My fishing buddy bailed on me at the last minute, but I already had a weekend kitchen pass from my wife and my truck loaded up so I hit the road. I was supposed to meet in Rockport, but since I was on my own, I decided to explore some new area & headed down to Arroyo city.
What I like about Lower Laguna Madre is that you get chances at monster trout or at least get to put some eyes on these big girls.
I still have this vision in my head of a large trout breaking the surface, it's big head thrashing back and forth, that big open yellow mouth shaking and tossing my softdine back into the water. That trout would have been my personal best.
There is very good fishing at the mouth of the Arroyo, but It is a long paddle in the kayak. I saw a couple guys launching at the end of the Adolph Thomae park and make the 3.5 mile paddle to the flats. There is good fishing along the Arroyo banks as well.
I was in my AnKona skiff. I pulled up at the first island, beached the skiff & started wading.
I caught a few smaller trout and had one good fish hit and miss my topwater. I alternated between throwing a mansfield knocker and a strike king hunchback. The silver hunchback was the favorite that morning. Always let the fish tell you what they want and once you start getting strikes, stick with that lure for a while. I had one big fish gulp down my hunchback and make a powerful run. O for 2 on the big fish that morning.
The wind started picking up so I decided to fish Rattlesnake Bay. I tossed out a drift sock and had the perfect drift right parallel down the islands. From the top of the poling platform I had a good view of any fish that came within casting distance. Redfish were cruising in the sandy stretched behind the islands and some where out in the grass flats as well. I had a great day of sightcasting and pitching Lil John's on 1/16th and 1/8th jig heads.
I saw a tree branch lying right at the edge of the grass and the sand. A white spot caught my eye. Then I realized it was a trophy sized trout with an injury on its back. I made a great cast and and dragged it right in front of the trout, but once they see you its almost impossible to get them to bite. I saw one more big trout and lying in a prop scar of a grass flat and it reminded me of why I make the drive down to the Laguna Madre. It is only a matter of time and I will get one of these big trout to hand.
Arroyo City late October
Re: Arroyo City late October
Seeing big trout lurking in the shallows is exciting stuff.
Re: Arroyo City late October
Thanks for the report, wittich! Like you, I enjoy fishing the LLM, and especially Arroyo City. Living in Rockport, I make two or three trips down there with my skiff each year, going also to Progreso, MX, for cheap teeth cleaning, cheap meds, and contact lenses. I normally stay in Port Isabel, as it is centrally located to SPI, Brownsville Ship Channel, and an easy drive to Tomei Park. My last trip there, I finally caught a snook, in South Bay! I just wish I could find a reasonable fisherman's cabin in AC, but all I find are AirBnB, and VRBOs, which are stupid expensive. My very nice hotel in Port I is around $50 a night, if you don't go in summer($$$$). Elon's company launched another rocket today, and they have applied for a permit to dump 200,000 gallons of "treated" sewer water into South Bay, a "PRESERVE", since 1984. Goodbye South Bay. TexasJim. getting off soapbox.....................