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Rio Grande Valley Fishing Report - Cats, Bass, and Tilapia Biting Strong
Published 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Mornin’ anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Friday, September 12th fishing report for the Rio Grande Valley. We’re stepping into the tail-end of summer, and you can feel it in the muggy air before sunrise—humidity’s up and the bite has been, too. Start was right around 7:15 am, with sunrise hitting at 7:20. Sunset tonight will be 7:46, so there’s plenty of time for after-work casts.
The north wind started out light, before heating up into the high 80s and climbing toward the low 90s by afternoon. Mostly sunny skies and moderate gusts—standard early September, nothing to spook the fish.
Tide predictions from NOAA and local tide charts show we had a medium low at 6:25 am and the incoming started to build late morning, heading to a modest high around 4:10 pm. Fish activity is picking up on that rising tide, especially in the brushy bends with cooler inlets.
Let’s talk catch reports. Down near Falcon Lake and out at historic hot spots like Santa Margarita and Chapote—anglers are filling coolers with **blue catfish and flatheads**, especially running cut shad and chicken liver. Flats below the weirs on the Rio Grande itself are still producing nice channel cats, with several reports of double-digit catches just yesterday. **Largemouth bass** are holding along the submerged structure and slow-rolling spinnerbaits near first light gets them riled up—local folks are favoring white/chartreuse or dark green plastics, rigged Texas-style.
**Rio Grande cichlids** and big bluegill are stacked in the shallows on worms, especially late afternoon. If you want something more “exotic,” reports of tilapia are getting better as the rivers warm, especially on small spoons and worms. Word is, a couple of bow anglers nabbed tilapia pushing 3-4 pounds near Zapata this week.
Don’t overlook sunfish and crappie—smaller Mepps Aglia in gold or black on ultralight, or just a plain red worm, kept rods bent for folks bank-fishing around boat ramps and tree lines.
Best baits right now:
- Cut shad and chicken liver for cats.
- Live worms and nightcrawlers for panfish and cichlids.
- Top-water frogs early, dark plastics or spinnerbaits for bass.
- Beetle Spins and spoons for tilapia and white bass.
Locals are still loyal to some trusty artificials—Black Goober Bug for bluegill, briminators for cichlids, and wooly buggers or clousers if you’re slinging flies.
Top two hot spots:
- The **San Ygnacio boat ramp area:** easy bank access, lots of submerged timber—morning bite is best here.
- The **Zapata County Park cove:** edges are loaded with structure and baitfish. Great for families and the evening bite really lights up with the outgoing tide.
If you’re after lunkers, drift-fish the deeper runs and channel edges late afternoon as the sun drops—the transition triggers those bigger cats and bass to roam.
Water level’s holding steady and clarity is decent, but if you get a little storm runoff, expect those cats to move up shallow fast.
Stay hydrated, bring plenty of sunblock, and watch for quick storms—they surface up fast this time of year.
Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to subscribe, check your local regs, and safe fishing from Artificial Lure. 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.
The north wind started out light, before heating up into the high 80s and climbing toward the low 90s by afternoon. Mostly sunny skies and moderate gusts—standard early September, nothing to spook the fish.
Tide predictions from NOAA and local tide charts show we had a medium low at 6:25 am and the incoming started to build late morning, heading to a modest high around 4:10 pm. Fish activity is picking up on that rising tide, especially in the brushy bends with cooler inlets.
Let’s talk catch reports. Down near Falcon Lake and out at historic hot spots like Santa Margarita and Chapote—anglers are filling coolers with **blue catfish and flatheads**, especially running cut shad and chicken liver. Flats below the weirs on the Rio Grande itself are still producing nice channel cats, with several reports of double-digit catches just yesterday. **Largemouth bass** are holding along the submerged structure and slow-rolling spinnerbaits near first light gets them riled up—local folks are favoring white/chartreuse or dark green plastics, rigged Texas-style.
**Rio Grande cichlids** and big bluegill are stacked in the shallows on worms, especially late afternoon. If you want something more “exotic,” reports of tilapia are getting better as the rivers warm, especially on small spoons and worms. Word is, a couple of bow anglers nabbed tilapia pushing 3-4 pounds near Zapata this week.
Don’t overlook sunfish and crappie—smaller Mepps Aglia in gold or black on ultralight, or just a plain red worm, kept rods bent for folks bank-fishing around boat ramps and tree lines.
Best baits right now:
- Cut shad and chicken liver for cats.
- Live worms and nightcrawlers for panfish and cichlids.
- Top-water frogs early, dark plastics or spinnerbaits for bass.
- Beetle Spins and spoons for tilapia and white bass.
Locals are still loyal to some trusty artificials—Black Goober Bug for bluegill, briminators for cichlids, and wooly buggers or clousers if you’re slinging flies.
Top two hot spots:
- The **San Ygnacio boat ramp area:** easy bank access, lots of submerged timber—morning bite is best here.
- The **Zapata County Park cove:** edges are loaded with structure and baitfish. Great for families and the evening bite really lights up with the outgoing tide.
If you’re after lunkers, drift-fish the deeper runs and channel edges late afternoon as the sun drops—the transition triggers those bigger cats and bass to roam.
Water level’s holding steady and clarity is decent, but if you get a little storm runoff, expect those cats to move up shallow fast.
Stay hydrated, bring plenty of sunblock, and watch for quick storms—they surface up fast this time of year.
Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to subscribe, check your local regs, and safe fishing from Artificial Lure. 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.