Texas Fly Fishing Report Going Around The Bend and Back Again

Waltz Across Texas

Twelve-hundred miles down this week, and I never left Texas. The drive started here in Denton, made the long run to the Rio Grande Valley, and hit the second stop two days ago in Houston before closing the triangle this morning upon return to Denton, Tejas. Heck of a deal … retirement homes, heart hospitals and the like. An old artist friend in the Valley asked where I wanted my angel wings painted. I suggested he paint them on the car.

As we are here to talk fly fishing, fly fishing reports and the like … I best not deviate from the menu you have come to have a taste for over these many years. The last I will say about that journey may sound hokey, and you young bucks I saw at 8th Wonder last night may think I am an old hoot, but I’ll tell you – life goes by in the blink of an eye – just like that birthday I passed on the road this week.

I am not doing a video this week, as the weather is a blustery, misty fifty-degrees out on the Fly Bar, and the morning’s commute from Houston has me bleary-eyed. But we certainly can reprint the parts of the Texas Fly Fishing Report that matter and YOU CERTAINLY can read! I must throw in some conversations from last night at 8th Wonder as well — as those conversations are what really makes this site and the reporting here – REAL and ACCURATE.

STARTING WITH THE SCUTTLEBUTT 

GALVESTON BAY

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Galveston Bay System, and it is fishing just like it would without fifty-five inches of rain drained into it. That is good to hear, although we did hear, early-on, about lost grass carp being caught in the bay. With this cold snap, we are setting up nicely for the November flounder run (says I).

GUADALUPE RIVER STRIPER

The most amazing news I had was from the Guadalupe River actually. Huge, and I want to emphasize HUGE striper are being caught along the Guadalupe River. One striper, found dead, came in at 47-pounds. That is no typo – forty-seven Texas, USA, pounds. Teens and twenties are sighted regularly, and being caught on occasion (yes there is photographic evidence on one particular phone). Break out your ten weight, and contact me for the details on the guide doing this with some consistency. These striper have been witnessed eating a c-and-r 20-inch largemouth bass in two bites tail first, so take your woolly buggers with you – and go home.

Although the flows were curtailed over the summer, there are holdover trout in abundance – both brown and rainbow. I saw phone fish porn that would make YOUR heart skip a beat – healthy and colorful trout being caught on the Guadalupe, and some significant stocking of the waters coming VERY SOON this season. This promises to be an epic year on the Guadalupe, and with the continuing “situational” fly fishing in Oklahoma? This should be your year to cash in your boxtops for a Guadalupe River float trip. You’ll be able to go for quantity (if that’s your thing), and in this rare instance, you will have an opportunity for quality as well. I can hook you up with a few guides who are onto these holdovers as well – CONTACT ME.

Last night’s event was a fly tying event put on by Bayou City Angler, and hosted by the 8th Wonder. Thanks once again for the kind and warm reception I once again received from the Houston Bayou City Angler patrons and employees who took the time to talk to me, tell stories and listen to my stories about stories – which I seem to be doing a lot more than casting a fly lately! You guys make me feel welcome and an outing with the Houston crew, Stacy Lynn et. al., is as much of a family feel as I have ever gotten in the fly world. It always seems to lead to some fantastic fly fishing as well!

If you are lucky enough to live near Houston, be sure to visit the fantastic brewery 8th Wonder east of Downtown Houston, Texas. I was able to sample their compliment of beers last night, staying away from those IPA’s so popular with the hipsters, and really enjoyed their “regular” beer offerings. Of course, tonight is game three of the World Series, so I wouldn’t even go close to Minute Maid during the three game close-out of the Dodgers. So, do any of you know what the 8th. Wonder of the world actually is?

ON TO THE REGULAR REPORTING

TEXAS

North Sabine

Trout are fair to good under birds and pods of shad on soft plastics. Redfish and flounder are good in the marsh on shrimp. Flounder are good on shrimp, shad and Gulps at the mouths of bayous.

South Sabine

Trout are fair to good under birds and pods of shad. Redfish are good at the jetty on live bait and cracked crabs. Flounder are good on Gulps around marsh drains.

Bolivar

Trout, black drum, sand trout and redfish are good at Rollover Pass. Trout are fair to good while drifting shell on plastics. Bull redfish are good on the beachfront.

Trinity Bay

Trout are good for drifters working pods of shad and mullet on soft plastics and Gulps. Redfish are fair to good on the east and north shorelines on shrimp and Gulps.

East Galveston Bay

Trout and large Gulf trout are good for drifters working deep shell on plastics and fresh shrimp. Redfish and flounder are fair to good in the marsh around drains on shrimp. Trout are good on topwaters for waders working mud and shell.

West Galveston Bay

Bull redfish and flounder are good at San Luis Pass on shrimp and shad. Sheepshead, redfish and black drum are good at the jetty on shrimp and crabs. Trout are good on topwaters for waders working the shorelines.

Texas City

Gulf trout are good in the channel on fresh shrimp. Redfish are good in Moses Lake on shrimp.

Freeport

Trout and redfish are fair to good on the reefs in Christmas Bay and Bastrop Bay. Bull redfish are good around Surfside and at the Quintana jetty on crabs, shrimp and mullet.

East Matagorda Bay

Trout are good for drifters on live shrimp over humps and scattered shell. Trout and flounder are fair to good on muddy shorelines on soft plastics.

West Matagorda Bay

Trout are good on sand and grass humps on soft plastics and topwaters. Redfish are good on live shrimp at Shell Island, Oyster Lake, Crab Lake and Mad Island on the incoming tide.

Port O’connor

Bull redfish are good at the jetty on crabs, mullet and shad. Trout are good on the reefs in San Antonio Bay on live shrimp.

Rockport

Trout are fair in the channel on free–lined shrimp. Redfish are good in Redfish Bay on mullet and crabs. Bull redfish are good in the Lydia Ann Channel and around Mud Island on shrimp and crabs.

Port Aransas

Redfish are fair at Shamrock Cove and Pelican Island on topwaters and Gulps. Bull redfish are good at the jetty and on the beachfront on natural baits.

Corpus Christi

Bull redfish are good in the surf on mullet and shrimp. Trout are fair for waders working mud and grass on Super Spook Jrs and Gulps.

Baffin Bay

Trout are good on topwaters and plum plastics around rocks and grass. Trout are good while drifting deep rocks on plum plastics. Flounder are good in the Land Cut on Gulps and jigs tipped with shrimp.

Port Mansfield

Redfish are good while drifting pot holes on topwaters and soft plastics under a popping cork. Trout and redfish are fair to good on the spoils on small topwaters and gold spoons. Flounder are fair to good at East Cut on Gulps and shrimp.

South Padre

Redfish are good in Airport Cove and on the Gas Well Flats on DOA Shrimp and Gulps. Trout are good on the flats on topwaters with high tides.

Port Isabel

Trout and redfish are good over potholes and grass flats on scented baits and topwaters. Redfish and flounder are fair to good in Cullen Bay on Gulps.

OKLAHOMA