THE OVERALL TEMPERATURES MAY not be cool, but the waters throughout the area are entering the new week. Water temps will hover in the upper 60s in most places but Bolivar will still approach 80, enhancing the chances to catch speckled trout and redfish. Bull reds are a good play in Texas City, where sheepshead are abundant around the rocks.
Sabine Lake: Overall conditions: GOOD. 67-68 degrees. Water clarity; Stained. Fishing the mouths of the bayous along the eastern shoreline will yield some speckled trout and flounder on artificial lures. Redfish will be found in drains and bayous, schooling in the open lake and patrolling the shallow ponds bordering the bayous. The jetties will have a few speckled trout, but the redfish will be in bigger numbers.
Bolivar: GOOD. 78 Degrees. Speckled trout and redfish can be caught in the cut and the surf on shrimp. Black drum are good on crab. Flounder are good through the pass on minnow. Sheepshead are slow.
Trinity Bay: GOOD. 69 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are good around the bayou on shrimp under a popping cork. Flounder are fair around rocks on minnow. The north and northwest shoreline is a great area year-round due to the generating station. The cooling canal flows into the north side.
East Galveston Bay: GOOD. 68-69 degrees. Speckled trout are good on small topwaters around the reefs. The bull red run continues to be good for bull reds. Small speckled trout are under the birds. Sheepshead are fair along the rocks and piers on shrimp. Flounder has picked up and is good on Trout Assassins.
West Galveston Bay: GOOD. 69 degrees. Speckled trout are great on small topwaters or soft plastics around the reefs. The shell reefs around the ICW and San Luis Pass are great for speckled trout and redfish on shrimp under a cork. Flounder are excellent in the ship channel on mullet.
Texas City: GOOD. 70 degrees. Bull reds are still good around the dike on mullet. Redfish and speckled trout are good along the shoreline on shrimp under a popping cork. Flounder are good on minnow around the rocks. Black drum are fair on blue crab around deep structure or vegetation. Sheepshead are fair around the rocks on mullet.
Freeport: GOOD. 68 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are great in the back lakes and marshes on live shrimp under popping cork or mullet. Black drum and sheepshead are fair on live shrimp around the reefs. Flounder are excellent and increasing in numbers along the drains on mullet.
East Matagorda Bay: GOOD. 75 degrees. Unchanged. Speckled trout and redfish are good around the shell reefs on shrimp. Black drum are fair using Bass Assassins around vegetation or deep structure. This side of Matagorda is a hotspot from now until the end of the year.
West Matagorda Bay: GOOD. 75 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are good on soft plastics around the grass and sand bottoms early in the morning. Switch to soft plastics as the sun comes up. The north shoreline is good for redfish on live shrimp.
Port O’Connor: GOOD. 68 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are near dropoffs, potholes, and around vegetation and are good on shrimp. Black drum are good on crab around deep structure. Flounder action is heating up around the jetties.
