Fishing at Laguna Madre Bay in South Padre Island, Texas

The tropical town of South Padre Island located at the southernmost tip of Texas has instituted a no tie-zone, requiring all visitors to remove their ties before entering this 31-mile island paradise. While the commercial fishing almost decimated the Bay by the 1970s, thanks to the efforts of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Texas and other conservation groups, the bay has been brought back to a robust fishery.

The lower Laguna Madre Bay, a hyper saline estuary bay system approximately 50 miles in length, has an average depth of less than three feet. These miles of crystal clear shallow water affords anglers the opportunity to sight fish for redfish, sheepshead, ladyfish, black drum, spotted sea trout, and flounder, as well as the occasional tarpon or snook. As Shane Wilson, President of the Laguna Madre Fly Fishing Association exclaims, "Most of our water is wadeable and gin clear. You can find reds tailing almost daily and big sow trout lurk in potholes to ambush passing flies. Flounder rip out your drag as they puff away with your clouser and Ladyfish can tear into your backing before you can whistle to your buddy that a fish is on."

With generally sunny days and an average temperature of 70 degrees in the winter and 85 degrees, anglers can fish the bay year round. According to Captain Randy Rogers, the tides, winds and constant changing conditions greatly influence the fishability of a given area of the bay. Captain Eric Glass adds that some of these flats fish better on ongoing tides, while other flats hold more fish on the incoming tides. Usually, he can find a flat that has a lot of fish on it any time of the year.

These shallow flats means that the water temperature on the flats rises and falls much faster than in deeper waters. Hence, one can suddenly find bait fishing appearing as soon as the temperature rises and then retreating once the weather cools. Capt. Randy notes that as baitfish tend to seek out shallow water, based on the tidal charts, anglers can predict when baitfish will be present. After consulting these charts, he will poll around looking for bait activity, and if he sees any action, he will then start fishing. As these flats are six miles wide and sixty miles long, Capt. Randy states he clearly has a lot of area he can cover.

While the boat traffic can be heavy during the spring and summer, the sea trout and redfish seem to ignore the boats and are available to be caught year round. For those that wish to target these species, the peak season for sea trout is June through August, and the peak season for redfish tends to be April to November. Warmwater species such as the jack crevalle show up from March until December. Tarpon usually show up by April with a few tarpon remaining until November. According to Capt. Skipper Ray, the best month to fish the Laguna Madre Bay would be November because by then the water starts to cool down. He adds that December can be one of the best months as well, except for the occasional cool fronts that come through, which can make the fishing fabulous or shut it down completely.

Some of the best wading on Laguna Madre Bay can be found on the flats located to the north of the South Padre Island Convention Center. Capt. Glass notes that the best time to fish these flats tends to be from two in the afternoon until about 5 o'clock. The wind often picks up in the early afternoon, and the current generated by these wind tends to draw the fish to these flats. Fishing is not permitted from the piers located on the Laguna Madre Nature Trails. Another favorite hot spot for shore fishing is Isla Blanca Park located South of the Coast Guard station (Cameron County Park) in an area called Children's Beach.

Most flyfishers use 7 or 8-weight fly rods to tackle these the mid-size game fish. Reels for the inshore species need to be able to hold a floating line and contain at least 125 yards of 20-pound backing. For sight fishing, try 12-foot leaders with 10 to 12-pound tippets. Use shock leaders when targeting tarpon or snook. Suggested flies include spoon flies, clousers (olive over white or chartreuse) and deceivers (white with a green back or white with a blue back), as well as the occasional popping bug in white, chartreuse or black or crap, shrimp and lugworm imitations. When targeting snook or tarpon, try red and white flies with a bit of flash.

For spincasters, a 7-foot medium/light action rod with an open face spinning reels tends to work well. Topwater baits such as Storm's Rattling Chug Bug, Big Bug and Jointed Thundersticks are popular. Also, Capt. Randy likes to use soft plastics such as riptide shrimp product and riptide mullet.

The South Padre Island area holds numerous world fly and tackle fishing records and hosts the Texas International Fishing Tournament and the Ladies Kingfish Tournament. Avid catch and release anglers can participate in The South Padre Island Fly Fishing Invitational held every September. Proceeds from this tournament benefit the St. Andrew's Scholarship Fund.

Also, the second week in April marks the Rio Grande Valley Sports and Outdoors Show, held at the Convention Center. This weekend event features vendors, fishing seminars, displays of new boats, demonstrations of fly fishing techniques by the Laguna Madre Fly Fishing Association, and other dynamic program offerings that illustrate the range of fishing opportunities available in this Southern tip of Texas.

FLY-FISHING GUIDES

Capt. Randy Rogers
bigfish@CaptRandy.com
956-345-6565
www.captrandy.com

Capt. Eric Glass
956-761-2878
www.captainericglass.com

Capt. Skipper Ray
1-877-930-0462; 956-943-2798
www.skipper-ray.com

Also, fishermen can contact the South Padre Island Guides Association for a list of association members at 956-761-1044.

FLY SHOP
A Destination Fly Shop
318 Queen Isabella Blvd.
Port Isabel, TX
956-943-1785
www.saltyflyshop.com
saltyflyshop@sbcglobal.net

OTHER RESOURCES
Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)-Texas
www.ccatexas.org
A non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Texas' marine resources

Laguna Madre Fly Fishing Association
www.lagunamadreflyfishers.com
Website features links to the local tides, chat rooms, bulletin boards and other information of interest to anglers fishing the Laguna Madre Bay.

South Padre Island Fly Fishing Invitational
For information email Christine@dlohse.com

A Texas fishing license and a saltwater stamp are required to for all fishing trips to South Padre Island. Call Texas Parks & Wildlife at 800-895-4248, menu 1 for application information.

Call 1-800-SOPADRE or go to www.sopadre.com for a complete listing of lodging, activities, events, and restaurants available on South Padre Island.