David Wood is a South Padre Island fishing guide with over 20 years of experience. He is the author of three books offering expert fishing advice.
Fairweather makes for great fishing in the Lower Laguna Madre. As light autumn winds prevail, fishing for all species will remain fair to excellent. Fall fishing is so good because water temperatures are hovering in the perfect window for fish-feeding activity. Water temperatures in the mid to lower seventies means just about everything is active and nearly anywhere you choose to fish has a good chance of producing some quality.
Look for trout and redfish on the intracoastal. Sheepshead and snapper will be on hard structures. The Brownsville Ship Channel is a solid bet for them. The jetties can produce just about anything right now on a good tide.
The species will be different on each front going forward. Fall is a transitional time for fish. Be prepared to throw bait one day and plugs the next if you have to keep producing and be aware the fish will start to move around quite a bit with the wind.
As a general rule, wind-blown shoreline and structures will produce better than the lee side of things, unless it is blowing a gale. Then I would try the opposite. When the north wind is cutting, try to get behind stuff that
blocks the wind somewhat to find fish. When the wind is turning over the water, the opposite of what works during fair weather situations tends to be true.
I love late fall fishing. The fish get aggressive this time of year and it always produces some of the most ferocious bites. The fishing only heats up and the water cools down.
Summer species will start to go a little further offshore and we won’t encounter them much inshore until next spring, but other species more than make up for the loss. Drum, sheepshead and flounder should start to get easier to catch real soon for everyone. They are mostly an incidental catch throughout the warmer months when they tend to spread out throughout the bay. As the fronts start dropping, the temperature moves and concentrates them where they are more susceptible to anglers. You can’t beat live or fresh dead shrimp for bait.
Hurricane Rafael is set to hit Cuba as of the time of writing. I can’t believe it’s November and there is a Category Three storm heading for the Gulf. By Saturday, it’s supposed to be a lot closer to us, but if I understand correctly, as a much weaker storm. With any luck, the fronts that should be here this time of year will push it on east and away from us. Hopefully, our fair weather will continue and with it, the great fishing.
Good luck out on the water, folks.
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