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Late-Fall Fishing on the Rio Grande: Reds, Trout, and More Along the Texas Coast
Published 4 months, 1 week ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Rio Grande, South Texas fishing report.
We’ve got a mild late‑fall pattern along the lower river and coastal stretch from Brownsville down to the Rio Grande mouth. National Weather Service Brownsville is calling for cool mornings in the 40s and low 50s, afternoons pushing into the low 60s, light to moderate southeast breeze, and only a slight chance of showers over the Gulf. Winds offshore are running 10–15 knots with 3–4 foot seas per the marine forecast out of Brownsville/Port Isabel, so bay and jetties are the safer bet today.
Sunrise is right around 7 AM with sunset a little after 5:40 PM on this stretch of the Texas coast. That lines up nicely with the solunar tables from SolunarForecast, which rate today as an “average to good” day with a **minor feeding window mid‑morning around 9–10 AM** and another in the evening about 9–10 PM, and **major activity mid‑afternoon about 3–5 PM**. Plan to be on your best water as that afternoon tide turns and starts moving.
Tide-wise, South Padre and the Rio Grande mouth are seeing a typical winter swing: a weak predawn low, building to a decent late‑morning to early‑afternoon high, then easing off through evening according to NOAA tide predictions for this coast. Moving water will be key; slack tide has been shutting the bite down fast.
Recent action: local guides out of Port Isabel and Boca Chica have been picking up **slot redfish and a few overs** on the shallow flats and along the ICW edges, with **speckled trout** tighter to deeper guts and drop‑offs. Captain-style reports say limits of schoolie trout have been coming on soft plastics bounced slow near the bottom, with the better reds cruising shin‑deep mud and scattered grass. Up the river proper, closer to Rio Grande City, anglers working eddies and deeper bends have been putting catfish and freshwater drum in the cooler on cut shad and stinkbait.
Best lures right now in the lower river and bay:
- **Soft plastic paddletails** in new penny, pumpkinseed, or opening‑night on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads.
- **Slow‑sinking twitch baits** in bone or silver/black for cleaner, slightly deeper water.
- On the freshwater stretches, small **chartreuse or white curly‑tail grubs** and natural‑colored crankbaits are fooling drum and the odd bass.
Best bait:
- For reds and drum: **live or fresh‑dead shrimp**, and small chunks of mullet or cut whiting.
- For cats upriver: **cut shad, cut carp, and punch bait** fished on the bottom in deeper bends.
A couple of local hot spots to hit:
- **Boca Chica jetties and the nearby surf pockets**: work the channel edges on the falling tide with soft plastics and live shrimp under popping corks for reds, trout, and the occasional snook tight to structure.
- **Lower Laguna Madre flats just north of the Rio Grande mouth**: drift the knee‑deep mud/grass mix, fan‑casting paddletails; when you find mullet flipping and off‑color streaks, stick the Power‑Pole and work it slow.
Pressure’s light midweek, and with the cooler water these fish want a slower presentation. Keep your retrieves lazy, stay on moving water, and you’ll bend a rod.
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 mild late‑fall pattern along the lower river and coastal stretch from Brownsville down to the Rio Grande mouth. National Weather Service Brownsville is calling for cool mornings in the 40s and low 50s, afternoons pushing into the low 60s, light to moderate southeast breeze, and only a slight chance of showers over the Gulf. Winds offshore are running 10–15 knots with 3–4 foot seas per the marine forecast out of Brownsville/Port Isabel, so bay and jetties are the safer bet today.
Sunrise is right around 7 AM with sunset a little after 5:40 PM on this stretch of the Texas coast. That lines up nicely with the solunar tables from SolunarForecast, which rate today as an “average to good” day with a **minor feeding window mid‑morning around 9–10 AM** and another in the evening about 9–10 PM, and **major activity mid‑afternoon about 3–5 PM**. Plan to be on your best water as that afternoon tide turns and starts moving.
Tide-wise, South Padre and the Rio Grande mouth are seeing a typical winter swing: a weak predawn low, building to a decent late‑morning to early‑afternoon high, then easing off through evening according to NOAA tide predictions for this coast. Moving water will be key; slack tide has been shutting the bite down fast.
Recent action: local guides out of Port Isabel and Boca Chica have been picking up **slot redfish and a few overs** on the shallow flats and along the ICW edges, with **speckled trout** tighter to deeper guts and drop‑offs. Captain-style reports say limits of schoolie trout have been coming on soft plastics bounced slow near the bottom, with the better reds cruising shin‑deep mud and scattered grass. Up the river proper, closer to Rio Grande City, anglers working eddies and deeper bends have been putting catfish and freshwater drum in the cooler on cut shad and stinkbait.
Best lures right now in the lower river and bay:
- **Soft plastic paddletails** in new penny, pumpkinseed, or opening‑night on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads.
- **Slow‑sinking twitch baits** in bone or silver/black for cleaner, slightly deeper water.
- On the freshwater stretches, small **chartreuse or white curly‑tail grubs** and natural‑colored crankbaits are fooling drum and the odd bass.
Best bait:
- For reds and drum: **live or fresh‑dead shrimp**, and small chunks of mullet or cut whiting.
- For cats upriver: **cut shad, cut carp, and punch bait** fished on the bottom in deeper bends.
A couple of local hot spots to hit:
- **Boca Chica jetties and the nearby surf pockets**: work the channel edges on the falling tide with soft plastics and live shrimp under popping corks for reds, trout, and the occasional snook tight to structure.
- **Lower Laguna Madre flats just north of the Rio Grande mouth**: drift the knee‑deep mud/grass mix, fan‑casting paddletails; when you find mullet flipping and off‑color streaks, stick the Power‑Pole and work it slow.
Pressure’s light midweek, and with the cooler water these fish want a slower presentation. Keep your retrieves lazy, stay on moving water, and you’ll bend a rod.
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