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ABOUT THE COVER A successful father-son fishing trip! It was ten-year-old Levi’s first time for wade fishing and judging by his smile he truly enjoyed the experience. Dad, Darrell Williams, says he hopes Levi is hooked for life.
CONTENTS
JUNE 2025 VOL 35 NO 2
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
8 Sights and Smells of Speckled Trout 14 Lessons Gleaned (Part 1) 20 Recon Revisited 26 Tariffs and Fish
30 Let’s Ask The Pro 34 Shallow Water Fishing 38 TSFMag Conservation News 42 TPWD Field Notes 46 Extreme Kayak Fishing & Sharks... 48 Mostly Sight-Fishing 52 Bird’s Eye View 51 Science & the Sea
Steve Hillman Kevin Cochran Chuck Uzzle Joe Richard
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Jay Watkins Dave Roberts CCA Texas Emily Miller Eric Ozolins Nathan Beabout Captain Trevor Kucia UT Marine Science Institute
42 WHAT OUR GUIDES HAVE TO SAY
56 The View from Matagorda 58 Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays 60 Hooked up with Rowsey 62 Wayne’s Port Mansfield Report 64 South Padre Fishing Scene
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4 | June 2025
Bink Grimes Gary Gray David Rowsey Wayne Davis Ernest Cisneros
REGULARS 6 Editorial 54 Product Highlights 66 Fishing Reports and Forecasts 68 Catch of the Month 70 Gulf Coast Kitchen
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EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Everett Johnson | Everett@tsfmag.com VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Pam Johnson | Pam@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-550-9918 ADVERTISER REPRESENTATIVES Bart Manganiello | bartalm@optonline.net Pam Johnson | pam@tsfmag.com Office 361-785-3420 Cell 361-550-9918 Wendy Nix | wendy@tsfmag.com Office 361-785-3420 Cell 210-413-7009 Everett Johnson | everett@tsfmag.com Office 361-785-3420 Cell 361-550-3637 CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTION – PRODUCT SALES Vicky Morgenroth Store@tsfmag.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Stephanie Boyd Artwork@tsfmag.com SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Bob Barrera Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine is published monthly. Subscription Rates: One Year (Free Emag with Hard Copy) Subscription $32.00 E-MAG (electronic version) is available for $15.00 per year. Order on-line: WWW.TSFMAG.COM MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine Attn: Subscriptions P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 * Subscribers are responsible for submitting all address changes and renewals by the 10th of the prior month’s issue. Email store@tsfmag.com for all address changes or please call 361-785-3420 from 8am - 4:30pm. The U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee magazines will be forwarded. HOW TO CONTACT TSFMAG: PHONE: 361-785-3420 FAX: 361 792-4530 MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, TX 77983 WEB: www.TSFMAG.com PHOTO GALLERY: photos@tsfmag.com PRINTED IN THE USA. Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine (ISSN 1935-9586) is published monthly by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, Texas 77983 l P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 © Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Positively nothing in this publication may be reprinted or reproduced. *Views expressed by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine contributors do not necessarily express the views of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine. Periodical class permit (USPS# 024353) paid at Victoria, TX 77901 and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983.
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EDITORIAL
JUNE IS AN ALL-STAR MONTH ON THE TEXAS COAST
It seems that every season has its own standout month and, from this fisherman’s point of view, June is the all-star of summer. Everything just seems to come together – kiddos are out of school; the STAR Tournament is underway; red snapper season is open in federal waters; bay fishing is wide open; and above all the weather is about as pleasant as it gets before the blast furnaces of July and August kick in. Speaking of red snapper, I have a bone to pick with the feds, and it’s called IUU fishing – illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing – see also the lancha fleet that comes up from View The Video Mexico and pillages the Texas red snapper Open Camera & hover fishery. The most the miscreants ever receive is over QR Code. When link appears, tap to a slap on the wrist and a bus ride back across open in YouTube. the border, only to return and go back to fishing as soon as they can get re-outfitted by June Issue Highlights the seafood companies they work for. Check out page 38 in this issue for some backstory. What gripes me the most is that IUU fishing, is believed by people who are supposedly in the know, to account for more pounds of red snapper than the Gulf-wide recreational ACL (Annual Catch Limit)
6 | June 2025
established by NOAA/NMFS. How this has been allowed to go on as long as it has is just baffling to me. Recreational fishermen bear the bulk of the stewardship and management burdens. So, why must we always be the ones getting the short end of the stick, (i.e.; two fish red snapper bag limit?) We landed men on the moon more than 50 years ago but somehow we cannot stop a bunch of illegal fishermen in primitive outboard-powered boats raping our fishery? Smells a lot like four years of unsecured southern border to me and I ain’t buying it! Ok – rant over – let’s switch gears to boating safety. June is going to be a busy month on the bays. Everybody is going to be in a hurry and it’s easy to forget common courtesy toward our fellow anglers. Courtesy begins at the launch ramp and a few minutes of preparation prior to backing down are worth their weight in gold. Don’t be the guy that’s sitting on the ramp and taking his good old time transferring gear and passengers to the boat. If launching by yourself, practice your routine when the launch isn’t busy, not while everybody else in line is waiting for you. You’ve no doubt heard the highway safety slogan – Speed Kills. Yep, it sure does, and the same is true on the water. Just because your boat can cruise at 70 doesn’t mean you have to. Slow down, be aware, wear your kill switch…and an inflatable PFD!
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Asia Johnson had never fished saltwater in her life, but she caught most of the trout that day! Thank God for Bass Assassin 4” Sea Shads and girls who listen!
Sights & Smells of
Speckled Trout STORY BY STEVE HILLMAN
I
think the year was 1978. I got off of the school bus, walked into our little house on Dickinson Bayou, changed into my fishing clothes and grabbed my Zebco. As I made that long walk across the lawn past our vegetable garden down to the little pier dad had built for me my anticipation grew stronger with each step I took. The brackish smell of the bayou combined with the unmistakable smell of freshly cut grass as it blended perfectly with the sweet, fishy-watermelon aroma of whatever was feeding in our section of the bayou at the moment. I was so excited because I didn’t know what my first cast had in store. That smell put my mind in a different world and it still lives within me to this day. My brain was officially programed from that point forward. Back then I would use a cast net to catch my own bait. I would catch mainly finger mullet, shad, shrimp and a few pinfish. Artificial lures really weren’t in my arsenal at 8-years-old but little did I know the sights, sounds and smells that I observed on that little stretch of Dickinson Bayou would groom me to become who I am today. Fast forward 47 years…My clients and I idled into a cove on a stretch of shoreline that had a few mullet flipping here and there but other than that there weren’t many signs of trout. We slipped into the water to make our first wade of the morning. It was dead calm. It was actually too calm. A lot of folks wait for those “ice cream” conditions to go fishing but in all honesty I prefer some wind, streaky water and current. Sometimes it can be just too damn pretty. We call these postcard or chamber of commerce days. They’re nice days for a picnic but not necessarily good days for a trout bite. We caught a few dink trout and a couple of undersized flounder, then the fishing Gods gave us a little southeast breeze. I could immediately smell trout in the air. I looked upwind and saw the small slicks popping up along the edge of a shallow shoreline reef. Everything seemed to come to life. Excited is an understatement!
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A wind-induced color streak along with a few flipping mullet caused me to fire off a cast to catch this 24-incher.
Once my clients and I got into position we put a hurting on these trout. Plum-colored Bass Assassins and MirroLure Lil John XLs rigged on 1/8-ounce Bass Assassin Pro Elite Jig Heads had them begging for mercy. Our fish kept moving to the west but the slicks and the smell of trout kept us on their trail and in the midst of the action. It’s always easy when they give themselves up this way! Slicks are the most generous gifts trout could ever give us. The majority of the slicks we see are regurgitation slicks. Sometimes they can frustrate us as the fish are done feeding and are just throwing up. When this happens I like to throw soft plastics on very lightweight jig heads in order to keep the bait in the strike zone longer. Sometimes even the full-bellied trout cannot resist a small morsel dangling in their face. 4-inch Bass Assassin Sea Shads and 3.75inch MirrOlure Lil Johns are excellent choices in these scenarios. 10 | June 2025
Gene Flores got on a hot streak while casting to pure watermelon slicks on a small shoreline oyster reef!
These are the beautiful calm mornings most anglers dream of. We can see every little disturbance on the surface and use that to our advantage. But sometimes it’s just too pretty regardless of what we see! (Photo Credit: Jessica Riemer)
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Greg DeAtkine with a solid CPR speck he caught while casting to dead-giveaway slicks popping along a sand bar.
12 | June 2025
The feeding slicks are obviously my favorite. These are the ones that I call “popcorn slicks.” They are small, clustered and plentiful often leaving a breadcrumb trail which leads us to the school. I’m currently seeing a lot of these types of slicks as our trout are gorging on newly hatched shad and glass minnows. Setting up our wade or drift upwind and up-current of these types of slicks can result in some of the best days we’ll ever experience on the water. We recently caught and released more than 50 legal specks out of one school as we followed the “feeding” slicks for at least a quarter of a mile on the trolling motor! We didn’t catch a trout over 3-pounds but my God it was a blast! June is one of those months when all of the signs are there. Whether we’re drifting or wading the trout will eventually give us plenty of clues. We just have to open our eyes. Dirty streaks created by current and or wind always serve as good areas to target. If there’s no current (tide or wind-driven) then we fish near the ICW or the ship channel to take advantage of the artificial current created by passing tugboats and ships. More often than not the ship-induced current will be strong enough to stir up the bottom and the bait. Then, right as everything settles the trout will light up! It’s an old trick but not everyone knows about it. My clients and I capitalized on this strategy the other day on a weak “moon tide” day and absolutely blistered the trout! June will give us many more calm days when we can see every detail on the surface. I pay attention to any surface disturbance whether I’m wading or drifting. Sometimes one small shrimp hopping across the surface can tip us off. Other times it’s a V-shaped
My lifelong friend, John Maroul, got on some pretty good trout action on an outgoing tide as shad and glass minnows were getting devoured!
View The Video
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
Showing All the Signs
I just love Dave DeAtkine. We’ve been fishing together for years. He was on fire this morning!
STEVE HILLMAN
CONTACT
wake from a redfish in a shallow back lake that signals us to fire off a productive cast. Then, of course, there are the more obvious signs like tight pods of shad or rafting mullet. I don’t mind drifting but wading can really teach us a lot. What we can’t see with our eyes we can feel with our feet. There are so many stretches of shorelines that I have mentally mapped out because of my wading boots. I have details of bottom contours that no map can provide. It’s amazing how much structure and habitat exists that aren’t included in our GPS software or on fishing maps. Too many people focus on where they need to fish instead of WHAT they need to fish! Someone asked me a while back what the biggest mistake I see anglers make. I told him that the most common mistake I notice is that fishermen tend to focus more on the spots than signs. More often than not the signs will show us the spots. Every time I wade I’m reminded of that young boy on Dickinson Bayou stepping foot onto that little wooden pier, full of hope and wonder. The smells, the sights, the sounds…they’re still the same if you pay close enough attention. This summer, take a step back from chasing spots on a map or going to waypoints your buddy gave you. Let your senses guide you. Trust what the trout are showing you. You will eventually find yourself more connected to the water and the fish than ever before. Tight lines and may every cast take you back to where it all began on that little wooden pier.
Derek Slovacek put a hurting on the reds chunking spinnerbaits after a great morning of trout fishing!
Steve Hillman is a full-time fishing guide on his home waters of Galveston Bay. Steve fishes the entire Galveston Bay Complex, wading and drifting for trout, redfish, and flounder using artificial lures. Phone 409-256-7937 Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com Web www.hillmanguideservice.com
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STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN
F
ishing in competitive events can accelerate the learning curve for astute anglers who properly evaluate the successes and failures of their methods and strategies. A simple principle serves as the foundation for this truth–measuring one’s catch against others clarifies the quality of the outcome. Over time, the clarity refines one’s expectations in various places with disparate environmental conditions in play and facilitates the generation of better plans. Now, I can look back on lessons I gleaned a quarter-century ago when I fished against many of the top trout hunters in the state and recall specific details about events which helped formulate the principles I employ today. In a series of related features, I’ll contemplate the salient decisions I made in Troutmasters events and generate a list of truths revealed by the ways those decisions either helped me succeed or caused me to fail. I hope to make this more than a trip down nostalgia lane, one in which I pat myself on the back for jobs well done. Instead, I intend to make this an honest evaluation of the important choices I made and how I either built on them because they turned out great, or learned to avoid repeating them, because they sabotaged my chances for success. In this first piece, I’ll examine how several tournaments, spread out over a span of years, helped reveal some significant truths related to the primary initial decision all anglers must make–the choice of where to fish.
