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Lower Rio Grande Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and River Cats in the Border Stretch
Published 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checkin’ in with your Lower Rio Grande fishing report down here at the edge of Texas.
We’ve got a cool, gray start this morning along the Brownsville and Boca Chica stretch, with the National Weather Service in Brownsville calling temps in the low to mid‑50s and light north to northeast breeze, clouds hanging around most of the day and only a slight warm‑up this afternoon. Winds are light enough to work the jetties and the river, but keep an eye on any drizzle that pops up.
Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m. and sunset just after 5:40 p.m. down here on the border, so your prime windows are that first hour of light and the last hour before dark. Solunar tables for the mid‑coast this week show stronger major feeding periods in the morning and again after sunset, with shorter minor bursts mid‑day, and that pattern lines up well with what we’re seeing on the Lower Coast.
NOAA’s tide predictions for the lower Texas coast today show a predawn low, a solid mid‑morning high, then water easing back out through mid‑afternoon. That incoming push from about two hours before high tide to an hour after has been the sweet spot for bite intensity, especially around the jetties and any current breaks along the river.
On the salt side, the Gulf of Mexico Texas Fishing Report podcast this week has reds and specks chewing pretty steady in December, with slot reds stacked on guts along the beachfront and solid trout hanging on deeper edges of the channels. Folks working the Brownsville Ship Channel and mouth of the Rio Grande have been picking up mixed bags: slot reds, a few overs, keeper trout, plus some drum and sheepshead around structure. Numbers aren’t crazy limits for everyone, but steady: three to five good reds and a handful of trout has been common when the tide and wind line up.
Best producers right now:
- For reds: gold or copper‑colored spoon, 1/4 oz jighead with pumpkinseed or watermelon paddletails, and live shrimp or cut mullet on a Carolina rig.
- For trout: pearl and chartreuse soft plastics, slow‑rolled near the bottom, light‑colored jerkbaits, and live shrimp under a popping cork.
- For drum and sheepshead around rocks and pilings: dead shrimp and small pieces of crab on light bottom rigs.
Up in the freshwater stretch of the Rio Grande near Cameron County, catfish and drum have been the steadiest action. Cut shad, chicken liver, and punch bait around deeper holes and outside bends are putting blue and channel cats in the box, mostly eater‑sized fish with an occasional bigger blue. Rio Grande cichlid and sunfish are still biting worms and tiny jigs in slack pockets when the sun peeks out and warms the edges.
Couple of local hot spots to circle:
- The South Padre / Boca Chica Jetties and the mouth of the Rio Grande: work the green water edges and current seams with spoons and soft plastics on that incoming tide. Good shot at reds, trout, and some snook tight to the rocks.
- Brownsville Ship Channel and turning basins: drift the drop‑offs with plastics for trout and reds, then drop shrimp down on the pilings for drum and sheepshead.
- For river cats, target the deeper bends downstream of Brownsville where current slows and there’s timber or rock.
If you can only fish a few hours, hit that mid‑morning incoming tide window and then slide back out for the last light bite at sunset. Slow your retrieve in this cooler water, let those plastics sink and hop them, and don’t be afraid to downsize leaders if the water is clear.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. 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 Intelligenc
We’ve got a cool, gray start this morning along the Brownsville and Boca Chica stretch, with the National Weather Service in Brownsville calling temps in the low to mid‑50s and light north to northeast breeze, clouds hanging around most of the day and only a slight warm‑up this afternoon. Winds are light enough to work the jetties and the river, but keep an eye on any drizzle that pops up.
Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m. and sunset just after 5:40 p.m. down here on the border, so your prime windows are that first hour of light and the last hour before dark. Solunar tables for the mid‑coast this week show stronger major feeding periods in the morning and again after sunset, with shorter minor bursts mid‑day, and that pattern lines up well with what we’re seeing on the Lower Coast.
NOAA’s tide predictions for the lower Texas coast today show a predawn low, a solid mid‑morning high, then water easing back out through mid‑afternoon. That incoming push from about two hours before high tide to an hour after has been the sweet spot for bite intensity, especially around the jetties and any current breaks along the river.
On the salt side, the Gulf of Mexico Texas Fishing Report podcast this week has reds and specks chewing pretty steady in December, with slot reds stacked on guts along the beachfront and solid trout hanging on deeper edges of the channels. Folks working the Brownsville Ship Channel and mouth of the Rio Grande have been picking up mixed bags: slot reds, a few overs, keeper trout, plus some drum and sheepshead around structure. Numbers aren’t crazy limits for everyone, but steady: three to five good reds and a handful of trout has been common when the tide and wind line up.
Best producers right now:
- For reds: gold or copper‑colored spoon, 1/4 oz jighead with pumpkinseed or watermelon paddletails, and live shrimp or cut mullet on a Carolina rig.
- For trout: pearl and chartreuse soft plastics, slow‑rolled near the bottom, light‑colored jerkbaits, and live shrimp under a popping cork.
- For drum and sheepshead around rocks and pilings: dead shrimp and small pieces of crab on light bottom rigs.
Up in the freshwater stretch of the Rio Grande near Cameron County, catfish and drum have been the steadiest action. Cut shad, chicken liver, and punch bait around deeper holes and outside bends are putting blue and channel cats in the box, mostly eater‑sized fish with an occasional bigger blue. Rio Grande cichlid and sunfish are still biting worms and tiny jigs in slack pockets when the sun peeks out and warms the edges.
Couple of local hot spots to circle:
- The South Padre / Boca Chica Jetties and the mouth of the Rio Grande: work the green water edges and current seams with spoons and soft plastics on that incoming tide. Good shot at reds, trout, and some snook tight to the rocks.
- Brownsville Ship Channel and turning basins: drift the drop‑offs with plastics for trout and reds, then drop shrimp down on the pilings for drum and sheepshead.
- For river cats, target the deeper bends downstream of Brownsville where current slows and there’s timber or rock.
If you can only fish a few hours, hit that mid‑morning incoming tide window and then slide back out for the last light bite at sunset. Slow your retrieve in this cooler water, let those plastics sink and hop them, and don’t be afraid to downsize leaders if the water is clear.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. 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 Intelligenc