheads. The choice for live bait during June is free-lined croakers on #5 Mustad Croaker hooks attached to twenty inches of twenty-pound test fluorocarbon. For those who like to sight-cast in shallow water, shrimp-flavored Fish Bites rigged on sixteenth-ounce jigheads will produce reds, black drum and trout.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez | www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
In June, Joe typically expects to find trout and redfish in a variety of places. “Early mornings, when winds are calm, finding reds on expansive grassy flats can be pretty easy. Often, the boat will spook them at quite a distance, causing them to push large wakes as they move right under the surface. If and when we see this, we'll circle around in front of the school, meaning in the direction we see the wake moving, and set up a drift/troll strategy to intercept them. Usually, when they're feeding aggressively in the shallows, catching them is pretty easy if you can place a lure right in the midst of the school. Normally, we use paddletails on medium-weight jigheads. Heavier heads allow for longer casts, but are also tougher to keep out of the grass. If we're targeting trout, especially later in the day, with the sun higher, we often have good luck throwing soft plastics around deep grass edges and rocks this time of year. One key is to flutter the lure close to the edge of the grass or face of the rock, where the trout often look to ambush their prey.”

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
Early summer is a great time for a variety of fish in the Texas surf. Speckled trout should be abundant, inhabiting the shallows of the south Texas surf zone. MirrOlure topwaters have long been a favorite for trout – chartreuse/chrome and black/chrome. Find areas with deeper holes in close and what we call suckouts: cuts through sandbars where swells drain back toward the Gulf. As summer weather patterns develop, we should see improving water clarity. This will bring Spanish mackerel and lots of skipjacks and jack crevalle when bait is abundant. Hooking a tarpon is always possible when running live mullet for redfish. Fish Bites will produce whiting, pompano and small stingrays. The largest sharks enter the surf zone this month – giant bulls, lemons, hammerheads, and tigers – all but the tigers roam the shallowest waters. Waders are cautioned to keep a sharp lookout, even thigh-deep. Stingrays will be abundant, so shuffle the feet to avoid stepping on one. We're hoping we can all enjoy a great summer in the surf after a cool spring.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com | 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
June is a great month at Port Mansfield; bays and offshore can both be on fire. Trout can often be found waist-deep from the weather station to Butcher’s. Start early with a bone One Knocker or SkitterWalk. When the surface action fades, try a KWigglers Ball Tail Shad in Mansfield Margarita or the new turtle grass on an eighth-ounce jighead. On slow days, I often move to deeper water along the ICW, especially the spoil humps. Allow your lure to sink deep and slowly drag it back; this is a great way to find bites when they’re not feeding aggressively. Another option is to head to the east-side sand flats for reds – gold weedless spoons are usually dynamite. Never pass up the west shoreline on calm days. Cover all the water from the bank to waist-deep. For something different, head to the jetties for tarpon, kingfish, jacks, sharks, or maybe schooling redfish. As long as the tide is moving, there will be action. l look for pelicans and gulls diving and frantic baitfish. You’ll need wire leaders, as lots of toothy critters roam the shallows out there!

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Boat traffic continues to increase as tournament season settles in, making weekend mornings seem like a war zone on the Lower Laguna Madre flats. Freddy says, “If you know which way the wind is blowing, then you should stay on the upwind side of someone’s drift and if you don’t, then stay in the marked channel! Although this seems pretty much common sense, it’s also common courtesy.” We’re still catching limits of reds plus oversized most days, some really nice trout and even a few flounder popping FP3 trailing Berkley Gulp! Live three-inch shrimp on an eighth-ounce screw-tight jighead with about eighteen inches of leader. If you need instructions on rigging your FP3, check out Captain Freddy’s video on FishingWithPettys.com on Facebook. The lessons to be learned are the basics of respect for the law and your fellow anglers. So, drive less, and stay at least the legal limit of safe distance from other vessels that are not under way, but stopped and fishing. More motorized traffic always equals less fish in shallow water. Let’s stop open bay dredge disposal.