Recalling the details of the first event in which I made a big splash in the Texas coastal fishing scene begins to cast light on my perception of the most important facts related to this basic angling decision. Held on the last day of October and the first of November, 1998, the tournament had a unique format and set of rules. Anglers could fish anywhere they wanted within our state, but were required to weigh their catch each afternoon at the harbor in Matagorda. We fished for a total of ten trout, weighing up to five each day. Our boats weren’t super-fast back then, so the requirement to weigh fish both days restricted where people could fish, at least somewhat. On the days prior to the start of the first Troutmasters Classic, Small topwaters like the hothead Spook Junior shown here work well to trick trout in the warm waters of June. relatively calm winds in the wake of a weak front allowed the water in East Matagorda Bay to turn emerald green, and gulls started hovering and squawking over trout chasing shrimp. At least that’s what I heard from the guys who fished there, many of whom intended to try their luck in those waters during the hours of the Classic. “We’re catchin’ five pounders under the birds over here,” one said. “It’s gonna take at least a five-pound average to win.” I doubted what he said. Not the part about catching a few five pounders under birds in East Matty, the part about the likely dimensions of the winning weights. Normally, we fished for three fish per day in our events, and stringers of six fish averaging just four pounds won many of those. When Big trout in Texas’ bays often look somewhat skinny in the summer, but a long, skinny fish can certainly be beautiful the weather turned sketchy, and during the and satisfying, as Ethan Aaron proved on this hot morning. summer heat wave, winning weights often fell to lower levels. I didn’t think anyone would be able to maintain a five-pound average for ten fish, despite the shining reports of easy catching in the waters closest to Matagorda Harbor. For good reasons, many of us considered East Matagorda the best big trout bay in Texas north of the JFK Causeway. After experiencing such a hot bite on the days leading into the Classic, lots of guys launched their boats at the harbor and fished close to the weigh station during the event. The decision, on paper, appeared to make good sense, despite weather forecasts calling for onshore winds to pick up significantly Perry Shankle came prepared to deal with the searing sun on Saturday, with a front expected to on this June trip, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, fishing gloves, pass over the coast on Sunday. a buff, a wide-brimmed hat and quality eye protection. The forecast made no difference to 16 | June 2025
me; I fished far from the madding crowd, in a place without people. Early in October of ‘98, a massive flood event in the Texas Hill Country sent copious amounts of freshwater down both the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, filling San Antonio Bay with dirty water and wrecking the fishing for trout and redfish. At least that’s what most people believed. “The fish are flushed outta there right now,” folks said. I knew better. Not because I’m smarter than other people, but because I chose to go and check it out myself, just after the historic floodwaters reached the coast. Two weeks prior to the tournament, I barely succeeded in launching my boat at Charlie’s Baiit Camp, nearly filling my Suburban with bay water in the process. The raging bull of a flood tide obscured the south shorelines of Espiritu Santo and San Antonio bays under an orange-brown layer of river water and forced me to use duck blinds to find my way into one of the Twin Lakes. When I made it to the back shoreline of the cove, I found a distinct line separating clear, salty water from the ugly fresh. The ridiculous heft of the tide necessitated standing in waist-deep water on what was normally dry land in order to cast into the lake. From there, I caught a few trout, proving some still lingered in the area. By the next weekend, the one prior to the tournament, the tide had fallen somewhat, mixing the saltwater with the fresh in the back of the lake, and the catching improved dramatically. So, knowing I’d have a good chance of weighing ten keepers over two days, and hoping the winds would sabotage the efforts of all the guys fishing in East Matagorda Bay, I decided to try and beat all the hot shots who could fish anywhere in the Lone Star State by fishing in a place largely considered mediocre in terms of producing big trout. The weather helped my strategy produce a satisfying result. I weighed the biggest trout in the ‘98 Classic and my stringer of ten trout fell just .05 pounds shy of the winner’s stringer of six fish. Neither of us managed to tally thirty pounds, which would represent a three-pound average for ten fish. Most of the contestants who fished East Matty failed to weigh their five fish either day. The gusty south winds muddied the water in the middle, forcing the
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guys into the coves, where they despite the fact I only weighed spread out and made lots of four of my allowed six fish. If I’d casts for few bites. Over time, the managed to land any of the three recollection of all these details four-pounders I lost near me in helped me glean valuable lessons the last thirty minutes of fishing about how best to decide where time, I’d have won outright. to fish on any given day. Significantly, others who finished When trying to figure out near the top of the leaderboard exactly where to fish, one should did so without fishing in the certainly consider the long-term waters of the most famous bay track record of the waters lying within the allowed boundaries. within reach, how regularly Years later, I used this they produce the desired fish, knowledge to help a customer considering both species and decide where to fish in a different size. Clearly, East Matagorda Bay Corpus Christi tournament. With had (and still has) a better record windy conditions mucking up of producing big trout than San Baffin, he caught the biggest Antonio Bay. So, given benign trout in the event while fishing in conditions conducive to catching, East Flats, in Corpus Bay. Nearly trying to win an event like the all his competitors raced south Classic in San Antonio Bay would from Flour Bluff, thinking they Neal Laskowski posed with another pretty trout caught on a small make little or no sense. But on “had to fish Baffin” to have any topwater while fishing with the captain during the month of June. the last day of October and first chance of winning. Most returned of November 1998, tough conditions reduced the acreage of useful with long faces and light stringers. waters in both bays significantly. Thinking only of these examples, it’s easy to draw the following I had my own little protected corner, one to which an unusually conclusion–fishing in the place with the most famous name isn’t large number of trout and redfish had retreated, while running from always the best idea. But, the opposite can also be true, as I learned the freshwater gushing into the other end of the bay. Anglers in East in other events. Sometimes, fishing in the bay with the significantly Matagorda couldn’t effectively target the fish they’d been catching better reputation is the only pathway to any chance for success. on the days prior to the Classic. Given those facts, my decision I learned this the hard way during a February Troutmasters event turned out almost perfect. held in Matagorda. My partner Ari Schwartz and I decided to go Just as it did some years later, the first time Troutmasters held a against the grain and fish the coves on the south shoreline of West tournament in Baffin Bay. In that case, organizers of the event did Bay, while almost all the other contestants tried their luck in East put limits on where contestants could fish. They placed the southern Bay. We fished well, and caught plenty of fish. But with conditions boundary at the southern entrance of the Land Cut; the south side conducive to catching in East Bay, our names did not find their way of the La Quinta Channel, which separates Corpus Christi Bay from onto the leaderboard. Redfish Bay, provided the northern boundary. Sometimes, fishing in a place with a famous name is the only way, Predictably, when Troutmasters held an event in and around Baffin even when that place is packed with people. Weather affects this for the very first time, most of the contestants chose to fish within decision more than any other factor. Conditions conducive to easy the boundaries of the most highly regarded big trout bay in Texas. catching increase average weights and elevate the importance of From a long-term production standpoint, this certainly made sense. using long-term productivity to decide where to fish. Conversely, However, spring winds had howled for days leading into the harsh conditions reduce average weights and limit where one can event, mucking up the already brown-tide stained waters effectively fish, elevating the potential in places best buffered from in the rock-studded hypersaline estuary. Catching a fish the effects of the conditions. that May weekend proved challenging in Baffin; catching big trout proved nearly impossible. I chose to fish in a place which actually produces best when the strong hands of steady onshore spring winds push against the Texas Kevin Cochran is a long-time fishing guide at Corpus Christi (Padre Island), TX. Kevin coast. Working the protected coves and pockets of Shamrock Cove, is a speckled trout fanatic and has created in the eastern corner of Corpus Christi Bay, I finished in third place,
View The Video
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
The captain uses Google Earth to show how human activity can dramatically alter the potential productivity of a spot over time. 18 | June 2025
CONTACT
KEVIN COCHRAN
several books and dvds on the subject. Kevin’s home waters stretch from Corpus Christi Bay to the Land Cut.
TROUT TRACKER GUIDE SERVICE Phone Email Web
361-688-3714 kevincochran404@yahoo.com www.captainkevblogs.com
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TSFMAG.com | 19
Chuck with a gorgeous marsh red he tamed with the Penn Squall-Laguna Rods combo.
Recon
Revisited STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE
T
he slick little Gordon skiff slid off the bunks into the tannin-colored water and looked right at home as the outboard came to life and purred like a kitten. I shook my head while trying to control my grin and said to my partner for the day, “Man, have we come a long way, or what?” Over the last 25 years I have been fortunate to call Ron Begnaud my friend and I still do to this day. Ron runs Redchaser Guide Service and is one of the best guys on the Louisiana coast. Ron started in the marshes around Calcasieu and now calls everything from Sabine to Cocodrie and beyond home at various times of the year. There are very few people I share information with regarding the marshes and areas I fish and Ron is one of them.
Having the folks you take fishing find success is as much a rush as catching them yourself.
The Penn Squall – a solid performing baitcast reel with an angler-friendly price tag.
As we idled down the bayou past a No Wake sign we began to reminisce how we got started targeting skinny water redfish with both fly and conventional tackle. The days of using paper maps and aerial photos joined together with Scotch tape are a long way back in the rearview mirror but still as important as ever. The discovery process is perhaps one of the coolest things about this style of fishing and that is exactly what he had planned to do on this day. I read a quote by a risk analyst, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, that said, “What I learned on my own I still remember,” and that really hit home for me. The hundreds of days spent on the platform poling these areas trying to figure out everything possible to make the fishing experience better is more than half the battle. It is the battle. I see more boat traffic these days than ever before, thanks to Smart Phones, Google Earth, On-X, and a host of other apps and electronic wizardry that were not even heard of when Ron and I started. Now, unfortunately, there are no hidden secrets and there is no place to hide from the masses. The one thing that separates anglers today though is how they deal with the information and that’s where time on the water is the greatest equalizer. In the Yeti video 120 Days a very prominent Florida guide named David Mangum said, “Nobody owns the ocean but you own the intellectual capital that you have earned with your blood and sweat over the years.” Sure, you can get to the magic spot, but what happens when you get there? How do you attack or dissect it so that you are able to catch fish? It’s a puzzle that takes time to figure out and most folks
are not willing to really dedicate that kind of effort to the pursuit. Old dinosaurs like Ron and myself are the exception to the rule, not because we decided to study these areas so many years ago, but because we had to since there was nothing else. Our original hardships of dealing with minimal information in those days forced us to learn and earn our PhD from the School of Hard Knocks. In the beginning we both ran very small and basic skiffs; in fact, we used them as badges of honor so to speak. I had a tiny 15 foot Pathfinder while Ron ran a 16 foot Carolina skiff. We deemed them “budget boats” and did everything we could to make them as close to the high-end models as possible. It was insane the amount of fish we caught in those boats and that just proves the old saying, “Fish can’t read the name on the side of the boat.” Both of us were so proud to tell anyone who would listen that we had so little money tied up in such cool little fishing rigs. I remember Ron actually spending a couple hundred bucks on a bow light from one of the high-end skiff makers and putting it on his Carolina Skiff as sort of way of, “sticking it to the man.” I actually think the only stuff on the boat that cost more than that light was the motor and boat itself. Since those days we have upgraded but the spirit of the trips still remain the same, to find new water and patterns that make us better fishermen and better guides for our clients. Our latest recon mission was a smashing success as we visited old haunts in my home water to better familiarize Ron with the subtle changes that have occurred, thanks to past storms and other natural causes. Ron spends much more time on the east side of Louisiana
22 | June 2025
TSFMAG.com | 23
It is always a joy to have an accomplished caster on the bow of the boat.
Ron’s navigational skills combined with the excellent handling of the Gordon skiff made for a pleasant ride through the maze of bayous we fished.
now and the amount of water he guides on is immense, so this brief refresher jogged his memory and he was soon right back at home. It was an absolute privilege to watch him cast from the front platform as he effortlessly shot tight loops from his flyrod to very specific targets in less than stellar conditions. We traded spots and allowed each other time on the bow during the day and were fortunate enough to find plenty of fish to keep us busy and more new water that we will need to investigate in the near future. The opportunity to continue the discovery process with such a good friend and angler is beyond special, something I will always look forward to when given the chance. During the day we spent together I took the opportunity to try out some new gear that I recently got my hands on. When most Texas coastal anglers hear the brand name Penn it means spinning reels or offshore tackle, not conventional gear for throwing plugs or wading. Well, you can now add Penn to that list with their low-profile highspeed model called the Squall. This reel comes with an 8:1 gear ratio and excellent line capacity in a well-built frame. Just like most Penn products you get precision machined gears which give the reel a solid feel and excellent performance. I put the Squall on a Laguna Texas
Wader II rod and just fell in love with the combination. The castability is impressive as is the drag system, an all-around quality setup for sure that comes nowhere near breaking the bank. If you get a chance you need to at least put one in your hands and give it a look because this is truly a hidden gem in the baitcaster market. Discovering new water, new techniques or new gear is often times as much fun as the physical act of catching the fish. Putting a plan together or solving the puzzle for many is the epitome of satisfaction and I can’t argue with that train of thought. I get as much a rush seeing folks catch fish that I brought them to as just about anything out there. This month we will get some fantastic opportunities to discover fish from the gulf to the marsh and everywhere in between. Take time to explore new places or techniques and relish the process of figuring it all out. If you are lucky enough to do that with the right folks in the boat it makes it even more special.
