This week at South Padre, the Laguna Madre is running its summer schedule — trout on the deeper grass before the heat, redfish on the edges, and a jetty scene at Brazos Santiago Pass that includes the Texas coast’s best shot at snook and tarpon.
What’s Hitting
Speckled trout are holding over the deeper grass and potholes in 3 to 5 feet, feeding hard early and then sliding into the guts as the sun climbs. Snook are on the jetty rocks and channel edges — this is the heart of their Texas range — with tarpon rolling off the jetties and along the beach. Redfish are steady on the sand-and-grass edges of the Laguna, and the surf has been producing whiting, pompano-sized permit lookalikes, and hard-pulling jacks when it turns green.
Where to Find Them
Work the deeper grass west of the intracoastal at first light for trout, then the potholes and edges as it warms. Snook want the granite at Brazos Santiago Pass on the moving tide, especially the last of the incoming. Reds are cruising the edge where the sand meets the grass in knee-deep water early.
Tides & Conditions
The stronger tides this week put real current through the pass, which is exactly what the jetty snook and tarpon feed on. The Laguna stays hot and clear — light wind mornings have made for excellent sight-casting conditions.
Tackle & Tactics
Laguna trout eat soft plastics on light jigheads and topwaters in the gray light. Jetty snook want a live pigfish or a white paddletail worked tight to the rocks on 30-pound fluorocarbon — they know every barnacle in the pass. For the reds, a weedless gold spoon or a shrimp under a cork covers the edge cruisers.
Local Intel This Week
The Jaime Zapata Memorial ramp in Laguna Vista, the public launches in Port Isabel, and Adolph Thomae Jr. County Park up at Arroyo City are the main access points this week. Fish are concentrating on the deeper Laguna grass early and at the pass on the moving tide. Snook harvest is tightly regulated in Texas and trout limits are zone-specific — check current TPWD regulations before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Summer sight-casting on the Laguna is about the sun at your back. Plan your wade or drift so the morning light works for you, not against you — the difference between spotting a red at 60 feet and spooking it at 15 is usually nothing more than which direction you chose to fish.