As deep south in Texas as you can get before hitting Mexico, South Padre Island sits nestled along the ultimate fisherman's paradise, the Lower Laguna Madre. This pristine bay system is one of six hypersaline bays in the world, with only two inlets from the Gulf of Mexico making the water here saltier than normal seawater. The high salinity levels, warm water temperatures, and sub-tropical climate allow spotted seatrout, redfish, flounder, and snook to flourish.
The Lower Laguna Madre is famously known for big, speckled trout. A monstrous 37", 16 lb. trout was caught by local angler, Carl "Bud" Rowland, back in the early 2000's. Large trout of this class are what draw many anglers to wade hours upon hours for the possibility of landing a trophy like Bud's.
Preparing to Fish
With big fish on the brain, Capt. Brian Barrera and I got our gear ready. "This dog will hunt," is what I told myself as I reached for the tried-and-true 95mm White Bait Current Sniper. After landing my personal best speckled trout on it about two years ago, this topwater stays in my tackle box. That trout was a remarkable 30", 10 lbs. For working a walk the dog top water like the Current Sniper, I prefer the Teramar XX SW series in a 7'6" medium fast action rod. The tip is soft enough to get the required action from the lure.
And the backbone of the rod is long enough for long, accurate casts yet forgiving enough during the fight so as not to tear the hooks from the fish from violent headshakes. I typically pair my Teramars with a Vanford 2500HG or a Sustain 2500HG reel. These reels are incredibly light and balance perfectly. This allows all-day comfort while wading, has enough flexibility to work topwaters effortlessly, yet has enough backbone to stick a big fish.
Navigating through the dense fog, a reminder of the cold weather front that had passed through overnight, Capt. Brian Barrera led us to his favorite zone to chase these fang-toothed, yellow-mouthed fish. We anchored down and slipped into our waders. I took one last sip of coffee, hopped out of the boat, and began my wade. Walking along the mixture of mud and sand bottom, we slowly picked apart this area, focusing our casts towards sandy "potholes" amongst the thick turtle grass that the Lower Laguna Madre is so blessed to have.
We Spotted Seatrout
There is just something magical about water so flat and calm that you can't distinguish where the water stops, and the horizon begins. The sound of the line exiting through the guides on that first cast makes everything right in my world again. Twitch, twitch, thump… fish on.
The first fish of the day was a beautiful, slot redfish. We continued casting and working our way towards shallower ground, picking up several speckled trout and redfish along the way. As so often happens, I saw the wake behind my lure and slowed down the retrieve to a crawl and was rewarded with an explosion. This was a decent-sized speckled trout. I knew it was a good one when I saw its dark gray, spotted back and tail thrashing on the surface.
Days like this are special. Neither of us wanted to leave, and we spent several more hours exchanging high-fives over landed and spotted sea trout, redfish, and other fish species, smiling as we released them all back.
After several fish each, we decided to give this particular spot a break and circle back to it later in the tide. This ultimately ended up paying off. This area historically produces big fish, so it was just a matter of figuring out what time of day they wanted to eat our lures. We caught lots of fish here in the morning — plenty of small fish, but not the trophy we were seeking. The evening bite had to be it. So while we waited for the sun to get a little lower, we took a cruise, ate a late lunch, and soaked in the never-ending scenery of South Padre Island.
Catching the Giants
When we returned to our spot, we were immediately greeted by loads of jumping and fleeing finger mullet. This was a promising sign; a fishing tip every angler learns: fleeing baitfish means something big is lurking around. Capt. Brian grabbed his Teramar XX and Sustain 2500HG combo, bombed his lure out, and twitched it maybe one time before hearing the sound that every topwater angler lives to hear. The sound of what seems like a cement cinderblock being dumped into the water from 20 feet above. That's how you know you've got a real one on the other end of your line.
Brian expertly fought the fish and brought her to the net. She was a beautiful female spotted seatrout, coming in at 26.5" and well over 6 lbs. Her large belly drooped beneath Brian's hands as he proudly showed her off.
The thrill of recreational fishing, possibly connecting with a big speckled trout while being waist deep on the pristine flats of the Lower Laguna Madre, is without a doubt my paradise. Nothing compares to a gorgeous South Texas day, laughing with friends and walking amongst giants. I live for days like this. I think I had a smile on my face the rest of the day, and I know for sure, sleep was no problem that night!