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
24 | June 2025
CONTACT
View The Video
CHUCK UZZLE Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. His specialties are light tackle and fly fishing for trout, reds, and flounder. Phone Email Website
409-697-6111 wakesndrakes@yahoo.com wakesndrakes.com
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American-made Dixie Spoon with another trout at one of the Texas jetties.
Tariffs & Fish STORY BY JOE RICHARD
W
ith new tariffs on overseas products going into effect back in April, how will this affect our fishing and fish consumption? Our readership obviously catches more fish than the general public, but here are some early thoughts. The price of most fish at the market will increase, especially many tons of tilapia and catfish fillets and shrimp shipped from overseas. I’ve never been a fan of those…different species of catfish grown in crowded ponds over there, jammed together shoulder-to-shoulder at feeding time. There is no regulation on the quality of food pellets fed to those fish, including antibiotics. When my fishing club (I call it the grumpy old man’s club) has their monthly fish fry and most of the fillets are obviously not from area lakes, I look for a couple of whole fish from the fryer, such as bluegills and crappie. Many of our guys are now too old to fish, and supplement our cookouts with imports. If it’s strictly Asian catfish on the menu, I stick with the cheese grits and hush puppies.
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Fresh pompano from the Gulf have always been an expensive item, but they’re worth it.
Avoiding imported fish goes all the way back to Port O’Connor fish fries we held back in the late 1980s, when I saw my first big box of fillets marked with Chinese lettering. It was a Friday with 20 guests showing up, June and very hot, and the wind (of course) was blowing and local fishing was slow. Younger in those days, we jumped in Jimmy Crouch’s boat and ran to the first big oil rig about eight miles off the jetties. Where the water was still muddy. Choppy, too. Snapper fishing was a joke there, so we rigged up corks with fish scraps underneath, pitched them out there, and caught 8-10 blacktip sharks from 2-3 feet long. Soon, the ammonia smell from the big Igloo would turn your head around, if not worse, so we retreated back to the dock. Without the skins those fillets smelled like normal fish. Our guests were impressed, and said those were the biggest trout fillets they’d ever seen. So, where there’s a will there’s a way for acquiring local fish instead of imports. There are disturbing videos and stories on YouTube of Asian fish farms, some with tilapia raised on pig poop. And Norwegian farm-raised salmon with very high levels of PCBs, thanks to food pellets cooked and dried from trawler bycatch from the (almost landlocked) Baltic Sea that borders nine countries. And videos of Asian longline boats that stay at sea for years, unloading their catch while offshore to factory vessels. The Chinese fleet wanders the world’s seas and uses ill-paid captive labor from other countries. Locally and conservation-wise, with increasing prices on imported fish, we may see more fishing pressure on our domestic bay and offshore fish. More pressure over time could lead to bag limits being tightened by TP&W. 28 | June 2025
American shrimpers will likely see the most benefits from tariffs. They’ve been beaten down for decades, competing against Asian shrimp going for as little as a dollar a pound. The American public consumes millions of pounds of shrimp and most consumers have forgotten the taste of real Gulf shrimp, which is more firm and actually has a flavor. As much as 90-percent of shrimp consumed in America is from Asia and other countries, and the shrimp there are raised in farms often carved out of mangrove country. Not sure what their shrimp are fed, but a good dose of antibiotics probably helps their over-crowded ponds. Efforts to build domestic shrimp farms in Texas have resulted in a dozen locations around the state, most of them away from the coast, always a good idea lest some Asian shrimp species escapes into the bays, which has happened before. We can assume new tariffs will benefit these Texas companies. Increased shrimping effort in the bays and offshore will have a negative effect with the wasted bycatch, which years ago was formerly shoveled overboard. Today on the big offshore boats, everything is dumped into salt tanks and killed, fish and crabs left floating. They are skimmed off the top and tossed overboard. The shrimp sink and are scooped up. Board or pull alongside a big shrimpboat this summer while fishing offshore and you will find big sacks of salt stacked on deck. Countless tons of small fish are wasted by shrimpboats, with an estimate years ago of an estimated billion golden croakers annually. The fishing public today scarcely knows about the former autumn runs of tasty golden croaker we once had. Sand trout back then were plentiful, too. Farther offshore in blue water, I’ve seen plenty of tiny red snapper floating behind anchored shrimpboats. Some of the big boats also carried big, illegal fish traps offshore, where they were left at the snapper rocks. At least the turtle excluder devices finally installed on those boats in about 1990 began kicking out the sea turtles while they were still alive. Anyway, increasing efforts offshore in American waters will bring increased mortality on a variety of marine species. TP&W has been buying out shrimpboat permits for a long time, and it will be interesting to see if that trend is reversed. China is also a major producer of shrimp nets now subject to tariffs, but they’re also made here and there along the Gulf Coast, notably
Spanish mackerel In Texas still have a generous daily bag limit.
in Bayou La Batre in Alabama. Fictional home of Forest Gump, if memory serves. One item I won’t mind seeing heavily tariffed is the shell shops that have sprung up along the Gulf Coast for so long. Recently we were stuck behind a slow 18-wheeler truck on a farm road headed to the coast, full of “seashell products” from the Pacific Ocean. All of those big chunks of coral, shells and small fish coated in lacquer have to come from somewhere, right? Most are stripped from coral reefs by Asian or Filipino crews, often by slave labor. They anchor over isolated reefs, jump overboard, and grab anything that might carry a price tag. Gillnets, hammers, crowbars, bleach, all used on the reefs. Back in the late ’80s someone sent me an Australian magazine with many pictures. They’d managed to board a big boat from the Philippines that carried Swarming gulls swoop in for leftover bycatch just off Galveston. over 100 young boys equipped with nothing The shrimp catch is bound for several fish markets in Seabrook. but goggles. They’d jump overboard and pry up or gather anything of value. The kids slept on deck, ate small dried fish, while more valuable fish were stored in the freezer. Turns out the kids were sold by their parents to the boat owner. If a kid somehow escaped and made it home, he was returned to the boat. Today, as mentioned, indentured slaves are common on the Asian boats that stay at sea for years. Many of the boats are owned by Chinese, but most of the crew are lured---I mean hired—from other countries. Their passports are confiscated and they’re forced to work months or years to pay off their “debts.” The few Chinese crewmen are treated well and have their cell phones. Those from other countries, not so. There have been fatalities not easily explained. Pulling longlines for years, finning the sharks, fishing in illegal areas, it’s all part of their program. And much of that fish winds up in American Every lure in this tackle box may be from Asia, except for the neon restaurants and fish markets. Or did, unless tariffs green spoons from Missouri. Will the Asian products triple in price? somehow put a stop to it. by trout, Spanish mackerel and redfish. Another area of concern are the countless items of fishing tackle For us fishermen, it’s either stock up before a price increase, pay from China that will see a jump in price. I saw one headline that more at the store, or use what you have around the house. said fishing tackle sales will be “walloped” by tariffs. Sixty percent of America’s fishing tackle is imported, with 40 percent from China. The Pure Fishing corporation is heavily invested in China. Pure Fishing owns Penn, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Ugly Stik, Fenwick, Pflueger, Joe Richard has fished the Gulf since 1967, starting out of Port ArSavage Gear, Plano, Fin-Nor, Frabill, Greys (British-made fly tackle), thur, but his adventures have taken him up and down the entire coast. Johnson, JRC clothing, Mitchell, Hardy (British fly tackle), Shakespeare, He was the editor of Tide magazine for eight years, and later Florida SpiderWire, Stren, and Van Staal in Oklahoma. Sportsman’s book and assistant Johnson alone makes many items, among them their Sprite spoons, magazine editor. He began guiding of which I’ve used a great many. Are they going to double in price? out of Port O’Connor in 1994. His Looks like it’s time to stock up on Dixie flutter spoons, available in specialty is big kingfish, and his latest book is The Kingfish Bible, numerous colors, now made in Missouri by a retired Army veteran. New Revelations. Available at Older Texas coastal fishermen well-remember the original Dixie Jet Seafavorites.com spoon, made in Houston, designed for driving long casts into the wind, out across the surf into green water where they were attacked
CONTACT
JOE RICHARD
TSFMAG.com | 29
J AY WAT K I N S
ASK THE PRO
HINTS AND TIPS FOR FISHING MID-BAY REEFS AND RIPRAP It’s good to be back on my home water in Rockport. High winds and low tides have made some days a little challenging but overall our trout fishing is much improved over the past four years. I see great numbers of trout in the 17- to 22-inch class, with a few 24- to 26-inch fish from time to time. Redfish are saving the day when strong winds prevent me from fishing where I want to for springtime trout. I like windward shorelines and spoils in the spring and spend most of my time on the southern end of the Aransas and Corpus Christi bay systems. This has been the norm for my fishing operation for over forty-eight years. In June I will head to what I refer to as The North Country and spend the summer months fishing mid-bay reefs, barrier island shorelines, ICW riprap and, of course, some area back-lakes and drains. Deeper mid-bay reefs provide shallow feeding areas and also provide the luxury of quick deepwater access to help with quickly warming water temperatures. When on the reefs I concentrate effort on those that have good bait activity, moving water, and some type of pass or gut that allows access through the reef, versus just the points at the ends. Reefs that show you bait fish stacked on the crown
are typically holding predators in the deeper waters surrounding the reef. I remember fishing the reefs in Copano and St. Charles bays and literally only fishing reefs that displayed these types of bait concentrations. The late Robert Brooks and I would sometimes hit four or five small reefs before we found one that had the bait fish stacked the way we wanted them to be. Only then would we get out and begin to fish. It was back in the 1970s and we threw MirrOlure 52MR baits in color patterns 18, 19, 28, 26 and 51. “Cold Steel,” is how Robert referred to the effectiveness of fishing with these lures. Robert was an excellent lure fisherman and we had a lot of fun fishing together. I learned a ton from Robert; he had so many small areas of shallow and deep shell that he knew well and fished regularly, some of which no longer exist today. We fished many reefs I didn’t even know existed until Robert punched the bottom with an old fishing rod he carried just for that purpose. I sometimes fear that I failed to thank him enough publicly, so here goes. Thanks, Robert, for sharing your fishing knowledge and being my fishing buddy in the early years of our careers. I bet that Robert is guiding my dad and his dad, EG, right now somewhere along the Jordan.
John Montague with a true 30-incher.
Jimmy Shafer with a really nice one.
30 | June 2025
Reef points are always good areas to find fish stacked, waiting there for wind-driven or tidal current to deliver their next meal. The smaller passes or guts in many of our area’s reefs allow for the passage of water from one side to the other, features that also function as pinch points that create easier feeding opportunities. I feel that larger fish take Mark Greco with a really fat one. more advantage of the pinch points than do the smaller fish. Periods of low tide are excellent opportunities for us to make mental or GPS notes on areas within reefs where water will always pass through. Most all our sanctuary reefs; Carlos, Cedar, Beldons, Ayers, and the Second Chain of Islands possess multiple passes or guts that bisect the main reef. I have several that I fish whenever the current created by wind or tide will be flowing most strongly through them. Generally speaking, the smaller the pass the stronger the water movement and the larger the fish. These passes provide opportunity for anglers to catch all kinds of fish – trout, reds and flounder are most common but on occasion I do catch black drum in the moving water. It is my experience that the upcurrent sides of the passes and the tips of the
reefs typically hold the largest trout. Reds seem to prefer upcurrent and down-current sides equally. As the air temperatures warm and water movement decreases, look to target the deeper water surrounding the reef. I don’t like to walk on the reef itself if I can help it. My dad called it, “crunching them off,” when I would get up on top and push my way to the tip or a pass in the reef. Next time you are fishing a reef, walk up on top for just a few steps and listen carefully to the noise you’re creating beneath the surface, and then tell me whether you might agree that the reef’s residents are fully aware of your presence. On most all our area reefs you have two transitions. One from hard shell to scattered shell and the other from scattered shell to sand or mud. In the later morning to midday hours, I find that the line where scattered shell meets deeper sand or mud bottom is a more productive area. If we can put the lure where the fish are holding, we can make them bite. I believe this with every fiber of my being and, if you don’t believe you can, then you have some work to do on your game. This does require one to stay out and
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View The Video
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
32 | June 2025
I find that trout prefer the slightly deeper submerged grass beds and parallel guts, while the reds, drum, and flounder prefer to travel the lower edge where the riprap meets the sand. In most all the areas where this type of structure is available to us, one can position themselves to where you can fish all three types of structure. With increased barge and ship traffic, we can expect to see more and more riprap being installed in our bay systems. Now, one more thing worth mentioning, we have some very large water lizards in the North Country that make the riprap their homes, so be aware of their presence. I am not afraid of them, but I do respect them. As spring gives way to summer we will be forced to make some changes to our fishing game plans. For me, the change and the challenges these changes create are what makes my job rewarding. Fishing is hard, so catching them when most believe they cannot be caught is the ultimate reward. May Your Fishing Always Be Catching -Guide, Jay Watkins
C O N TA C T
fish through some of the less desirable hours of the day, but if we do it is all in a day’s work for me. Do not kid yourself; everyone still loves to see a strong work ethic being displayed by their fishing guide. Mid-bay reefs can offer a full day of fishing without having to move very much, and the less time we running and looking the more time we can keep a lure in the water. I also like fishing the riprap along the ICW, the areas where rock or articulated brick mats have been placed to prevent erosion. Riprap creates a wall and wave action converges along its lower edge to form a small, sandy-bottomed “fish highway.” Trust me when I tell you these “fish highways” are excellent areas to target. Trout, reds, and flounder alike love working up and down such structures. Add some scattered grass and perhaps a few clumps of oyster shell and you have an area that provides game fish with all they need. Now, to all that I have described above, add the deeper waters of the ICW and the man-made tides created by passing barges and you really have increased odds of this area being productive for you. We need to position ourselves on a line that runs parallel to the riprap that allows us to fish at an angle to it and any bottom structures that might also be available.
Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 45 years. Jay specializes in wading yearround for trout and redfish with artificial lures. Jay covers the Texas coast from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. Telephone Email Website
361-729-9596 Jay@jaywatkins.com www.jaywatkins.com
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DAV E R O B E R T S
S H A L L O W W AT E R F I S H I N G
THE COASTAL SUMMER If there’s one thing I am certain of is that summer on the Texas coast is completely different than anywhere I’ve ever visited. We have roughly 360 miles of beachfront with mostly free access to nearly all of it. All of our beaches can be visited by the general public, and the way I see it that’s 360 miles of fishing and fun for everyone to enjoy. One of the biggest draws to our coast is that we have the ability to drive our vehicles down the sand and right up to the water’s edge. If you have ever been to a beach in Florida or any of the other states where you have to carry everything in, then you know how much
34 | June 2025
of a luxury this is. You especially know how nice this is if you ever had to drag a kayak for 100 yards or more through a parking lot and sugar sand. It’s not fun, trust me on this one! But what is fun is the ability to pick a spot, set up for the day, and enjoy what we have. However, one thing that is super important is having the proper type of vehicle, and knowing its capabilities to avoid getting stuck. Driving on beach sand isn’t always as easy as it looks. Some places can be quite secluded and help might be a good ways off. Having a vehicle capable of beach driving at the ready can make fishing an absolute blast when having access to miles of beachfront. When the weather gets right and the surf slicks off, you can find me, my buddies, and others headed for the coast before the sun comes up. We know the trout will be in the green water and, if you hit it right, the fishing can be like nothing you’ve ever experienced. My mornings typically begin with topwaters as they are usually highly effective and who doesn’t love surface explosions? If the topwater bite begins to fade or doesn’t quite pan out as hoped, we will usually switch to a soft plastic or a MirrOlure. It took me a while to catch onto the MirrOlure thing but it didn’t take much convincing after watching some old salts put on a clinic right in front of us one day. With all that said though, if fishing is slow in your chosen area, just jump in your truck and drive a little further down the beach. Here on the Upper Coast, our beach used to have an old bridge and cabin pilings before the tides and hurricanes swept everything away. These structures would provide just enough habitat to keep schools of specks around. Here recently, the Corps of Engineers removed a lot of other old debris, and that puts us back to finding
TSFMAG.com | 35
View The Video
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
Fish the Jetties and Beachfront this Summer
36 | June 2025
species could be gafftop. I know they’re not the most desirable species, but let me tell you, there are some truly impressive specimens in the surf – large enough in fact to potentially win the CCA S.T.A.R. Tournament’s Gafftop Division. And, once the lines are out, it’s time to fire up the grill, set up some horseshoes and let that mullet soak. It is as easy as fishing gets! On top of all of this, when heading to the coast, there are plenty of places to pull over on the side of the road to catch a few crabs. This is as easy as buying some chicken necks, cotton string and a net. If we know that conditions may not be the best for trout fishing, we might decide to spend our morning catching crabs before setting up on the beach. Crabs are delicious right off the grill, and don’t be afraid of using one for bait on one of your big lines. Summer is upon us and although I’m not looking forward to the heat, I am looking forward to the fishing opportunities ahead. We are blessed to have the resources that Texas provides all of us and I am glad that people still get out and enjoy them. So, load up the kids, call some friends and head to the coast this summer!
C O N TA C T
trout the old fashioned way. There are a few things to look for when making a move down the beach and one of them is the birds. Seagulls and terns are doing the same exact thing you are, except they have the advantage of an elevated vantage point. Any time you see them congregated, hovering and diving, you need to stop and try a few casts. Another thing to keep an eye out for are slicks – usually popping along the second or third bar offshore. Slicks can be a dead giveaway that trout are bunched up and feeding aggressively. Trout fishing in the surf has always been top tier for me but there are always plenty of other options. If the weather is not ideal with surf conditions too rough for wade fishing, we will pick a likely spot on the beach and throw out a few big rods. The beauty about fishing like this is that you can make it as easy or go all out and take it as seriously as you like. I personally like to make it easy and have fun while doing it. I will usually stop at a bait shop before heading to the beach and will grab a few frozen mullet. These can be chopped into chunks and will catch just about anything you would like. Of course, bull reds and sharks are the target, but another likely
Dave Roberts is an avid kayak-fishing enthusiast fishing primarily the inshore Upper Coast region with occasional adventures to surf and nearshore Gulf of Mexico. Email: TexasKayakChronicles@yahoo.com Website: www.TexasKayakChronicles.com
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By Kesley G. Banks, Ph.D. | Matthew Streich, Ph.D. | Har te R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e ; Te x a s A & M U n i v e r s i t y, C o r p u s C h r i s t i | Photos by TPWD
T S F M A G C O N S E R VAT I O N N E W S
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: QUANTIFYING
IUU FISHING AT THE TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER
CCA Texas funds $50,000 to HRI for Quantifying IUU Fishing In a significant step toward protecting marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico, CCA Texas has pledged $50,000 to support the Harte Research Institute’s efforts to investigate and quantify illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the region. This partnership aims to shed light on the scope and impact of IUU fishing in the northwestern Gulf, a persistent threat to sustainable fisheries, marine ecosystems, and coastal economies. By leveraging cuttingedge research and collaborative data analysis, the initiative seeks to provide the scientific foundation needed to strengthen enforcement strategies and promote responsible stewardship of Gulf fisheries. The following paper by Kesley G. Banks, Ph.D. and Matthew Streich, Ph.D., goes into detail about this important issue. The overall goal of this project is to characterize and quantify illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing of fish species (e.g., sharks and Red Snapper) in the northwestern Gulf of America (formally Gulf of Mexico; hereafter Gulf ). The Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation has partnered with the United States Coast Guard Station South Padre Island (USGC), the station that performs the majority of illegal fishing vessel interceptions, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for this project. This mutually beneficial cooperation will allow us to quantify the extent of IUU fishing happening and help explore environmental factors (e.g., seasonality, weather conditions, recreational seasons, etc.) that may be influencing increased IUU fishing activity. Because the USGC crews do not have the capacity to evaluate the biological characteristics of the returned illegal catch, this unique partnership allows access to these samples for scientifically trained personnel and will increase the accuracy of data related to IUU catch. The IUU fishing is a pervasive and serious global problem that threatens ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries. It encompasses fishing activity that is conducted in violation of applicable laws, fishing activity or harvests that are not reported or misreported, or fishing activity in dedicated fisheries areas lacking applicable conservation management measures. The negative impacts are far-reaching — IUU fishing poses a threat to national security, harms the economy, can have devastating effects on fish stocks that are critical to food security, and puts law-abiding fishermen and seafood producers at a disadvantage. About 80% of today’s global fish stocks are fully exploited, over-exploited, or depleted, meaning that harvests of these already heavily exploited stocks are likely underestimated. Globally, IUU fishing accounts for the removal of one out of every five 38 | June 2025
fish from the oceans, often conducted and supported by illicit organizations. In the United States, much of the illegal fishing activity goes largely unaddressed and is carried out by illegal fishing vessels from Mexico (or “lanchas”) trespassing into U.S. waters. While the landings are immense, the full extent is unknown; yet the data is available to assess the impact. Lanchas are known to operate in U.S. waters and regularly participate in illegal fishing during the day and drug and migrant smuggling operations during the night. Lanchas are typically 25-35 foot wooden or fiberglass vessels with a single engine and carry 2-4 crew members. The USCG, which is tasked with stopping these illegal activities, reported that in 2019 an astonishing 177 lanchas were detected, of which 86 were seized. Importantly, the number of incursions of Mexican vessels in 2020 was almost double that in 2019, and law enforcement intelligence suggests that more activity is occurring than what is detected by current surveillance operations. In 2019, the U.S. notified Mexico that it received a negative certification for participating in IUU fishing and failing to implement effective corrective actions. This negative certification means vessels from Mexico will be denied port privileges for its fishing vessels. When lanchas are seized, the crew is apprehended and transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to be deported. Crew members are unable to be incarcerated in the U.S. for illegal fishing due to current international law. Case packages are prepared by the USCG and sent to Mexico for prosecution. However, repeat offender logs indicate some lancha crew members have been interdicted more than 25 times, suggesting prosecution in Mexico is either not happening at all or is not a sufficient deterrent. In 2018, 201 repeat offenders were apprehended and in
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2019, 328 repeat offenders were apprehended. Any fish harvested by these lanchas are recorded by the USCG and disposed of at sea. However, not all lanchas are intercepted or even detected, which is supported by lost or abandoned fishing gear found by the USCG. This abandoned gear is believed to be left behind by lanchas fleeing the USCG and is still “ghost” fishing, or continuing to catch fish even when no vessel is present in the area. The number of fish caught in abandoned gear is largely unknown. Catch from IUU fishing is not included in stock assessments, resulting in an underestimate of total fish harvest and hindering best management advice. Lanchas typically target various shark species and reef fish of high economic value such as Red Snapper, which are recreationally and commercially important fisheries in the Gulf. The USCG reports that encounters with lanchas have been increasing annually. Between January and June of 2018, the USCG seized 26,159 pounds of fish (of which 10,875 pounds were Red Snapper) from just 60 boats. In 2019, the USCG interdicted 74 lanchas and seized 21,405 pounds of Red Snapper and 3,481 pounds of sharks. While these values represent only a few interdictions that were captured, previous studies estimate that 1,900 incursions occurred annually from 2000-2005 by lanchas, suggesting that lanchas may poach upwards of 780,000 pounds of Red Snapper annually, equating to roughly three times the private recreational Red Snapper quota for Texas. This poaching activity negatively impacts the U.S. Red Snapper industry by $4 million to $12 million a year. In 2018, the U.S. imported 10,574,898 pounds of fresh and frozen snapper from Mexico (declared value of over $33 million), which raises concerns that these imports may include fish harvested illegally in the U. S. waters. For sharks, commonly observed species in lancha seizures are blacktip sharks and hammerhead species. Many are below the minimum legal-size limit and are 40 | June 2025
juvenile sharks being removed from the fishery before they are able to reproduce. For declining species like hammerhead sharks, this can have devastating long-term effects on population trajectories and rebuilding efforts. Data from 2000-2005 suggests that roughly 20-30 sharks are harvested each incursion, yielding an estimate of 38,000-57,000 sharks illegally harvested by lanchas annually. This equates to 72 – 108% of the annual commercial shark quota for the entire Gulf. The USCG reports that models used to calculate these results are likely substantially underestimating the actual magnitude of illegal lancha operations.
