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End of Summer Fishing in South Texas: Reds, Trout, and More on the Rio Grande
Published 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
This is Artificial Lure reporting in from Rio Grande, Texas, on this fine Friday, September 5th, 2025. If you’re grabbing your rods and rigs today, you’re in for classic end-of-summer South Texas fishing—let’s get right to it.
We saw sunrise at 7:12 AM, with sunset lining up at 7:42 PM—giving anglers a prime, long window for both morning and evening bites. Tidal action today mimics patterns in the Arroyo Colorado region, with a low tide expected late morning and the high rolling in late tonight. These shifting tides are perfect for working the shallow flats and inlets, especially as the water moves—timing your casts around these swings usually brings more strikes according to Tide-Forecast.com.
Weather-wise, National Weather Service Brownsville is calling for light winds out of the southeast, picking up just a notch by the afternoon and making for small, manageable chop on Laguna Madre and the lower Gulf. If you’re drifting the bay, you’ll see easy conditions, though the evening may usher in a few isolated thunderstorms. Don’t let the chance of scattered showers chase you off but keep an eye on the horizon.
Fish activity is amping up with the stable pressure and warm water. Locals are reporting good numbers on the inshore red drum and speckled trout. Plenty of slot reds have been coming in at the docks this week—most caught on live mullet or mud minnows, with a healthy share falling for paddle-tail soft plastics in root beer or chartreuse. Trout action has stayed strong at first light and just before dusk, especially over grass and potholes near the Port Isabel and Holly Beach grass beds.
If you’re looking for the best chance, here are a couple of hot spots:
- The flats at South Bay are firing, especially on the falling tide—schooling reds and the odd flounder tucked in along the drop-offs.
- The spoil banks near the Rio Grande river mouth are holding plenty of feeding specks, and folks tossing croaker or glow shrimp under popping corks are having a field day.
For lures, go with gold spoons or topwater plugs like a bone Super Spook early when the water is calm. Once the wind and boat noise pick up, switch to soft plastics on a ⅛ oz jighead or work a paddle-tail along the current edges. Cut bait works near the jetties for bull reds, but artificials are stealing the show with active fish.
Offshore, snapper are still hanging around structure in 60-80’ of water, and smaller kingfish have been showing on ribbon fish trolled just south of the jetties. Live shrimp is still the MVP at the pier for mixed bags—sheepshead, black drum, and even a few late-summer snook.
Be mindful of the ongoing drought conditions—some water levels are still low upstream, but the estuary and bays around Rio Grande remain flush and healthy, keeping the backwater bite active. The crowds will thin as school starts back up, so it’s a perfect time to explore shallow structures or drift the lesser-pressured mangrove islands.
Thanks for tuning in to today’s Rio Grande fishing report. Be sure to subscribe for weekly updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.
We saw sunrise at 7:12 AM, with sunset lining up at 7:42 PM—giving anglers a prime, long window for both morning and evening bites. Tidal action today mimics patterns in the Arroyo Colorado region, with a low tide expected late morning and the high rolling in late tonight. These shifting tides are perfect for working the shallow flats and inlets, especially as the water moves—timing your casts around these swings usually brings more strikes according to Tide-Forecast.com.
Weather-wise, National Weather Service Brownsville is calling for light winds out of the southeast, picking up just a notch by the afternoon and making for small, manageable chop on Laguna Madre and the lower Gulf. If you’re drifting the bay, you’ll see easy conditions, though the evening may usher in a few isolated thunderstorms. Don’t let the chance of scattered showers chase you off but keep an eye on the horizon.
Fish activity is amping up with the stable pressure and warm water. Locals are reporting good numbers on the inshore red drum and speckled trout. Plenty of slot reds have been coming in at the docks this week—most caught on live mullet or mud minnows, with a healthy share falling for paddle-tail soft plastics in root beer or chartreuse. Trout action has stayed strong at first light and just before dusk, especially over grass and potholes near the Port Isabel and Holly Beach grass beds.
If you’re looking for the best chance, here are a couple of hot spots:
- The flats at South Bay are firing, especially on the falling tide—schooling reds and the odd flounder tucked in along the drop-offs.
- The spoil banks near the Rio Grande river mouth are holding plenty of feeding specks, and folks tossing croaker or glow shrimp under popping corks are having a field day.
For lures, go with gold spoons or topwater plugs like a bone Super Spook early when the water is calm. Once the wind and boat noise pick up, switch to soft plastics on a ⅛ oz jighead or work a paddle-tail along the current edges. Cut bait works near the jetties for bull reds, but artificials are stealing the show with active fish.
Offshore, snapper are still hanging around structure in 60-80’ of water, and smaller kingfish have been showing on ribbon fish trolled just south of the jetties. Live shrimp is still the MVP at the pier for mixed bags—sheepshead, black drum, and even a few late-summer snook.
Be mindful of the ongoing drought conditions—some water levels are still low upstream, but the estuary and bays around Rio Grande remain flush and healthy, keeping the backwater bite active. The crowds will thin as school starts back up, so it’s a perfect time to explore shallow structures or drift the lesser-pressured mangrove islands.
Thanks for tuning in to today’s Rio Grande fishing report. Be sure to subscribe for weekly updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.