This week on the Texas coast, the trout have gone deep with the heat, the jetties are holding everything from tarpon to bull reds, and the surf has been green to the beach often enough to keep the wade-fishing crowd on alert. Summer patterns, Texas-style.
What’s Hitting
Speckled trout are the main pursuit, holding over deep shell and mid-bay structure in 6 to 12 feet across the major bay systems. Tarpon are working the beachfront and jetty ends from Galveston to Port O’Connor, bull reds and jack crevalle are terrorizing bait at the jetties, and slot reds are steady on the shorelines early. When the surf lays down and turns green, the trout move to the guts and it’s the best bite on the coast.
Where to Find Them
Drift the deep shell in East and West Matagorda, the wells in San Antonio Bay, and the reefs in Galveston’s east bay complex. The jetty fish want the end of the rocks on the incoming tide. Surf trout hold in the first and second guts at dawn when conditions allow.
Tides & Conditions
Light early wind and building afternoon sea breeze has been the daily rhythm, with the surf fishable two or three mornings this week. The stronger tides are moving good water through the passes — prime for the jetty tarpon.
Tackle & Tactics
Deep-shell trout want a soft plastic on a quarter-ounce head worked slow near bottom, or live croaker if you’re rigged for it. Jetty tarpon call for a live mullet or big swimbait on heavy spinning gear — and a plan for the fight before you hook one. Surf trout eat topwaters in the gray light, then soft plastics once the sun is up.
Local Intel This Week
The Texas City Dike ramps, Matagorda Harbor’s public launch, and Goose Island State Park’s ramp near Rockport are dependable public access this week. Fish are concentrating over the deep mid-bay shell, at the jetty ends on the incoming, and in the surf guts on the green mornings. Trout limits differ by zone on this coast — check current TPWD regulations before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
On the deep shell, summer trout school tight — a drift that produces one fish deserves an anchor or a Power-Pole, not another drift. Mark the spot, set up up-wind, and fan-cast the area thoroughly before you move. One school can be a limit if you don’t drift past it.