Updated: Thursday, May 14, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, May 21, 2026
This South Padre Island fishing report covers the week of May 14, 2026, and mid-May puts the Lower Laguna Madre at its spring peak. Speckled trout and redfish lead the way: trout stack on the grass flats and spoil banks at first light, and redfish tail in the back lakes on low tide. Snook gather at the Queen Isabella Causeway at night, and the first tarpon of the year show at the Brazos Santiago jetties. The condition to plan around is the southeast wind, light through Friday and building Saturday.
What’s Hitting
Speckled trout stack on the grass and spoils, with trophy fish in the 25-plus inch class in the mix. Redfish push across the flats from the Arroyo Colorado south to the Brownsville Ship Channel, and tailing fish in the back lakes offer sight-casting shots.
Snook stack on the causeway pilings at night, and the first tarpon arrive at the jetties, with numbers building through June. Offshore, vermilion snapper are open on the bottom, and federal red snapper opens June 1.
Where to Find Them
Trout: the Arroyo Colorado mouth and the spoil banks south to East Cut, plus the Saucer area, the flats around the Land Cut and the Lighthouse Flats north of Port Mansfield for trophy fish when calm water lets you reach them.
Redfish: the back lakes north of Port Mansfield, the spoil islands near Three Islands and the South Bay back lakes on low tide. Wade the flats and spoils off the Convention Centre and the Gas Well flats. The southern, deeper Queen Isabella Causeway pilings hold the biggest snook. The South Padre and Brazos Santiago jetties and the Brownsville Ship Channel hold tarpon, snook and Spanish mackerel on the tide, and the beachfront offers trout and reds on calm green-water mornings. Scout red snapper numbers in 80–120 feet.
Tides & Conditions
Water temperatures sit at 78–80°F, and the new moon falls on Saturday. Light southeast wind through Friday makes first light the trout window. Low tide pushes reds into the shallows with tails showing. Fish the jetties on the outgoing tide for tarpon.
Tackle & Tactics
- Trout: topwaters such as Skitter Walks and Heddon Spook Jrs the first hour, then a KWiggler Ball Tail Shad on a 1/16-oz jighead in plum, bone, plum-chartreuse or pumpkin-chartreuse.
- Redfish: pole or wade quietly and sight-cast gold spoons and weedless soft plastics, or fish live shrimp under a popping cork.
- Snook: live shrimp or pilchards free-lined into the causeway lights.
- Tarpon: live mullet drifted on the outgoing tide; big soft plastics also draw snook and tarpon around the jetties.
- Vermilion snapper: cut bonito or squid on the bottom.
Local Intel This Week
Launch from the Port Isabel ramps or the South Padre Island public ramp to reach the Lower Laguna flats and spoils; the Adolph Thomae Jr. County Park ramp on the Arroyo Colorado puts you on the north end of the Laguna. Isla Blanca Park sits beside Brazos Santiago Pass and the jetties for shore anglers chasing tarpon, and the Queen Isabella Causeway pilings are the night snook spot. A Texas saltwater license is required. Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Treat the wind as your clock. Be on your flat at sunrise and fish the dead-calm window hard, then drop back to the protected spoils and the jetties when the southeast wind comes up and dirties the water.
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