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South Texas Fishing Report: Winter Patterns on the Lower Rio Grande
Published 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Rio Grande fishing report down here on the South Texas border.
We’ve got a classic winter pattern on the Lower Coast: light southeast breeze this morning building to 10–15 knots by afternoon, with temps climbing into the upper 70s to low 80s according to the Brownsville NWS office. Skies are mostly clear and stable, so the bite’s lining up around the moving water and low‑light windows.
Sunrise on this stretch of coast is right around 7:10 a.m., with sunset near 5:45 p.m. That first hour after sunup and the last hour before dark are your prime times, especially for trout and redfish prowling the edges.
NOAA tide predictions for the lower coast near the Rio Grande show a modest morning low followed by a slow, afternoon rise. Nothing dramatic, but enough current to turn fish on when it starts pushing. Plan to be set up on a drain, point, or channel edge when you first see that water creeping back in.
Fish activity the last few days has been solid for winter:
- **Speckled trout**: Good numbers of 15–20 inch schoolies with an occasional bigger fish coming out of deeper guts and channels. Local reports out of the Port Isabel/Boca Chica side have limits coming early for folks wading with artificials.
- **Redfish**: Mixed slots and a few oversized working the sand/grass transitions and shallow mud flats where that sun can warm things up.
- **Black drum and sheepshead**: Stacked around rocks and bridge pilings; great option if the wind gets up.
Best producers right now:
- **Lures**:
- 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads with 3–4" paddle tails in opening night, pearl/chartreuse, or anything with a dark back and light belly.
- MirrOlure MirrOdines and Catch 5s over knee‑ to waist‑deep grass for trout.
- Gold spoons and weedless swimbaits for redfish cruising skinny water.
- **Bait**:
- Live shrimp under a popping cork is still king for numbers.
- Cut mullet or fresh dead shrimp on the bottom for drum and reds along channel edges.
Couple of hot spots if you’re heading out today:
- **Boca Chica Flats / South Jetty area**: Work the inside edges of the channel on the incoming tide for trout, then slide shallow onto the flats when the sun gets higher for reds tailing on the warmer mud.
- **Lower Rio Grande near the mouth and main river bends**: In the river itself, look for deeper outside bends and eddies holding catfish and drum on cut bait, with occasional bass and gar. On the coastal side, any small drains dumping into the bay on the rising tide can be loaded with slot reds.
Tactics: Start the morning wading with artificials, covering water. As the sun climbs and wind lays a chop on the water, switch to corks with shrimp along drop‑offs and drains. When that late‑day tide really starts creeping in, go back to paddletails and suspending baits and fish methodically.
That’s your on‑the‑water rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next 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 Intelligence AI
We’ve got a classic winter pattern on the Lower Coast: light southeast breeze this morning building to 10–15 knots by afternoon, with temps climbing into the upper 70s to low 80s according to the Brownsville NWS office. Skies are mostly clear and stable, so the bite’s lining up around the moving water and low‑light windows.
Sunrise on this stretch of coast is right around 7:10 a.m., with sunset near 5:45 p.m. That first hour after sunup and the last hour before dark are your prime times, especially for trout and redfish prowling the edges.
NOAA tide predictions for the lower coast near the Rio Grande show a modest morning low followed by a slow, afternoon rise. Nothing dramatic, but enough current to turn fish on when it starts pushing. Plan to be set up on a drain, point, or channel edge when you first see that water creeping back in.
Fish activity the last few days has been solid for winter:
- **Speckled trout**: Good numbers of 15–20 inch schoolies with an occasional bigger fish coming out of deeper guts and channels. Local reports out of the Port Isabel/Boca Chica side have limits coming early for folks wading with artificials.
- **Redfish**: Mixed slots and a few oversized working the sand/grass transitions and shallow mud flats where that sun can warm things up.
- **Black drum and sheepshead**: Stacked around rocks and bridge pilings; great option if the wind gets up.
Best producers right now:
- **Lures**:
- 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads with 3–4" paddle tails in opening night, pearl/chartreuse, or anything with a dark back and light belly.
- MirrOlure MirrOdines and Catch 5s over knee‑ to waist‑deep grass for trout.
- Gold spoons and weedless swimbaits for redfish cruising skinny water.
- **Bait**:
- Live shrimp under a popping cork is still king for numbers.
- Cut mullet or fresh dead shrimp on the bottom for drum and reds along channel edges.
Couple of hot spots if you’re heading out today:
- **Boca Chica Flats / South Jetty area**: Work the inside edges of the channel on the incoming tide for trout, then slide shallow onto the flats when the sun gets higher for reds tailing on the warmer mud.
- **Lower Rio Grande near the mouth and main river bends**: In the river itself, look for deeper outside bends and eddies holding catfish and drum on cut bait, with occasional bass and gar. On the coastal side, any small drains dumping into the bay on the rising tide can be loaded with slot reds.
Tactics: Start the morning wading with artificials, covering water. As the sun climbs and wind lays a chop on the water, switch to corks with shrimp along drop‑offs and drains. When that late‑day tide really starts creeping in, go back to paddletails and suspending baits and fish methodically.
That’s your on‑the‑water rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next 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 Intelligence AI