South Padre is in its best tarpon stretch of the year. The fish are at the Brazos Santiago jetties and along the beachfront, the Laguna Madre flats are giving up trout and reds on the early wade, and the nearshore kingfish bite has been steady on the calm mornings.
What’s Hitting
Tarpon are the headline, working the jetties and the beachfront in the 60- to 120-pound class. Snook are also at the jetties, which is one of the few places in Texas you can reliably target them. Speckled trout are on the Laguna Madre grass flats at first light, with redfish on the sand potholes and along the spoil banks. King mackerel and Spanish are on the nearshore structure and bait pods. Tripletail are on the channel markers, and there are big black drum around the jetty rocks.
Where to Find Them
Tarpon are at the Brazos Santiago Pass jetties on the moving tide and rolling along the beachfront in the early morning calm. Trout are on the grass and sand potholes in the Lower Laguna Madre — the Cullen Bay and Three Islands areas have been steady. Reds are on the spoil banks along the Intracoastal and in the back lagoons. Kings are on the nearshore rigs and reefs within eight miles. Snook are on the jetty rocks on the incoming tide.
Tides & Conditions
Post-full-moon tides are moving strongly through midweek, which drives the jetty fishing. Water temps are 87 to 89 on the flats and mid-80s in the Gulf. Light southeast wind in the mornings with the usual afternoon build. The Gulf has been calm enough for small boats before 10 a.m. most days.
Tackle & Tactics
Tarpon at the jetties want a live mullet or a large swimbait on 80-pound fluoro, fished on the moving tide with a heavy spinner. Snook take a flair hawk jig or a live pinfish tight to the rocks on 40-pound leader. Trout on the flats respond to a topwater in the first hour then a soft plastic on a light jighead. Kings are a slow-trolled live bait on a stinger rig. Tripletail need a live shrimp pitched quietly past the marker.
Local Intel This Week
The South Padre Island Convention Centre ramp and the Port Isabel public ramps are the main launches, with the jetties accessible by boat or on foot from Isla Blanca Park. Fish are concentrating at the pass and along the beachfront this week rather than deep in the Laguna. Texas trout, redfish, and snook rules are specific and were revised recently, and tarpon are effectively catch-and-release — check current Texas Parks and Wildlife regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
For jetty tarpon, fish the last of the incoming and the first hour of the outgoing. That is when bait gets swept through the pass and the fish set up in the eddy behind the rocks. Position your boat in the calm water behind the tip and let baits swing into the current line.