Episode Details
Back to Episodes
South Texas Fishing Forecast: Reds, Trout, and Cats on the Rise
Published 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Artificial Lure here with your Saturday morning fishing report for Rio Grande, Texas and the surrounding South Texas waters. Sunrise rolled in at 7:25 AM and you’ll see sunset right around 7:04 PM today, so you’ve got a generous window to make the most of the bite. The forecast calls for clear skies and mild temps, with a light northern breeze, making for perfect October fishing. Storms have rattled the area earlier this week, but conditions have settled—minor flooding reported in McAllen hasn’t seemed to slow down the anglers in Cameron and Hidalgo counties.
Over on the coast, the tides for South Padre Island show a low at 12:23 PM and a substantial high tide hitting at 11:07 PM, so you’ll want to time your saltwater action for late afternoon and into evening, especially if you’re jetty or surf casting. In the back bays and river mouths, those dropping midday tides will pull bait and active fish into the deeper channels.
Recent catches around Rio Grande and the lower Laguna Madre have been promising. According to Captain Experiences, inshore guides are still scoring solid numbers of redfish, speckled trout, and flounder. Vanessa B. landed mammoth reds just a few days ago, and snapper action on nearshore structures looks good for persistent folks who work the edges on the major feeding windows. Large gar have also made a few appearances upriver, with one crew nearly boating a four-footer.
In the Rio Grande itself, anglers have brought in blue catfish up to 20 pounds on cut shad and sunfish, and the usual mix of drum and panfish are showing up on the brush piles and deeper holes downstream of Falcon Lake. October tends to be the transition month—catfish are fattening up ahead of cooler weather, and largemouth bass are chasing shad schools, especially around submerged timber and eddies.
For best results on reds and trout, tie on a **soft-plastic paddle tail** in chartreuse or new penny. If the water’s clear, crank or twitch a **silver spoon**, which can trigger reaction strikes from aggressive trout. Flounder have responded well to **live mullet** and scented soft plastics dragged slowly near the bottom. Bass are hitting **topwater frogs** early and late, then switching to **crankbaits** and **chatterbaits** as the day warms up. Catfish? Nothing beats fresh **cut bait** or **prepared stink baits** fished in channel flows and deeper bends.
Here’s a couple of local hot spots worth checking out:
- **Boca Chica Beach jetties:** Great for late night trout and redfish action as the tide pushes in.
- **Salineno and Zapata stretches of the Rio Grande:** Blue cats, drum, and the occasional monster gar on cut bait and live perch.
The next four days should see improving activity as clear skies and falling water temperatures get the fish feeding hard. Keep an eye on bird action to find those inshore schools, and don’t be afraid to switch from artificials to bait if the bite slows midday.
Thanks for tuning in to today’s report. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a local hot bite or pro tip. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease 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.
Over on the coast, the tides for South Padre Island show a low at 12:23 PM and a substantial high tide hitting at 11:07 PM, so you’ll want to time your saltwater action for late afternoon and into evening, especially if you’re jetty or surf casting. In the back bays and river mouths, those dropping midday tides will pull bait and active fish into the deeper channels.
Recent catches around Rio Grande and the lower Laguna Madre have been promising. According to Captain Experiences, inshore guides are still scoring solid numbers of redfish, speckled trout, and flounder. Vanessa B. landed mammoth reds just a few days ago, and snapper action on nearshore structures looks good for persistent folks who work the edges on the major feeding windows. Large gar have also made a few appearances upriver, with one crew nearly boating a four-footer.
In the Rio Grande itself, anglers have brought in blue catfish up to 20 pounds on cut shad and sunfish, and the usual mix of drum and panfish are showing up on the brush piles and deeper holes downstream of Falcon Lake. October tends to be the transition month—catfish are fattening up ahead of cooler weather, and largemouth bass are chasing shad schools, especially around submerged timber and eddies.
For best results on reds and trout, tie on a **soft-plastic paddle tail** in chartreuse or new penny. If the water’s clear, crank or twitch a **silver spoon**, which can trigger reaction strikes from aggressive trout. Flounder have responded well to **live mullet** and scented soft plastics dragged slowly near the bottom. Bass are hitting **topwater frogs** early and late, then switching to **crankbaits** and **chatterbaits** as the day warms up. Catfish? Nothing beats fresh **cut bait** or **prepared stink baits** fished in channel flows and deeper bends.
Here’s a couple of local hot spots worth checking out:
- **Boca Chica Beach jetties:** Great for late night trout and redfish action as the tide pushes in.
- **Salineno and Zapata stretches of the Rio Grande:** Blue cats, drum, and the occasional monster gar on cut bait and live perch.
The next four days should see improving activity as clear skies and falling water temperatures get the fish feeding hard. Keep an eye on bird action to find those inshore schools, and don’t be afraid to switch from artificials to bait if the bite slows midday.
Thanks for tuning in to today’s report. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a local hot bite or pro tip. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease 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.