The Texas coast is in its peak-heat pattern, which means very early mornings and a run to the jetties or the nearshore water once the sun is up. Bay temperatures are near 90 by afternoon and the trout have moved to the deeper shell and the passes. The tarpon that show up along the beachfront and at the jetty tips every August have arrived, and the new moon at the end of the week should put them on the feed.
What’s Hitting
Tarpon are the headline, rolling along the beachfront and at the jetty tips from Galveston south through Port O’Connor. Speckled trout are on the deep shell and in the passes at first light, with the shallow grass producing only in the earliest light. Redfish are working the shorelines and the back lakes on the higher water, and bull reds are starting to show at the jetties. Kingfish and ling are on the nearshore rigs and wells, and mangrove snapper are stacked on the jetty rocks and structure.
Where to Find Them
The Galveston north and south jetties and the Sabine jetties are the highest-percentage water for tarpon, bull reds and snapper on the moving tide. The deep shell in East and West Galveston Bay holds trout at dawn. San Luis Pass and the Port O’Connor jetties produce a mix of everything. Nearshore rigs and wells in 40 to 80 feet are the kingfish and ling structure.
Tides & Conditions
Bay water is 87 to 90 degrees, nearshore mid-80s. The new moon means a stronger tidal exchange through the passes and jetties, which is when the tarpon and bull reds set up in the rips. Morning winds have been light with a southeast sea breeze filling in by midday, so the beachfront gets sloppy in the afternoon. Bay clarity is fair with cleaner water near the passes.
Tackle & Tactics
Tarpon anglers are throwing large swimbaits and live mullet on 60- to 80-pound fluorocarbon at the jetty tips, and trolling or sight-casting the beachfront schools. Trout on the deep shell want a soft plastic on a quarter-ounce jighead or a live croaker on a light Carolina rig. Redfish are eating cut mullet and gold spoons on the shorelines. Jetty snapper take a live shrimp on 20-pound leader. Kingfish nearshore come on slow-trolled live bait with a light wire stinger.
Local Intel This Week
The 61st Street ramp in Galveston, the Texas City Dike and the Port O’Connor ramps are the practical public launches. Shore anglers are catching snapper, Spanish and the occasional tarpon from the Galveston jetty granite and the Texas City Dike. Fish are concentrating at the jetties, passes and deep shell rather than the shallow bay flats. Tarpon are catch-and-release only under Texas rules without a specific tag, and trout, redfish and snapper carry size and bag limits — check current Texas Parks and Wildlife regulations before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
At the jetties, fish the down-current tip on the outgoing. Bait is being flushed out of the pass and it stacks in the rip just past the last rock. Get up-current, cast past the rip line, and let your bait swing through it rather than casting straight into the boil.
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