Fishing Season: January 1 - December 31 (Prime: March 1 - November 30)

Gulf Coast - TX

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

Inshore Temp:

74

Offshore Temp:

85

Swan Point Landing's Tip of the Week

On calm, early to mid- day walks as water warm and sun gets higher, go to longer leaders (up to 12') to keep flyline's belly away from laid up, skinny water fish. Consider a 6 or seven weight for walks .. Try Slow, quiet top waters (deer hair, foam) on afternoon cruising fish on clean shorelines then grizzly seaducers with mono or small bead chain eyes w/ little to NO flash (size 2 and smaller).... move to larger tan, griz, ginger or gray seaducers fishing from skiff , proactively hitting potholes at end of your casting range The shallower the water, go less noisy on topwater retrieves, but keep them moving,try to mimic local mullet activity and movements.... Time to try larger topwaters / big seaducers/ clousers early over 2-3' grass flats near ICWW before sun gets high enough to sight cast, and floating grass kicks in, the same with East cut at Port Mansfield.. Try to stay with redfish that may have refused your first cast until they are out of range , they could forget 20 seconds later and eat.

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Map of Gulf Coast

Tide data

Tidal Conditions

Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby

Swan Point Landing Outfitters

5-Day Outlook as of 11/19/24

Mandatory Kill switch regs. in effect for TX boats, at faster than headway speeds since Sept. 2019. HEY! NEW 2024-2025 limits for speckled trout regulations are now in effect statewide with 3 Trout allowed in a slot of 15" to 20" / day, with one of those fish allowed over 28" (starting 9 1 2024, please release all these XXL's females, they are PRIME breeding stock ) please release safely and quickly in Fall hot water please remember ALL large trout > 22" typically are breeding females, please release these fish , they are the ones with GREAT DNA!! . First Split of TEXAS SOUTH Zone duck is November 2 to December 1st Second Split resumes Dec. 14th to January 26 2025 Operation Game Thief (800) 792 4263 Oyster Proposal to permanently close Middle Coast's Ayres, Mesquite and Carlos bays from oyster harvest passes unanimously with TPW 11/3!! light variable N to winds ramping mid week to >20 coming around to E with sun Friday thru weekend Tides normal to way above normal with water holding steady, in with last Friday full moon use heavier leaders to 16 # tippet to bring fish (and maybe some grass) to be released in QUICKLY, reds eating small wtd dark crab flies and small brown shrimp patterns / tan EARLY til it gets too hot to eat, try small top waters on early AM crawling fish before floating grass pops up , good trout to 26" on drifts and edges in P. Mansfield with picky fish on spoils try tan kwans.. as water slowly cools below 80*, small brown shrimp hatch getting single and podding reds to tail up and push sheepshead minnows up on shorelines Snook opps In Brownsville ship channel a w/ 10' Sink tips , short leaders and large white/ chartreuse or black flies in the ship channel for snook and big trout on edges of spoils and ICWW use gentle CPR on the big girls please, as most trout over 20" are female front beach tarpon opps with dark flies on light West to NE winds

Techniques & Tips as of 11/19/24

Fish that were on baitfish in Winter / early Spring will be turning to small white and tan shrimp and small impressionistic olive and black crabs in Spring> May> September,, Go to longer leaders and 0X to 1X fluoro for fussy, white sand fish....consider small hair bugs (#1 to #6) and small poppers on crawling fish early and late * most trout over 21" are females, with big work do do since the Feb 2021 Freeze... please let 'em go!

Current Conditions as of 11/19/24

LLM Is hypersaline 125 mile long lagoon with skinny water grass flats and an eastern white sand shoreline up to a mile wide , sliced in two by the East Cut at Port Mansfield with access to Mansfield jetty and near inshore fish, Port Isabel and Port Mansfield offer jetty fisheries for snook and tarpon with summer/ fall front of gulf front beach fish available too after temps reach 75* thru late November..

Local Species Available January 1 - December 31 (Prime: March 1 - November 30)

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    Redfish

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    sea trout

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    snook

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    black drum sheepshead tarpon mackeral

Swan Point Landing's Recommended Fly Patterns

"Must-have" fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:

Name: Colors: Size(s):
Kinky Muddler Chartruse Pur/bla 1/0
LG seaducers 5 ginger white chart 2/o-
small deer hair bugs white tan 2, 4
tan,black, and green crab flies black 2, 4
chart white snake fly N/A 2-4

Kinky Muddler

This attractive minnow fly pattern will attract lots of attention.

4.99

Item #3R82

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Swan Point Landing's Recommended Gear

Description: About Gulf Coast

The upper Middle Texas coast includes, San Antonio and Espirito Santo bays/ Port O' Connor, south to rockport and N. Corpus Christi bay, The Lower Laguna Madre is a 125 mile long hyperdaline lagoon from the Land Cut, moving south through Port Mansfield and, ending at South Padre Island, known as the Texas Riviera on the Mexico border The LLM fishing in this area is know for its flats sand and grass flats averaging less than 3' deep The hypersalinity allows large speckled Trout and large numbers of redfish to flourish. Along the jettys (Port Mansfield and Boca Chica / SPI) one can catch Jack Crevalle( 10-35#) king & Spanish mackeral, and Tarpon (April to Thanksgiving) The Fat and Common Snook have made a strong comeback in these waters near Boca Chica jetty and the Brownsville ship channel ALL TEXAS GRASS FLATS NOW PROTECTED FROM PROPELLER SCARRING. IF YOUR BOAT CAN'T RUN IT/ STOP, AND GET BACK UP ON PLANE on a sand/ pot hole, W/0 GRASS DAMAGE PLEASE, DRIFT/ POLE IN AND DRIFT/ POLE OUT!

Nearest Airport:

Harlingen TX or Brownsville, TX

Bait Recommendations:

The dominant bait will be the small tan shrimp in Spring / summer months with mullet and crab and turns to mullet/ baitfish / sand eels patterns in the winter months. Olive kwan.-type seaducer crabs #4, along with mullet and pinfish patterns near drop-offs of the ICWW. Mud crabs in dark olive , size 4 are now common. FInger mullet 2" -4", (imitated w/ white and white / gray bead head seaducers, woolhead mullet #2 ) are prime targets on potholes, prop scars and drop-offs (blind casting situations)....try white and/ or chartreuse flies (easier to see at 30 to 60' intercept points) until fish refuse, then go to tan, tan/ white, GINGER, grizzly, BLACK and grays in all patterns and sink rates....