The Lower Laguna Madre is at its summer best this week. Redfish are tailing the shallow flats, trout are on the grass and the guts, and the first good showing of summer tarpon has arrived along the beachfront and jetties.
What’s Hitting
Redfish are tailing and pushing the shallow flats of the Lower Laguna at first light. Speckled trout are working the grass and the deeper guts. Tarpon have shown along the beachfront and around the Brazos Santiago jetties, and snook and black drum are around the passes and jetties.
Where to Find Them
Wade or pole the shallow flats of the Lower Laguna Madre for tailing reds at dawn. Trout hold on the grass and in the deeper guts and along the ICW spoils. Tarpon roll along the beachfront and the jetties, and snook and drum work the pass structure.
Tides & Conditions
Water is warm in the mid-80s, so the dawn and dusk windows are prime. Calm mornings are essential for sight-fishing the tailing reds before the persistent south wind builds. A moving tide through the pass and along the beach turns on the tarpon and trout. Mullet, shrimp, and small baitfish are thick along the grass lines and the guts, and the reds and trout set up wherever that forage concentrates on the moving tide. Watch for slicks and nervous bait over the grass — a slick popping up on a calm morning is the surest sign of a working school of fish below.
Tackle & Tactics
For tailing reds, throw a weedless gold spoon or a soft plastic dropped ahead of the fish; fly anglers use a weedless shrimp pattern. Trout eat a topwater early, then a soft plastic on a jighead. Beach and jetty tarpon take a live mullet or a swimbait on 50–60 lb leader.
Local Intel This Week
Isla Blanca Park at the south end of the island gives access to the jetties and the beach, with the Port Isabel ramps and Jim’s Pier serving the Lower Laguna. Reds are concentrating on the shallow west-side flats, tarpon along the beachfront and the jetties. Always check current FWC/state and federal regulations and open seasons before keeping any fish — bag and size limits change through the summer.
This Week’s Tip
On the wind-prone Lower Laguna, plan to fish the protected, lee shorelines when the south wind is up — the fish stack on the calmer, clearer water on the downwind bank. Reading the wind and picking the sheltered flat each morning matters more than any lure choice on this coast.