SABINE — Look for flocks of feeding birds to guide you to fall trout and redfish. The cooling waters will bring fish out of the deep water and throwing broken-back lures should result in excellent topwater action. Other baits that work well in this area under the birds are soft plastic shrimp tails and grubs worked under a Mansfield Mauler. Also, countdown baits such as Rat-L-Traps and B & L Corkys produce good results when fish return periodically to slightly deeper water. The annual flounder run should be in the first stages, later in the month, with early fronts beginning to cool hot summer water temperatures. Mud minnows and live shrimp, fished with a slip weight is the best way to end up with a 20 fish limit. 
GALVESTON — Waders should continue to catch good numbers of trout and redfish along protected 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, once located drift an ice fish through the school and hang on to your hat. 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 shrimp tails. 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, shrimp tails, 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. 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 shrimp tails 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
