GALVESTON — Waders should continue to catch good numbers of trout and redfish along shorelines. Topwater plugs and soft plastic shadtails are still the best baits for this type of fishing. Lunker trout move into the shallows during the fall to spawn and waders in the right place at the right time should be able to hook into a wall hanger. Mid-bay reefs and feeding birds are leading anglers to plenty of school sized specks. Plastic shrimp and shad tails worked around the reefs and under the birds are the best bet for limits. Look for flounder to begin stacking up along San Luis Pass, Rollover Pass, and Galveston’s North and South jetties. Use mud minnows on a slip weight rig for the best results. 
FREEPORT — Offshore fishermen are continuing to find limits of red snapper around near shore oil platforms. Bigger fish are being caught by anglers drifting icefish close to the surface, while plenty of smaller snapper are being brought to the boat on squid and cut bait. Kingfish are slowly moving on in their annual migration, but there should still be a few left willing to hit a drifted ice fish or slow trolled feather jig. Anglers should still find tarpon action to be hot and heavy in near shore waters. Look for rolling fish or schools of nervous bait fish, once located drift an ice fish through the school and hang on to your hat. MATAGORDA — Best bets for Matagorda during the fall? Try wading the north and south shorelines of both west and east bays. Shrimptails and broken-back lures are both proven baits for the excellent fall redfish action in this area. Speckled trout action is best during the high tide for waders working the same areas. However, live bait such as piggy perch and finger mullet will also account for their fair share of fish. PORT O’CONNOR — September is an excellent time for redfish in the Port O’Connor area. Use live shrimp, piggy perch, or finger mullet along shallow shorelines and drop-offs. Artificial baits that work well are, 1/4 ounce silver and gold spoons, broken-backs, and strawberry shrimptails. And don’t forget about the jetties, they’ll be holding plenty of redfish, trout, and flounder. ROCKPORT — Redfish is the key word in Rockport during fall. Drifting the flats using artificial baits is a great technique for this part of the year. Cocahoe minnows, shrimptails, and broken-backs are the best baits for thoroughly covering the grass covered flats. Working the soft plastic lures under a Mansfield Mauler or rattling popping cork is the preferred technique by local anglers. Fresh shrimp rigged on a single drop leader or slip weight and pitched into one of the many “pot holes” will draw strikes from redfish and puppy drum. MANSFIELD — Drifting and wading is available during this time of year in this remote area of the coast. The flats should be producing good stringers of trout and redfish while the east cut is holding flounder. For a better chance at landing a limit of flounder use a strawberry/white shadtail with a long shank hook. Crawl the bait slowly along the bottom until you feel the hit, wait a second for the fish to take the bait deep in its mouth, and set the hook. Trout and reds prefer the more lively action of topwater plugs and live bait fish. And don’t forget, big bait equals big fish. SOUTH PADRE — Fishing in the Lower Laguna is about the same as it is the rest of the year. In fat it’s hard to find this area when the fishing isn’t good. Since this is a time for northers, look for fish to move to deeper water such as Lower Colorado, or the Brownsville Channel. After the front passes fish should move back onto the flats. Shrimp and finger mullet under a popping cork work best, but shrimptails and topwater plugs will produce trout and redfish along shorelines. If you frequent the bay in this area often enough, chances are you’ll either see or hook-up with a tarpon. Anglers hooked several of the fish in this area last year during September and there’s no reason it couldn’t happen again.
– Texas Saltwater Fishing Guide
