The Texas coast is in the heart of a hot, calm summer stretch. Surf conditions have been green and clean on the light-wind mornings, the jetty systems are holding a genuine tarpon fishery, and the bay trout bite is running on the usual August schedule — excellent at daylight, difficult by nine. Afternoon storms are hit or miss depending on how far south you are.
What’s Hitting
Tarpon are the most exciting fishery on the coast right now, showing at the Galveston jetties, the Sabine jetties, and the Port Aransas jetty system on the moving tide. Speckled trout are eating well on the flats and along the shorelines at first light, with the better fish on structure and deeper grass once the sun climbs. Redfish are working the shorelines, back lakes, and the surf guts. Bull reds are starting to show around the passes. Nearshore, king mackerel, Spanish, and ling are on the rigs and wrecks in 40 to 90 feet. Offshore, red snapper and grouper are on the deeper structure, with the usual federal season restrictions applying.
Where to Find Them
The Galveston north and south jetties and the Port Aransas jetties are the tarpon and bull red water on the outgoing. Trout are on the East Galveston Bay shorelines, the Baffin Bay rock structure, and the grass flats in the Upper Laguna Madre. Redfish are in the back lakes off West Bay and the marsh shorelines. Surf anglers should look for a green tide and work the second and third guts. Nearshore rigs in 50 to 80 feet are holding kings and ling.
Tides & Conditions
Bay water temperatures are 86 to 90, surf is in the mid-80s. Tides are moderate with a workable early outgoing at the jetties. Light southeast wind in the mornings has kept the surf green and fishable, building through the afternoon. Storms are more of a factor on the upper coast than the lower. Fish early — the difference between a 6 a.m. and an 8 a.m. start is dramatic this time of year.
Tackle & Tactics
Tarpon at the jetties want a big soft plastic, a live mullet, or a swimbait on 80-pound fluorocarbon, worked on the outgoing where the current sweeps past the rocks. Trout on the flats are eating topwater in the first hour, then a soft plastic on a light jighead or a live croaker under a cork. In Baffin, work the rock structure slowly and thoroughly. Redfish in the back lakes take a weedless spoon or a soft plastic. Kings on the rigs want slow-trolled live bait on a stinger rig with light wire.
Local Intel This Week
The 61st Street ramp and Texas City Dike in Galveston, the Fisherman’s Wharf area in Port Aransas, and the Bird Island Basin ramp on the Laguna Madre are practical launches. Shore anglers have excellent access at the Galveston jetties and the Texas City Dike. Fish are concentrating on jetty rocks, guts, and structure with current rather than open bay bottom. Speckled trout, redfish, and red snapper all carry size and bag restrictions that have been revised recently in Texas — check current Texas Parks and Wildlife and federal regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
Wading the surf, count the guts before you commit. The second gut usually holds the trout in the early morning and the third holds the bigger fish once the sun is up. Rather than pushing straight out to the deepest water you can stand in, fish each gut thoroughly from the beach outward. Most anglers wade past the fish they came to catch.
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