Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Lower Rio Grande Winter Bite Steady on Plastics and Live Shrimp
Published 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from down here on the lower Rio Grande and South Padre side, where winter’s acting more like a long cool fall and the fish are liking it.
According to the National Weather Service Brownsville marine forecast, we’re sitting under mild Gulf conditions: light to moderate east-southeast winds, seas running 2–4 feet, and no serious fronts crashing through. That stable weather has the bay pretty calm and the bite steady most of the day, with a little bump when the wind lays near sunset.
NOAA’s January tide table for Port Aransas, which runs similar to our lower coast timing, shows a small winter tide swing today, a weak pre‑dawn low followed by a mid‑morning rise and another gentle high in the evening. With that kind of neapish tide, you’re not getting big current, so it’s a finesse plastics day: work slow, cover water, don’t expect a big “flip the switch” feed window. Solunar tables for the mid‑coast show the stronger major period centered late morning into early afternoon, and it lines up with that incoming trickle of water.
Sunrise on this stretch of the coast is right around 7:20 a.m. with sunset near 6:00 p.m., so you’ve got a tight low‑light window at both ends. That first hour after sunup has been the best for shallow redfish, then things slide deeper and softer until the afternoon major.
According to the Lower Rio Grande Fishing Report from Spreaker yesterday, trout and reds have been consistent despite the mild winter, with keeper specks on shell and scattered reds cruising sand pockets and grass edges. Anglers down here have been boxing fair numbers of **speckled trout**, a mix of schoolie and some solid 18–22 inch fish, plus **slot reds** with a few upper‑slot bruisers. Scattered **black drum** and the odd **flounder** are still showing on mud‑shell where there’s a little warmth.
Best producers have been **soft plastics** on light jigheads: 1/8 oz in clear or lightly stained water, 3/16 if you’ve got more wind. Local favorites right now are paddle‑tail and rat‑tail baits in **natural shrimp, chicken‑on‑a‑chain, and opening night** colors. Under birds or over deeper guts, a **soft plastic under a popping cork** has been out‑fishing hard baits. When the sun gets up and the water slicks off, **MirrOdine‑style suspending baits** and light‑colored **topwaters** will still draw strikes from trout holding over shell in 3–4 feet.
For bait soakers, fresh **live shrimp** remains king, either free‑lined or under a popping cork on the channel edges; **finger mullet** and **cut mullet** are pulling reds and drum along drop‑offs and around the jetties. Peeled **dead shrimp** on the bottom is putting drum and the occasional sheepshead in the box around structure.
Couple of hotspots to circle:
- **South Bay and the edges of the Brownsville Ship Channel**: work the drops from 3 to 6 feet where that slight tide is sliding, bouncing plastics or shrimp on jigheads. Trout have been stacking on the ledges and reds creeping up to the skinny flats on the warmest part of the day.
- **Port Isabel / causeway and adjacent flats**: night lights and early‑morning shadows around the pilings are holding school trout, with redfish pushing bait on the adjacent grass lines and potholes. Slow‑rolled plastics and live shrimp tight to the structure have been steady.
Overall fish activity is **moderate but reliable**: no wild blitzes, just a classic South Texas winter pattern—slow, methodical presentations, hit the right depth, and you’ll grind out a solid box.
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 wit
According to the National Weather Service Brownsville marine forecast, we’re sitting under mild Gulf conditions: light to moderate east-southeast winds, seas running 2–4 feet, and no serious fronts crashing through. That stable weather has the bay pretty calm and the bite steady most of the day, with a little bump when the wind lays near sunset.
NOAA’s January tide table for Port Aransas, which runs similar to our lower coast timing, shows a small winter tide swing today, a weak pre‑dawn low followed by a mid‑morning rise and another gentle high in the evening. With that kind of neapish tide, you’re not getting big current, so it’s a finesse plastics day: work slow, cover water, don’t expect a big “flip the switch” feed window. Solunar tables for the mid‑coast show the stronger major period centered late morning into early afternoon, and it lines up with that incoming trickle of water.
Sunrise on this stretch of the coast is right around 7:20 a.m. with sunset near 6:00 p.m., so you’ve got a tight low‑light window at both ends. That first hour after sunup has been the best for shallow redfish, then things slide deeper and softer until the afternoon major.
According to the Lower Rio Grande Fishing Report from Spreaker yesterday, trout and reds have been consistent despite the mild winter, with keeper specks on shell and scattered reds cruising sand pockets and grass edges. Anglers down here have been boxing fair numbers of **speckled trout**, a mix of schoolie and some solid 18–22 inch fish, plus **slot reds** with a few upper‑slot bruisers. Scattered **black drum** and the odd **flounder** are still showing on mud‑shell where there’s a little warmth.
Best producers have been **soft plastics** on light jigheads: 1/8 oz in clear or lightly stained water, 3/16 if you’ve got more wind. Local favorites right now are paddle‑tail and rat‑tail baits in **natural shrimp, chicken‑on‑a‑chain, and opening night** colors. Under birds or over deeper guts, a **soft plastic under a popping cork** has been out‑fishing hard baits. When the sun gets up and the water slicks off, **MirrOdine‑style suspending baits** and light‑colored **topwaters** will still draw strikes from trout holding over shell in 3–4 feet.
For bait soakers, fresh **live shrimp** remains king, either free‑lined or under a popping cork on the channel edges; **finger mullet** and **cut mullet** are pulling reds and drum along drop‑offs and around the jetties. Peeled **dead shrimp** on the bottom is putting drum and the occasional sheepshead in the box around structure.
Couple of hotspots to circle:
- **South Bay and the edges of the Brownsville Ship Channel**: work the drops from 3 to 6 feet where that slight tide is sliding, bouncing plastics or shrimp on jigheads. Trout have been stacking on the ledges and reds creeping up to the skinny flats on the warmest part of the day.
- **Port Isabel / causeway and adjacent flats**: night lights and early‑morning shadows around the pilings are holding school trout, with redfish pushing bait on the adjacent grass lines and potholes. Slow‑rolled plastics and live shrimp tight to the structure have been steady.
Overall fish activity is **moderate but reliable**: no wild blitzes, just a classic South Texas winter pattern—slow, methodical presentations, hit the right depth, and you’ll grind out a solid box.
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 wit