South Padre: October 2019

October is finally here and will take us one step closer to wintertime trophy-trout season. Days will soon be growing shorter and cooler, which means more frequent feeding periods that tend to last longer than in warmer months. Historically, October has been an exceptional month for redfish and the trout bite will not be far behind.

I am pleased that the scorching summer heat is behind us, for the most part. I say “most part” because even though October is our first full month of the fall season we can still experience afternoons reaching the 90s.

Late-August and September were tough for us as fish grew very picky in their feeding habits. Finding them was one thing but the timing aspect of getting them to eat became critical to say the least. We saw evidence of this when sight-casting; perfectly placed lures were repeatedly ignored. Some of the adversity we faced was exceptionally heavy boat traffic that made them very skittish in shallow water, and soaring midday water temperatures that moved them to deep water. 

What will we see different this month? I would first mention a noticeable reduction in boat traffic as hunters take to the fields and families participate in school sports events. This will cancel much of the skittish behavior in shallow water. Next would be declining water temperatures that will produce a more aggressive bite. Cold fronts help shape fall fishing but it’s generally a toss-up as to when they will begin to arrive. October is also known for elevated tides that flood backwater areas we haven’t been able to fish in a while.

We can expect schools of redfish roaming the shorelines, both on the westside and the sand flats on the east. Our bays are currently very healthy. Generous rainfall earlier in the year produced incredible crops of blue crabs, mullet, piggy perch, and shrimp. Redfish should be gorging daily on this smorgasbord, which will make locating the schools fairly easy. Potholes amid carpets of grass always seem to attract lots of reds.

Trout continue to be fairly consistent although anglers seeking limits should be prepared to sift through lots of small fish. Tide movement has been one of the keys to finding a steady bite, especially along the ICW drop-offs. The better trout of late seem to be either staging deep or in potholes along the edges of spoil islands. I believe that October’s cooler air and water temps will encourage them to begin moving out onto the flats as the month progresses.

The second half of the month should give us lots of topwater action as the trout move back to the flats. Focusing on pothole-riddled areas will increase your chances of finding them. When surface feeding slows I switch to my trusty KWiggler Ball Tails and Willow Tails. Plum-Chartreuse, Mansfield Margarita, and Turtle Grass will do the trick.

The species that continues to impress all across the Lower Laguna is the flounder. It's been quite some time that you could go out and target these bottom-dwellers and be successful at it. The flounder have been so plentiful in so many places that we are catching them accidentally while targeting redfish and trout. Now, if flounder is your preferred species, I would recommend concentrating your efforts along the edges of the ICW, any of the drains and passes between spoil islands, and the old oilfield cuts on the flats.

Snook, too, have been unusually abundant. It wasn’t too long ago that random snook encounters on the flats almost never happened – we had to target them in specific tide-affected areas to be successful. How they became so suddenly plentiful is a mystery. Let’s all hope this past summer wasn’t just a one-time thing and the species will continue to thrive. As much as I am anxious for cooler weather, it is sad that the snook will likely begin leaving the flats for deeper water very soon.

Wrapping up, I would like to give a thumbs-up to AFTCO for bringing us their Saiko Pro fluorocarbon leader material. I received my first samples back in May and it quickly won my praise with its strength and abrasion resistance. Numerous times I have caught multiple fish on the same leader and saw no need to snip off any frayed portion close to the lure. On one stretch I fished 35 days with the same leader, and this included some big fish. I am impressed with its durability and even more impressed with the way it disappears in clear water. I highly recommend you give it a try.