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B y E m i l y M i l l e r | C o a s t a l F i s h e r i e s Te c h n i c i a n – M a t a g o r d a B a y E c o s y s t e m Te a m - C o a s t a l B r i g a d e V i c e P r e s i d e n t
FIELD NOTES
COASTAL BRIGADE: GROWING OUR FUTURE COASTAL CONSERVATION LEADERS Texas Brigades is a nonprofit with a “mission to educate and empower kids with leadership skills and knowledge in wildlife, fisheries, and land stewardship to become conservation ambassadors for a sustained natural resource legacy.” Coastal Brigade is one of the ten conservation leadership camps offered by Texas Brigades to kids ranging from 13 to17 years old. As the name suggests, Coastal Brigade is focused on coastal habitats, ecology, and fisheries management. Each year, this 5-day camp is held in July around Galveston Bay, where volunteers from multiple natural resource agencies and conservation organizations work together to create an immersive and hands-on learning experience for our camp cadets. When cadets arrive at camp, they are put in “schools” because fish swim in schools of course! Each school consists of an adult leader, an assistant school leader, and four to six cadets. The assistant school leaders are cadets from the previous year’s camp that have
42 | June 2025
returned to camp to help guide the next group of cadets. Both the adult leader and assistant leader encourage cadets to work together through a series of competitions such as trivia, marching as a school, group presentations, and so much more! Throughout the week, cadets learn about the life histories of recreationally important fish species and commercially important shellfish through presentations from fishery professionals. They have the chance to get hands-on with fish dissections led by graduate students from Texas A&M University-Galveston. Cadets also participate in managing coastal resources by conducting bay trawls and oyster dredges as shown by staff associated with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Coastal Fisheries resource monitoring program. You can’t have a camp on the Texas coast and not include a little coastal fishing fun. Several fishing and fly-fishing groups volunteer their time and resources to teach cadets how to fish using various casting methods. Cadets even get the chance to learn how to tie their very own flies. As previously mentioned, everything at camp is a competition, and that includes fishing! We host a casting competition that usually ends after multiple tie-breaking rounds, a fly-tying competition, and of course a fishing tournament where there is a prize for the biggest fish! Coastal resources education often takes the cadets off-site to places such as the Sea Center hatchery in Lake Jackson and out to Galveston Island State Park. At Sea Center, they learn about the TPWD stock enhancement program, go kayaking on the ponds, and my personal favorite part of the day: enjoy a fish fry dinner in front of the aquariums inside the visitor’s center! On their visit to Galveston Island, Texas Master Naturalist volunteers teach cadets about the different species they may encounter on the bay and gulf sides of the island using cast nets and seines. Also during camp, local game wardens and the Coast Guard visit with cadets to offer career advice and discuss boating safety. Coastal Brigades offers more than just techniques in conservation of our coastal
resources, it dives into the arts through photography, drawing, and journaling. Cadets also learn important life skills like public speaking and time management through interactive projects such as a mock stakeholder meeting, group PowerPoint presentations, and individual poster presentations. Learning to connect with new people from different backgrounds and working together to achieve a common goal are among the many ways cadets grow and develop leadership skills that they can take back to their own communities. To continue the camp fun, we encourage cadets to earn their way back to camp the following year as an assistant school leader. For this, they must put together a Book of Accomplishments that includes different outreach events they either participated in or helped organize throughout the year in their communities. As an extra incentive, assistant leaders can also earn a scholarship toward college for all their hard work! If spending a week encouraging and empowering the next generation of conservation leaders sounds fun, every camp in Texas Brigades needs adult leaders! Future scientists, conservation leaders, and coastal artists need direction, and this is not accomplished without adult mentors. As an adult leader, you get to attend camp for FREE and help guide a group of bright young minds through the week. Applications for cadets, assistant leaders, and adult leaders open on November 1st for all Texas Brigades camps, so spread the word and mark your calendars! For anyone interested in attending or helping with Coastal Brigade or other Texas Brigades camps, please visit our website at www.texasbrigades.org.
Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local TPWD Law Enforcement office, or tpwd.texas.gov for more info.
TSFMAG.com | 43
Zach Pucci with a large female bull shark.
ERIC OZOLINS
E X T R E M E K AYA K F I S H I N G & S H A R K S F R O M T H E S A N D
TIME TO ADAPT Our worst fears are currently being realized. Sargassum has taken over the beaches along the entire Texas coast. From Sabine Pass to Boca Chica, this menacing plague is washing in and piling up, slamming us for the first time in several years. While the widespread presence of sargassum is abundantly good for countless species of marine fish and crustaceans, anglers struggle mightily to cope with it. Brown clumps of this seaweed arrive on the Gulf currents, and strong spring winds and high tides push rafts of it onto the beaches. If winds are calm and waves small, people can well cope with moderate amounts of the stuff, using line 44 | June 2025
Zach Pucci shows off a great jack crevalle.
maintenance. But here in Texas, smack in the middle of the Gulf’s wind tunnel, even the most experienced surf anglers must adjust their methods dramatically to adapt to the situation, when the weed rolls in so thick. Most of the debris circulating around in the Gulf eventually makes its way to our region and washes ashore in our Coastal Bend. This current episode is surprising many of our new surf anglers and sharkers, since we haven’t seen things this bad in nearly a decade. If the situation persists like it has in some of the worst years in the past, many of these new anglers could grow sufficiently frustrated to sell their gear and stop fishing. Better educated and more experienced
Your Catch Counts!
Report your Red Snapper Landings Get involved. Help manage the red snapper fishery for future generations.
At the end of each day’s trip, parties that land red snapper are strongly encouraged to report their landings via the My Texas Hunt Harvest mobile app or online. It’s fast, simple and easy! Report online or download the free app at
tpwd.texas.gov/myhunt
Anglers fishing from party boats are exempt as the captain reports for you.
Each submittal is important to the management of the red snapper fishery off Texas shores and beyond. QUESTIONS? TSFMAG.com | 45 cfish@tpwd.texas.gov • www.tpwd.texas.gov
anglers will do everything they can to adapt their methods and experience some success as we ride out the storm. The main way to best cope with such plentiful weed is to find the places with the lowest concentrations of the stuff. In late-April, during the initial peak of the sargassum hardship, I took a gamble and conducted a charter, knowing we had but a short window of opportunity in a limited area of possibly protected water to fish. Brothers Zach and Justin Pucci had planned this trip long ago and were committed to their travel arrangements. I appreciate their determination to get here, and wanted badly to see them bring some quality fish onto the sand. Honestly, I really didn’t know how things would go. On North Padre Island, near the historic Bob Hall Pier, the weed was piling up in epic proportions. I clung to my hopes that we could go far enough south to escape its wrath. My two adventurous customers wanted to head down a day early and have me meet them the next morning. After about three hours of stressful driving through a bumpy mix of vegetation and sloppy soft spots on the beach, I finally made it to their camp. I had directed them to an area where I thought we’d have our best chance to avoid the heaviest concentration of sargassum, and they did a fairly good job of finding it. Upon arriving, I scouted the beach for a couple miles farther south and relocated our camp into some greener water, and my optimism began to rise. The surf and current still rolled and showed weed, but the situation was far from terrible. Importantly, we were able use line maintenance and fish without the horrors of being weeded out every five minutes. After getting our gear set up we 46 | June 2025
Here’s a good one for you; a jack crevalle that ate a hardhead that had eaten a Fish-Bite pompano rig.
Justin Pucci with a nice nighttime blacktip.
see much swimming around, but we knew fish were there. After a while, a fish hammered one of our cast baits and took off, interestingly, on a small pompano leader with 3/0 hooks baited with Fish-bites . After a semi-lengthy battle, we met the culprit. Evidently, a hardhead ate our Fish-bite and got hooked, then a massive jack crevalle sucked down the catfish and tasted the hook. To see such a crazy scenario work out in our favor was exhilarating. Though the morning’s action was slower than the previous day’s, the guys landed another stud jackfish and another blacktip shark. While we packed our things for the long drive off the beach, I felt a pleasant sense of satisfaction for the way the trip turned out. I’m convinced that in a majority of these kinds of situations, even with so much weed coming ashore, a few places still offer opportunities for soaking some baits and catching some quality fish. With NOAA data suggesting the sargassum will keep circulating in the Gulf for at least some time to come, it’s up to us to adapt and make the best of the situation.
C O N TA C T
quickly deployed an array of baits. The high tides made the water pretty deep, even in the first gut. Action came quickly and we soon began catching upper-slot and oversized red drum. Zach landed a surprising 41” bull red on a bait cast from the beach. Before long, blacktip sharks began to show up in the mix of fish we brought to hand. Justin, who had never fished the surf before, was shocked by the fact we could catch large blacktips on baits deployed so close to the beach.We wound up adding a stud pompano and a quality jack crevalle to the list of fish caught before the day wore into the late-afternoon hours. I then made an effort to get some large baits out a bit deeper and the guys were rewarded. Our first bull shark to hit the sand was a solid seven-footer. Right before dark I managed to get new baits out and they held in the current and wind. Just after dark we beached another big blacktip. A little later we hooked another obviously decent shark. Zach hopped up onto the rack to battle the predator with passion on the Ozmosis rod I personally designed for just such duty. After a fairly short fight he beached a large female bull shark. With the two brothers exhausted by the day’s inspiring events, I told them to get some rest so we could start over early the next morning. At dawn, I wondered if we’d be rewarded again. We had a three to four-hour hour window to fish before we wrapped things up. Unfortunately, the wind picked up from strong to bully strong. Nonetheless, we cast baits out and noticed birds working up and down the beach. In the turbulent, sandy-green water, we couldn’t
For the past decade Eric ‘Oz’ Ozolins has been promoting shark catch and release and assisting various shark research programs. Eric offers guided shark fishing on Padre Island National Seashore. Also renowned for extreme kayak big game fishing, Eric is the owner of Catch Sharks Tackle Company. Email Websites
oz@oceanepics.com oceanepics.com | catchsharks.com
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TSFMAG.com | 47
N AT H A N B E A B O U T
M O S T LY S I G H T- F I S H I N G
LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY IN JUNE With the plentiful and timely rainfall events we’ve received through this spring season I see the fishing in June being just as productive as April and May have been. A lot of folks don’t like seeing the bays flooded or even a steady pattern of rainfall every couple weeks, but I am here to tell you it helps much more than it hurts. Bay waters stay cooler, seagrasses flourish, and the salinity stays at more moderate levels. Yes, when salinity becomes too low our fish will move on, but the flipside is that they are also known to vacate when it becomes too high. The grass beds along the shorelines and backcountry marshes need some freshwater to thrive, the same as our yards and gardens. June can be a fun time to go and wade the surf out of Cedar Bayou. There are always a handful of calm days during the month that can offer some fun surf fishing, or simply walking and casting along the banks of the bayou. Other good wades can be the mid-bay oyster reefs in San Antonio and Mesquite bays. Hopefully, with the springtime winds beginning to calm during June, the water on the reefs will be mostly green again, perfect for jumping out of the boat for an early 48 | June 2025
morning topwater session. If wading isn’t your cup of tea, June can also provide many sunny and low-wind days, perfect for sightcasting redfish in the marsh. We troll creeks and ponds that will be holding plenty of baitfish, and redfish cruising the banks patiently searching for their next target. Sight-casting fish is a very interactive way to fish. If your heart gets to racing when deer hunting or bird hunting, chasing these fish through the marsh is for you. It is exactly that, hunting. We are constantly on the move looking for that next fish. What is surprising to many folks is the number of opportunities at trout in the 5-8 pound range. From the tower, a lot of surface action happens before the sun clears the morning cloud bank. But wait, don’t you need sun to sight-cast? Not exactly. Clients ask all the time why it is we plan to leave so early on a sight-casting trip. My reply is simple, surface activity! Even in the weak light and coolness of early morning you can witness all kinds of fish behavior. To me, this is when the marsh is still quiet, and the roar of outboards hasn’t yet filled the air. It is a very special time to be on
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TSFMAG.com | 49
50 | June 2025
We emphasize safety and boat etiquette on these trips, as well as teaching you how to run new waters safely and marking your GPS for any hazards along the way. We help you to read the water from a navigation and fishing standpoint and have fishing discussions in each area we travel to on the day of your trip. Some of these discussions are weather, tides, time of year, and what to look for and how to approach these particular areas. Whether you are new to fishing or an experienced angler, we try to customize each trip to fit your needs. With most anglers spending the bulk of their time on the water between May and September, a summer navigational trip might help you be just a little more successful.
C O N TA C T
the tower staring at crawling reds, pods of tails, or simply watching a single fish repeatedly crashing bait along the bank with no clue of our presence. As the morning sun climbs higher the surface action will usually begin dying down. This doesn’t mean the bite is over, it just means adjustments on our end are necessary to continue to be successful. Looking out a little deeper and slowing our trolling speed have been big keys for us. Each time you plan a trip this month, have a game plan together before you leave the dock, and don’t be a “spot fisher.” Just because you caught a few in a certain location three months ago doesn’t mean they’ll be there today. First you need to find bait, and it needs to be holding in water that is the right color. Always remember to try to locate water that is slightly off-color or with streaks of color. Bait fish like to congregate in off-colored water for two reasons. First is because many bait fish species like mullet are filter feeders, meaning that they feed by straining algae and plankton from the water. The second reason is that it is easier for them to hide from predators in murky water. From Port O’Connor to Rockport, we also offer navigational trips. These trips are designed to help anglers of all levels, whether you are new to navigating the backcountry or an experienced angler looking to expand your horizons. We offer tips and tricks for each.
