Bay Fishing

The Coastal Bend’s angling opportunities are endless. Boat or no boat, our shallow bays offer some of the best sightcasting for redfish and trophy trout fishing on the Gulf Coast. From north of Rockport to the famed Baffin Bay, the region provides more than 20 boat ramps and marina, kayak put-in spots and miles of accessible and remote shorelines for wading seagrass flats and surf-fishing. Barrier islands such as San Jose, Mustang and Padre islands provide a nearly continuous line of wind protection from our predominant southeast breeze. And hundreds of spoil islands and oyster reefs in our bays offer additional fish-holding structure to target northern-most bay system accessed by the Copano Bay Causeway boat ramp or the one at Goose Island State Park.

North of Corpus Christi, Redfish Bay is home to the fabled Estes Flats area and the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area, Texas’ only seagrass protection area. This popular spot is five miles of seagrass beds, potholes, channels, and spoil islands. Because much of this area holds shallow reefs and impassable shallow flats, it’s become a popular spot for poling skiffs and kayaks.

From Corpus Christi southward extends the Upper Laguna Madre, which includes Baffin Bay. This hyper saline shallow stretch of water is arguably the most remote and productive fishery in Texas. The Laguna Madre is bordered mostly by the King Ranch on the west and Padre Island National Seashore on the east. Anglers from around the country come here to catch the speckled trout of a lifetime. Two of the last three state record trout came from Baffin Bay.