Captain Nathan Beabout USCG/TPWD Licensed Full time guide since 2007 Seadrift, Port O’Connor, & Port Mansfield, TX Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Phone Email
210.452.9680 www.nmsportsmansadventures.com
Science and the
Sea
TM
Discovery of a Colossal Baby It’s been 100 years since people discovered the existence of the colossal squid, known by its scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, when a scientist found pieces of two huge squids in a sperm whale’s stomach. Although several (mostly dead) specimens have been collected since then—including one weighing over 1,000 pounds in 2007—scientists have never managed to film one of these creatures in its natural habitat. That changed this year when researchers captured video of a baby colossal squid near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Research vessel Falkor (too) conducts research in the South Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Alex Ingle/Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA Scientists aboard the research vessel Falkor (too), from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California, found the squid with a remotely operated vehicle about 2,000 feet below the surface during their 35-day expedition. At barely a foot long, the juvenile squid could grow up to 23 feet long, though some estimates suggest females may grow to 46 feet long, the length of a standard school bus. As the largest known invertebrates on earth, colossal squids also have the largest known eyes of in the animal kingdom. Each adult eye measures 12 to 16 inches across—about the size of a beach ball—with a lens at least 4 inches in diameter. Scientists know very little about the behavior of colossal squids since they have never been able to observe them in natural settings. They believe the creatures are ambush predators because of the strong, sharp hooks in the middle of their arms that can be used to capture prey and fight off predators such as southern elephant seals and sperm whales. In fact, many sperm whales have been found with scars from these hooks. Now that scientists have found a juvenile, they hope they’ll find more and be able to start learning about these giants’ natural behaviors.
www.ScienceAndTheSea.org
© The University of Texas Marine Science Institute TSFMAG.com | 51
C A P TA I N T R E V O R “ L I T T L E B I R D ” K U C I A
BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
SUMMER IN FULL SWING:
TOURNAMENT TIME ON THE TEXAS COAST Summer has arrived on the Lower Laguna Madre, and with it comes the familiar rhythm of hot days, shifting winds, and the buzz of tournament season. The cool, breezy mornings of spring have given way to warmer temperatures, with morning highs reaching into the mid-80s and lows in the mid-70s. While the weather has been mostly sunny, we’ve also seen a few pop-up storms and increased humidity. This time of year also means one thing for me – tournament season. And with that, it’s time to make some adjustments. The bay gets busy fast. Every boat ramp is packed and there’s folks everywhere. I’m all for people getting out and enjoying the water but it definitely changes the way I fish. Areas that held solid fish a few weeks ago might be getting too much pressure now, and spots I had to myself in spring are getting crowded. The fish feel it, and that just means you have to adapt. As the tournaments start rolling in, preparation becomes everything. Success doesn’t just happen by luck. It takes long days on the water, putting in the miles, and covering every inch of the bay looking for a pattern. We’ll spend days running from one end of the system to the other, checking water clarity, bait movement, current, and structure all trying to piece together what the fish are doing and where they 52 | June 2025
want to be. It’s not just about finding fish, but finding tournament-quality fish, and that’s a whole different game. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from tournament scouting is the value of patience and strategy. When I find an area holding good fish, I don’t stick around and beat them up. Instead, I mark them and move on. That’s one of the keys, letting those fish settle and stay unpressured leading up to tournament day. The more pressure they feel, the less likely they are to eat when it counts. So I’ll go looking elsewhere, trying new zones I haven’t fished in a while, or exploring a shoreline I’ve been curious about but haven’t checked lately. Sometimes that leads to discovering a new pocket of fish I didn’t expect. Other times, I strike out. But either way, I’m learning more about the bay and adding tools to the toolbox for the future. Even when the outcome isn’t what I hoped for on the scoreboard, tournaments give me a competitive edge. They force me to push harder, think more critically, and really dig into how fish are behaving under pressure. That pressure doesn’t just come from other anglers – it comes from the environment too. Water temps spike, baitfish scatter, tides shift. Every variable counts, and being able to anticipate those changes is what separates the good days from the great ones. Fishing tournaments isn’t just about chasing a check. It’s about sharpening my skills and staying tuned in to what’s happening across the whole bay system. I get better at reading the water, spotting subtle changes, and adapting quickly. Those lessons carry over into my guide days, where I can use that extra edge to help clients get on fish more consistently. Summer fishing demands more from the fish, from the environment, and from the angler. It’s a different grind than the rest of the year, but it’s one I look forward to every year. Whether I’m dodging storms, navigating boat wakes, or studying the next tide shift, it’s all part of the game. And, win or lose, every hour I spend on the water this time of year makes me a better guide, a better fisherman, and a better steward of the bays I call home. TSFMAG.com | 53
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TSFMAG.com | 55
BINK GRIMES
THE VIEW FROM Matagorda
June is probably my all-time favorite month to fish. Everyone is so excited to be on the water and smiles abound since the whole summer lies in front of us. Trout, reds and a host of other species – surf, bay and Gulf – all M ata go r d a potential players during June! We focus on grass beds when wading in the summertime. Most of the best grass beds in the Matagorda Bink Grimes is a full-time fishing bays can be found in the lee of and hunting guide, freelance southerly winds this time of year, writer and photographer, and which means the water stays fishably owner of Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay. clear even with gusting winds. Literally miles and miles of grass beds line the south shoreline of West Matagorda Telephone 979-241-1705 Bay – all can hold fish. June normally Email affords ardent incoming morning binkgrimes@yahoo.com tides, perfect for walking a She Pup or Website Super Spook Jr. over the flats. matagordasunriselodge.com But, clear water isn’t always where the fish are. Most of the time there is a dingy stretch on a flat, and that’s where most of the fish will be. Waters can actually get too clear at times to catch fish, except in the first hour or so of early morning light. I love fishing flats adjacent to the Port O’Connor jetty and Pass Cavallo. The best tides in the bay occur there and we toss a variety of topwaters, Bass Assassins, Down South Lures and MirrOlure Soft-Dines in some of the most beautiful water you will ever wade. The first half of 2025 has been showing some very promising signs in both East and West Matagorda bays. Credit should be given to the general change in attitude about taking care of the fishery and not taking more than we need for a fresh meal. The 3-fish limit has definitely helped. You know our fishery is rebounding when the ability to catch trout regularly on artificials has improved. Sure, the real thing is hard to beat, but more and more of our clients want to try and learn the art of fishing with lures and we are happy to coach. Twenty years ago we never considered a live shrimp to fool a
trout; however, times changed and we adapted to weather, wind, fishing pressure and freezes, and did what we could to keep smiles on the boat. June gets us in the mood for the surf. There is nothing better than watching a plug get crunched in the foam. We wade the first gut on an incoming tide, but choose to drift and fish out of the boat when tides are falling so we can safely fish the outer bars with MirrOlures, topwaters and soft plastics. If the surf is too rough we slide over to the jetty rocks and work tight to the granite with Gulp! and shrimp under corks. With light winds, all of East Bay is in play in June, including the mid-bay reefs. Few bays in Texas can rival East Matty for its potential to grow large trout. Shell is what you are looking for, since very little grass, if any, is left along the south shoreline. Indeed our hydrology on the shorelines has changed over the years and many of those big fish that once frequented the shallows now find refuge in the 5-6 feet of water over structure in the middle of the bay. During June we host lots of families who like to fish in the morning and then cool off in our pools in the afternoon. While the kids are doing belly-busters, dad is making a few putts on our greens and firing up the charcoal for burgers. Matagorda Beach is only five minutes away if you want to make a cast or hang out on the sand. It’s June; the whole summer is ahead of us.
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56 | June 2025
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CAPT. GARY GRAY
MID-COAST BAYS With the Grays
Late April and early May fishing along the middle coast has been very good for me and my clients. There were a few days during periods of exceptionally low tides when my guys Port O'Connor didn’t want to wade and we struggled Seadrift to stay with the extremely leery specks and reds fishing from the Shallow Sport X3. Despite the challenges we were still able to end those days with Captain Gary Gray is a full decent catches and had great fun time guide, born and raised in doing it. Deep down inside, though, I Seadrift. He has been guiding knew it could have been better. the Seadrift/Port O’Connor region since 1986. Gary Fast forward to mid-May; our specializes in year ‘round wade tides have recovered and we are fishing for speckled trout and experiencing our normal howling redfish with artificial lures. spring winds. We no longer have to worry about the low Telephone tides but we are now 361-785-6708 Email concerned daily with the bayrats@tisd.net decision of where we Website might find decent water www.bayrat.com conditions amid these Facebook @captsgaryandshelliegray crazy winds. Hopefully both of these concerns will be in the rearview heading into June as our early summer weather patterns set in. As the summertime weather patterns begin to dominate I will soon be targeting main bay shorelines in San Antonio and Espiritu Santo. The structure types I will be searching for include guts with scattered grass and any other irregularities; such as coves, drains, and possibly patches of oyster shell. If you might decide to try wading the north shoreline of Espiritu Santo along Dewberry and Long islands, you will find numerous features that will work to your advantage. Similar to the south shoreline of West Matagorda Bay there are many cuts and wash-throughs
58 | June 2025
to backwater areas that game fish and bait fish utilize often in their regular travels. There are also a series of bars and guts that lie parallel to the shoreline formed by southeast wind and current action. Quite typically we find solid grass bottom close to the shoreline that diminishes to scattered grass further offshore. Another prominent feature is a fairly abrupt drop-off that lies anywhere from 100 to 200 yards offshore. Perhaps the only drawback to fishing here is the proximity to Port O’Connor and Charlie’s Bait Camp. Mornings can get pretty busy, so you might want to try the afternoon and evening hours after the crowds are gone. Not to worry though; if you oversleep or just aren’t mad enough at the fish to rise in the wee hours, there are plenty of other areas that will produce fish in June. My favorite is San Antonio Bay’s oyster reefs, mostly on the north side of the ICW. I prefer to wade the reefs but we also do well fishing out of the boat. Favored baits are the tried and true Saltwater Assassins in Purple Chicken and Magic Grass colors. We rig these on 1/16 ounce Bass Assassin jigheads (p/n 05001). All but a few of these reefs run east to west and there are still a few of what we call dry lumps, which are what’s left of a longstanding shell island after being pounded by hurricanes and northers over the years. While these lumps can attract and hold lots of fish at times they are also the most frequently targeted due to being very visible to the average angler. If none of the areas I have described tickle your fancy, there is always the west shoreline of San Antonio Bay. This area can be very productive for both boatbound and wading anglers but you need to be aware of certain hazards. Number one is alligators which are plentiful along the sandy shoreline and will not hesitate to get nosey with the unassuming angler, especially one with fish flailing on a stringer. Another hazard is stingrays. While stingrays inhabit all of our mid-coast bays, I have had more clients feel the pain of a stingray barb on this stretch of shoreline than all other shorelines combined. Foreverlast Hunting and Fishing Products makes a fine Ray Guard that will help in this situation. The last hazard I will mention is not so much a danger as an inconvenience, and that is boat traffic coming up from Rockport. For the most part these will be guides fishing the reefs out of the boat but I mention it because they do sometimes tie up some of the best real estate on that side of the bay. Now, if you still haven’t found an area that appeals to you, do not forget the entire south shoreline of San Antonio and Espiritu Santo bays and all the back-lakes on Matagorda Island. Perhaps the greatest part of fishing the Seadrift-Port O’Connor region is the almost endless list of options and angling opportunities. Fish hard, fish smart!
TSFMAG.com | 59
DAVID ROWSEY
HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey
Ideal wet-wading weather is upon us and I am really enjoying getting home at the end of the day and effortlessly transitioning from the bay to the swimming pool. I hope you all are finding some way to keep cool, both Upper on and off the water. Summer heat really has not set Laguna/ in yet, but it’s already beginning to Baffin feel like summertime in South Texas. Water temps are hanging in the low 80s and every other trout I catch has a smile on her face, which tells me they are as David Rowsey has 30 years happy to play along right now as I am to in Baffin and Upper Laguna put you comfortably amongst them. Madre; trophy trout with June is a month that allows for lots of artificial lures is his specialty. quality catching. Most of the trout are David has a great passion for conservation and encourages looking thinner due to a couple months catch and release of trophy fish. of spawning activity but they are not any shorter in length. If you or someone Telephone you know holds with 30-inches as 361-960-0340 the gold standard for judging trophy Website www.DavidRowsey.com quality, you will have as good a chance Email of attaining it right now as any other david.rowsey@yahoo.com time of the year. They won’t be as @captdavidrowsey heavy as in March and April but the accomplishment is the same. The greatest aspect of June fishing is the sheer numbers of bites. The weather is not so hot that the fish are seeking deeper refuges as soon as the sun breaks over Padre Island. In fact, under good conditions, you can stay in a trout bite all day with a good mix of flounder and reds to keep it interesting. For sportsmen that love to wade and want to get their kids to enjoy it alongside them, there is no better time than the present to lure them into the water. With so many trout holding in shallow water, even the smallest kids can find a way to get into the action. Even if the bite is on the slow side, they are still easily entertained by all the creatures they get to see in the water, or a good swim to help get them refocused on the task at hand. Just about any style of wading can be productive right now as fish will be just about anywhere the water is wet. That’s a joke, of course, but I’m sure you get my drift. Everything from deep drop-offs to knee-deep potholes, rock structures and shorelines; trout will be available just about anywhere you have a good bait supply. Outside of a bad moon phase (i.e.1-3 days following full moon), or when they decide to get on a nocturnal pattern, there is potential for all-day catching this month. My fishing style is always to catch the biggest available at any time of the year. Unless a client says let’s just get lots of bites I’m hard-wired for big bites. My ideal setup is starting on something that has really shallow structure with access to deeper water within the distance of a long cast. Many areas along the south shoreline of Baffin fit this bill perfectly, as does the very rocky shoreline of the Kenedy Ranch just south of Baffin. Other ideal scenarios are along the ICW spoil islands from the Land Cut north to Bird Island Basin. 60 | June 2025
If you are savvy about the areas I write about, you will know that there are also lots of little sand bars and humps all across the bottom of this bay system that boats just blast by without so little as a casual glance. On high traffic days, these little jewels can turn a tough day into something memorable in short order. Some of these are so discreet that many folks will never make the discovery unless fishing with someone who is on the water every day. Take for example a ridge or trough of less than a foot extending from a major piece of structure; I’ve had days where every bite came from one of these. This is not something you are going to learn from the elevated platform of a tower boat. Wade it, feel it, visualize it to understand it. Live bait season is upon us and many fish will be caught from the boat. Trout are resilient when handled with a little care. Land them with a Boga Grip instead of a net. And for God’s sake don’t let them flop all over a hot deck. Keep them in the water as much as possible when making photos. How long can you hold your breath? Remember the buffalo! -Capt David Rowsey
Rob Slivinski kicking off wet-wading season with this big trout. 5-inch straight tail Bass Assassin!
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A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS Port Mansfield East Cut & Beach Cleanup Come join us in beautiful Port Mansfield, Saturday, June 14, 2025, for the16th running of the Port Mansfield East Cut and PINS Beach Cleanup. We need you, both boat captains and ground troops, to work the beaches and shorelines collecting all the awful trash that finds its way to our beautiful waters. Remember, we will arrange boat transportation to the work area for all volunteers without boats. This is a great opportunity for all who love the ecosystem of the Lower Laguna Madre and PINS beach near the Port Mansfield East Cut to join in restoring these beautiful waters and shorelines and leave them better than we found them. The event kicks off with a full breakfast at 7:00 AM, launching from the Port Mansfield Chamber of Commerce Event Center. We will also provide a full lunch back at the pavilion upon conclusion of the days trash pickup and work at approximately 1:30PM. At the conclusion of the day’s events, we will celebrate an evening meal at the Chamber Pavillion, complete with a Taco Buffet, Karaoke, Drinks, and Lots of Fun! Remember, we provide two nights free lodging. Come join us for a full day of hands-on conservation effort and a fantastic feel-good event to help keep the PINS beaches and Mansfield Channel cleaner than it was the day before. Anyone wishing to sponsor via financial contributions are encouraged to contact Brooks Bassler, our Sponsorship chairman, brooks@bbstexorleans.com Kathie Bassler: 979-204-5185 or email: kathieb@basslerenergyserviocces.com relative to volunteering for this event and to secure lodging.
TSFMAG.com | 61
WAYNE DAVIS
WAYNE’S Mansfield Report
Greetings from Port Mansfield! Well, As seconds passed and I processed what I had seen, I also observed we’ve made it through spring and several more large wakes but was unable to confirm the species summer is here. Seriously, where does making them. After about three hundred yards it dawned on me to the time go? With time seeming to pass make a wide swing, go back around and set up to make a wade just off Port faster and faster we should all cherish the line I had been running. I figured it would be worth the stop, just each day like it’s our last – whether to see what might happen. Mansfield on the water or off. Some might think Stopping in barely calf-deep water, I explained to the guys what I fishing as many days as a guide does had witnessed and my strategy on how to approach the area. We all it would turn into the same old thing eased forward and started working Mansfield Knockers over the big but the truth is it’s never the same. grassy tabletop that contained several small potholes. Shaun made Captain Wayne Davis has Each sunrise is unique and beautiful in fewer than five casts before he was connected with a massive fish. been fishing the Lower its own way and each day’s water and Based on the bend of the rod and the circular movements I suspected Laguna-Port Mansfield for over 20 years. He specializes weather conditions have their own a big redfish. Luckily, I was mistaken. Turns out it was what every in wade fishing with lures. set of signals that must be decoded. coastal angler wishes they could encounter – a trout comfortably So much for “same old” and no time to measuring greater than thirty inches. Telephone grow bored in this beautiful place we It should be noted that this fish was hooked on the top of the head, 210-287-3877 have down here. supporting the fact it was not feeding but possibly only frustrated Email As of this writing I would say our with the Mansfield Knocker. We have probably all seen fish knock a captwayne@kwigglers.com bay is in rather good shape. We still topwater out of the water without getting hooked, but this one wasn’t have brackish water lingering because of the torrential rains we so lucky. We snapped a few photos and quickly released her back to experienced in late April. I became a little concerned since I figured her habitat. We continued and I had six big toilet bowl flushes on my the freshwater would dissipate quicker, but as of this writing it is still own Mansfield Knocker but zero connections. Others in the group had around. That said, we are still catching fish, and good fish at that. similar results. If we are fishing in saltier water, say high on the eastside away Our luck as a group was not the best since the fish were not feeding, from the freshwater runoff zones, our topwater action has been but Shaun’s luck was definitely running 100% phenomenal. Keeping in mind that it is not every spot or every cast; Until next time, remember fresh is better than frozen. the fish have been in small “sweet spots” scattered along the sandy flats. You may go one hundred yards or better with limited action and then you get into a stretch of good reds and trout. Usually this lasts about 15-20 minutes and then John O’Shee it fades. I believe the fish are on the with another move, not holding in any one particular very solid trout. area. One thing worth noting is the mullet are also in what I like to call small “rafts” described as a school of mostly larger mullet swimming at or near the surface. Big trout tend to hang under or just to the side of these rafts. Now, in the west side freshwater runoff zone, we have better success with soft plastics. I suspect this is because the water is saltier, down lower in the water Shaun McDaniel’s luck column. If the water is super shallow, was running 100%...a true 30-incher! say over a grassy flat, we can get them on topwaters, and such was the case for Shaun McDaniel (see photo). We were fishing a slow period in a huge back bay in about thigh deep water with little action. I decided we needed to make a move, View The Video during which we ran across what I call a tabletop – a small, shallow Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube. area surrounded by deeper water. Running along, I noticed a large wake and suspected it was a redfish. Lo and behold, catching up to it, I could see it was a huge trout. 62 | June 2025
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CAPT. ERNEST CISNEROS
SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene
Before beginning this article I contacted our local meteorologist for insight into June’s weather. They responded that windy conditions Arr o y o would likely continue through midC ol o ra d o June. By contrast, I remember spring t o Po rt football practices during May, back in I sa bel my high school years. In my memory those were some of the hottest and calmest days of the year. Fast forward A Brownsville-area native, to the present; for about the past Capt. Ernest Cisneros fishes the Lower Laguna Madre from fifteen years now May and much of Port Mansfield to Port Isabel. June have been very windy. Ernest specializes in wading Finding redfish has been easy the and poled skiff adventures for past few months, especially on windy snook, trout, and redfish. afternoons as schools of reds have been hustling migrating shrimp in Cell 956-266-6454 shallow water. Flocks of gulls and terns Website have been pointing the way to pods www.tightlinescharters.com of redfish along with a few trout. As reliable as this action has been I expect it will fade sometime around mid-June as the wind patterns become generally calmer and the brown shrimp migration winds down. So, where should we target redfish when this happens? For one, the tide levels will be higher than normal during June, meaning the eastside sand will light up. Usually, fish are concentrated in one of three areas on the eastside, depending what the water level might be. If the tide is higher than normal the fish will favor the edges of the mangrove thickets. If the water level is lower than normal they like the sand/grass transition line. Sometimes, you can find them right smack in the middle of the sand flats. Be aware, though, the reds can be very wary in the middle of all that clean, clear water. Over west of the ICW we find many back-bays and generally softer bottoms. Here again, the level of the tide will dictate where these fish are located. Of course, the higher the water level the further these redfish will travel into tucked-away areas where they can feed without being disturbed. For four months I have been fishing a vast flat where high tide is barely calf-deep. On low tide it barely covers the tops of my wading boots. Amazingly, the reds have been there every time I visited, and there have actually been a few times when their backs were exposed. After four months I wonder if they’ll ever leave. The bottom line of this whole experience: Never underestimate how shallow redfish will roam. Must-haves in your wade box right now for redfish are the 1/4-ounce gold weedless spoon and ZMan Big Ballerz in Plum-Chart, Gold Fire, and Sexy Penny. The Eye Strike Texas Eye jigheads have proven to provide good hooksets and high landing ratio. Slicks on the water’s surface have been our best indicator of trout presence and feeding activity. Contrate your efforts on areas 64 | June 2025
with smaller slicks popping frequently. Evenings are prime time to target trout, when boat traffic is generally lighter and the water is beginning to cool. It’s rather uncommon to find heavyweight trout during June as they have now been spawning for two full months. The mature females are still out there but they’re beginning to look long and thin. However, there will be plenty of slot-size trout holding in scattered waist-deep potholes and along the edges of the ICW. The Big Ballerz and Paddlerz in Sexy Penny and Bleeding Banana by ZMan have worked well for us. Snook began showing on the flats in late-April, which is a good sign as we enter the best months to target them. Snook like lots of water movement, so two tide days are best, on average. Along with two tide days, I also prefer the new and full moon phases for targeting snook. Flounder landings have been on the rise. Anglers seeking flounder should focus on the edges of the ICW, old oilfield channels, and any channels or sloughs with significant depth changes that lead to grassy flats. They like muddy and sandy bottoms where they can lie on bottom, waiting to ambush their next meal. Tournament season is now hitting full stride, meaning that weekend boat traffic will be much heavier than normal. Also, schools are out for summer, which adds even more traffic. Heightened caution and courtesy toward your fellow anglers is highly encouraged, especially at the launch ramp. If you’re looking for a fun and family-friendly fishing event, check out the 5th Annual Ron Hoover Fishing Tournament coming on July 12th. It is held at South Padre Island with prizes and awards galore. Early registration is already underway. Learn more on their social media pages or by calling their Donna, TX store. This event benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation and sure to be a fun time on and off the water. Nolan Mainguy with a doormat of a flounder.
Kevin was very pleased to land his personalbest trout on a recent charter.
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TSFMAG.com | 65
FISHING REPORTS
ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica
AND
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James looks forward to a transition in the fishing patterns during the month of June. “June starts off much like the other spring months, but finishes up different. Early in June, wading is great, especially on shorelines with a sandy bottom. The bite is usually best early in the mornings, and topwaters work well on a daily basis. Incoming tides seem to enhance the bite. By the time we get to the end of the month, the wading will slow down somewhat and the fishing in deeper water will improve. I like to work areas around the Ship Channel once we get to July. Out there, setting the boat up around bottom structures so that lures can be cast close to the well pad or wreck is really important. Factoring in the tide movement is part of this puzzle. But, by then, with such warm water temperatures, this kind of fishing is often better than just continuing to wade the shorelines and spoil banks. For the entire month of June, areas near the Ship Channel between the Texas City Dike and the jetties offer great potential. Campbell’s Bayou, Pelican and Sand islands, and Hannah’s Reef all come to mind as hot spots.”
Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging - Glenn’s Guide Service 979.479.1460 - www.glennsguideservice.com Summer is one of my favorite seasons for fishing, with lots of productive options. Drifting in East Matagorda Bay has been steady and getting better as we get more calm days where we can get out and effectively work the mid-bay shell. Lately, the best results have been with live shrimp or white Gulp! lures dangled under Coastal Corks. Soft plastics worked close to the bottom have been drawing lots of strikes too, mainly natural colors like Chicken on a Chain, Salt ‘n Pepper and White Ice. I’ve mainly been fishing with Bass Assassin five-inch Sea Shads, but Down South Lures and Coastal Brew Lures have also been producing well for others in my boat. Wading the south shoreline of West Matagorda Bay has been pretty good lately as well. There, we’re catching best mainly on soft plastic paddletails and small topwaters like Spook Juniors. Hopefully the surf will turn on and we’ll get a good run out there this month, so we’ll start watching the surf forecasts and cameras and be ready to roll when it gets right. In June, live shrimp free-lined or fished under corks is always a good bet for trout, reds and sheepshead out at the jetties.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim says the fishing in the area on the east side of the Galveston bay system can be great in June, with the right conditions in play. “Normally, by this time of year, the trout and reds will have moved out into the middle for the most part. People still do okay wading the shorelines early in the mornings on some days, especially when good incoming tides happen during those hours, but the bite becomes better around the reefs out in deeper water by the time the month ends. Because of this, we need relatively light winds to have the best chance of making a good catch. Too much wind mucks up the water and makes everything more difficult. On the best days, with light southeast winds in play, we do well throwing topwaters out of the boat. Sometimes, we work areas with some flocks of gulls working over herds of shrimp. We also key on places with lots of jumping mullet, mud stirs and slicks popping. When winds do increase and make fishing around the mid-bay reefs too tough, we will slide back into the bayous and also work areas where the drains connect them to the main bays.”
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 Late-spring/early-summer fishing should be great in the Tres Palacios Bay system. There are tons of shad, mullet and grass shrimp in all parts of our local bays. Redfish numbers have finally picked up after a slow spell. We’ve been catching them by focusing on points on grassy shorelines and ledges in local bayous and rivers. Live or dead shrimp rigged about a foot under popping corks have worked best when we’re fishing with bait, and Down South Lures in the Magic Grass color have been best when we’re fishing lures. Lately, our trout bite has remained consistent. The deep wells and shell pads out in West Matagorda Bay continue to produce keepers for folks using live shrimp and free-lined mullet and croakers. The action when we’re wading and working lures over sand and grass has picked up recently too. We’ve been throwing small topwaters like bone Spook Juniors and green/chrome She Pups for best results. Fishing at night remains productive on all the piers in town, and with the right winds in play, people have made some impressive catches. Some good hotspots as waters warm up will be the deep wells, the Matagorda Beach surf and the big jetties.
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 Randall looks forward to fishing the San Luis Pass area in June. Signs indicate tremendous potential in the area. “We’re seeing a massive influx of bait around the pass. The shad hatch is still going on, and the fishing has been fairly easy lately. We are also seeing lots of shrimp in the bays, and good numbers of other kinds of fish, like mullet, glass minnows, ballyhoo and ribbonfish. With so much bait concentrated in the area, the predators are sure to be present. It can be important to match the hatch in situations like this. So, if I see lots of ribbonfish and ballyhoo in an area, I like to throw bright white topwaters like pearl Skitter Walks. Lately, the gold and pink One Knocker has been producing best. In places with big concentrations of shrimp, like around some of the reefs in the back bays, natural colored Sand Eels work better. We will, of course, be watching the surf by the time summer comes. The first few times the water gets green to the beach after it reaches 80 degrees and stays there for a while are normally some of the best days of all to hit the surf.” 66 | June 2025
Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833 June is one of Lynn’s favorite months of the year to fish the bays and coastal waters close to Port O’Connor. “I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. In June, our number one priority is fishing the surf when the winds allow it. Some of the best action of the year occurs at the end of spring and into the beginning of summer, when green water reaches all the way to the beach. Then, we head out early and fish the shallowest guts first, throwing topwaters. We’ll stick with the floating plugs as long as we’re getting some blowups at a decent rate. Once that action slows down enough, we usually switch over to soft plastics and begin to work our way farther out from the sand. In the deeper guts, we often find another great flurry of action around lunch time. This type of fishing is about as fun and productive as it gets around here. When winds muck up the surf, we’ll spend time working sandy flats close to the pass, where we find grass
beds and lots of milling or jumping mullet. The back-lakes produce good catches this time of year too, if it’s really windy.” Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 Blake loves fishing the Coastal Bend at the end of spring and the start of summer. “We have so many productive options around here this time of year. When the weather’s relatively calm, this is most true. Of course, we want to get out into the surf if we can. Most people think of the area around Cedar Bayou as the best place to hit the beach for some early morning topwater trout action, but the entire stretch of beach from the Aransas jetties to Cedar Bayou and beyond offers great potential this time of year when the clear water reaches the sand. The first day or two of clear conditions always produce the best catching out there. Fishing on main-bay shorelines with ample grass on a sandy bottom is another great option, and it can be better than the surf if winds ramp up some. We also catch well around some of the mid-bay reefs and around spoil banks along all the channels this time of year. The bite can be good in those places during the middle of the day, as long as the tide is moving. Doesn’t much matter whether it’s coming in or going out.”
P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins 361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com At the time of this report, sargassum has showed up in heavy amounts for the first time in several years along the entire Texas coast. The brown seaweed should thin out in the warmer waters of summer. Though it annoys fishermen, it’s great for the ecosystem. It’s not uncommon to hook a cobia or tripletail around thick weed banks. June should be a phenomenal month for catching trout in the surf. Topwaters will be effective in places where the weed isn’t too thick. This has been a great season for jack crevalle, so trout fishermen might inadvertently hook a few jacks. Folks actively targeting jacks should look for birds and bait getting crashed. Large spoons or topwaters work best to attract the yellow bullies. Slot red drum should also be in the surf this month. As will stingrays. Waders heading into the breakers should remember to shuffle their feet, as lots of rays are in the shallows feeding and mating. Large schools of skipjacks should materialize soon and various species of sharks are sure to follow. Night-time sharking will produce some of the largest sharks of the year, primarily tigers and hammers with some number of massive bulls mixed in.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay Captain James Sanchez Guide Service - 210.260.7454 In June, we anticipate increased fishing pressure, warmer temperatures and calmer winds. Launching early will become essential to avoid both the crowds and the worst of the heat. Anglers can expect to catch higher numbers of small trout, but still with the possibility of some larger fish over 25-inches biting, too. During the coolest parts of the mornings, trout will be actively feeding over grass flats with some scattered potholes and near grass lines in thigh to waist-deep water. To attract these aggressively feeding fish, starting with a Mansfield Knocker, Spook Junior or Texas Custom Lures Double D is recommended. As water temperatures rise into the mid-80s, we’ll shift our focus to wading drop-offs and use KWigglers Ball-Tail Shads in colors like Bone Diamond, Naked Margarita and Plum Perfect, rigged on eighth-ounce jigheads. For targeting redfish, it’s best to fish areas with good concentrations of mullet and reduced boat traffic. These fish are typically found around spoil islands and on shorelines with shallow potholes or seams where sand and seagrass meet. Reliable lures will be a KWiggler Wig-A-Lo Junior or four-inch paddletail in White and Bart’s Sand Ninja. In the afternoons, the reds will show up over grass on deeper flats next to the ICW.
Port Mansfield, Texas | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431 GetAway Lodge - 956.944.4000 Waders are in the closet until fall. Water temperature will only continue rise from here. We should transition into our traditional June wind patterns soon – light south/southeast overnight and in the morning hours, beginning to build around midday, eventually reaching 2025 mph by mid-afternoon. When the wind will allow I like to start somewhere on the west shoreline north of Port Mansfield. There are many miles of similar shoreline heading toward the Land Cut, so key on bait flipping, blue herons walking up and down the shoreline, and slicks. These will all be good indicators of fish in the area. If you prefer to head south out of Port, check out the Saucer area behind the cabins along the ICW. Personally, I like to start well east of the cabins, along the sand/ grass transition line, which is typically about knee-deep. Quite often we find redfish mixed with trout, both taking topwaters. If you’re focusing on reds I recommend a 1/4-ounce gold weedless spoon. You can apply the same strategy north of the East Cut, especially around the Old Weather Station area. Also, along the flat south of Dubbs Island.
Corpus Christi & Baffin Bay Capt. Chris Elliott’s Guide Service captchriselliott@yahoo.com - 361.834.7262 We tolerated low tides for a long time, awaiting the influx of higher spring tides, which have now arrived. Spring tides bring bait into the bays, so we’re now looking for areas with lots of small baitfish and shrimp present, especially when we’re working back-lakes and some of the shallower coves and flats. Two things come to mind when fishing at the end of spring and early in the summer, with the number one priority being the old adage about the need to match the hatch. Observant anglers will select their lures based on the type of bait found in the area to be fished. The second thing to realize this time of year is that winds are usually fairly strong, at least for part of each day, as we transition from spring into the hottest season. Because this is normal, catching fish in fairly windy conditions this time of year is not particularly difficult, if wise strategies are deployed. By fishing drains, coves, points and windblown shorelines, it’s possible to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the breezes. Strong winds move water around, improving the chances for success in areas with water pushed through by the wind.
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941 In South Texas, the weather and the fishing have been great this spring. We’ve been targeting our trout on grass flats and in coves covered with water ranging from two to about three-feet deep. Early in the mornings, with calm winds normally prevailing, topwaters have been working well, provided we’re seeing lots of bait at the surface and jumping. The Spook Junior with the red head and white body rigged with single hooks has produced as many or more blowups than all the other floating plugs. As winds pick up predictably during the last hours of the morning and into the afternoons, four-inch Z-Man Big BallerZ in Troutcicle color rigged on eighth-ounce Eye-Strike Trout-Eye jigheads work much better. We like to fish them fast through visible potholes, hoping for reaction strikes from fish sitting in the sandy spots or lurking on the grassy edges. Redfish numbers remain solid and should only improve as the weather warms up more. We’re catching them best on sandy shorelines and flats. Early morning incoming tides have produced the best bite, usually in one or two feet of water, when we’re throwing four-inch Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ in Redbone color rigged on eighth-ounce weedless jigheads. TSFMAG.com | 67
Brenda Campbell Matagorda Bay - 35” red
Maggie Cozart Packery Channel - sheepshead
Joshua Sloey Oso Bay - 30” bull red 68 | June 2025
Mark Lopez Port Mansfield - 30.5” 8.5 lb trout CPR
Meagan Young West Matagorda Bay - 27.5” 8.75 lb
Aiden Matey POC - first red on a fly!
Heather Rowe Corpus Christi Bay - 35” redfish
Skip Prucha Packery Channel - black drum
Richard & Camilla Gonzales Sabine Pass - 41” bull red
Kate Lewis & sisters Offshore - black tip shark
Kash Berlanga West Galveston Bay - trout
Fernando Vasquez Galveston north jetty - sheepshead
Barrett Shanks Galveston - 26” redfish
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Conner Galbreath Upper Laguna - 31” 9.5 lb personal best red!
Cole Schmidt Port Mansfield - 28” trout, first-time angler! TSFMAG.com | 69
PAM JOHNSON
Gulf Coast
Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share? Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361 792-4530
Capt. Robert Peel’s Red Snapper with Seafood Stuffing
We want to thank Capt. Robert Peel of Texas Fins and Feathers for sharing this recipe. We invited friends for a red snapper dinner after a successful offshore fishing trip, and it did not disappoint. The stuffing recipe easily makes twelve servings, so it can be halved if you are planning fewer dinner guests.
INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
3 sticks butter
Season snapper filets and set aside. Prepare cornbread mixes as directed on packages. Crumble when slightly cooled.
3-4 pounds snapper filets Your favorite seafood seasoning 2 pounds shrimp 1 pint container lump crab meat 1-quart heavy cream 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix 1 pkg Gladiola yellow cornbread mix
Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat, add butter. Add vegetables and sauté until softened. Add shrimp and cook until pink, stir in lump crab meat and add heavy cream. Remove from heat and place in large mixing bowl.
1 stalk celery, diced
Add cornbread to bowl with sautéed veggies until you have a thick texture. Place on snapper filets and bake at 350° about 30 minutes or until fish is white and flaky. Extra dressing can be baked alongside the fish. Bake until the top is golden brown. Serve and enjoy.
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Yields – 8-10 Servings
1 yellow onion, chopped 1 red, yellow, and green bell pepper, chopped 1 large carrot, diced
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TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING HOLES M ATA G O R D A B AY Speckled Trout / Redfish
Fin Tastic Coastal Charters
USCG Licensed Captain Stan Sloan
832.693.4292 www.fishfcc.com
Home of the & USE COUPON CODE TSFM15 FOR 15% OFF OF CFG ONLINE ORDERS www.CoastalFishingGear.com | 281-736-6670 • Bay Fishing, Offshore, Floundering, Waterfowl, Dove • Night Fishing off Lighted Pier • Right On The Water • Lodging with/without Meals www.matagordasunriselodge.com 979-241-1705 ON THE WATER
Saltwater Fishing Clinics WITH
Capt. Robert Zapata
If you are having difficulty catching fish on a consistent basis, the clinic is designed for you. Learn Capt.Robert Zapata’s secrets to finding and catching more fish from his 25 years of experience as a professional fishing guide.
For Information Call 361-563-1160
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