# Anyone ever fish Baffin Bay Texas?



## Tugboat1 (Apr 30, 2011)

Looking into a fall trip for trout and Redfish and would like any input on experiences.


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## kenmorrow (Apr 30, 2011)

November is THE month to go...seriously.  It's one of the most predictable things on the hunting and fishing calendar.  Bizarre.  The fishing heats up, the weather turns milder, and the winds haven't picked up yet.  Of course, everyone who fishes down there knows it, too.  So it is also the busiest month of the year.

Baffin Bay is good at producing big fish and busted boats.  Sea Tow does a booming business there.  I'm a fly fisherman, so I probably won't be much help to you on tackle and techniques unless you are too.  But fish in the Laguna Madre eat shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp.  Actually, Sand Eels do well too.  The go-to artificials in the region are Bass Assassins and a gold spoon.

All of the advice you can find about Baffin Bay will say "don't do it yourself...hire a guide."  It's correct.  It's not marketing propaganda.  First of all, Laguna Madre boats are highly specialized to meet the very unusual conditions there.  The average water depth in the entire LM is 2'.  Second, the upper LM (where Baffin Bay is located) is not very clear and Baffin Bay is heavily cluttered with slightly submerged, barnacle-encrusted boulders...not to mention wrecks, outboard motors, and all the remains of the many hard-headed souls who thought it wouldn't happen to them.  Third, the fish aren't all over Baffin Bay.  They tend to be pretty concentrated and move based on conditions that the pros are familiar with (typical).  The rest of the water is pretty much devoid of fish (moreso than usual).

Frankly, I prefer to avoid the crowds, dirty water, and jellyfish by heading down to the Lower Laguna Madre and fishing by myself on miles and miles of pristine flats to fish that are so relaxed they'll let you walk up and nudge them with your wading boot.  The Redfish gather into huge schools that time of year and tail on the grass flats in the early morning.  Then they tend to move to the sand later in the day.  It's a slower pace, small town beach/coastal environment down there with a noticeable Border twist.  And there is excellent surf fishing, wade fishing, offshore fishing, and in-shore fishing with literally scores of charter services to choose from.  Slip rentals aren't expensive there.  Room and meals aren't either if you shop around.


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## Tugboat1 (Apr 30, 2011)

kenmorrow said:


> November is THE month to go...seriously.  It's one of the most predictable things on the hunting and fishing calendar.  Bizarre.  The fishing heats up, the weather turns milder, and the winds haven't picked up yet.  Of course, everyone who fishes down there knows it, too.  So it is also the busiest month of the year.
> 
> Baffin Bay is good at producing big fish and busted boats.  Sea Tow does a booming business there.  I'm a fly fisherman, so I probably won't be much help to you on tackle and techniques unless you are too.  But fish in the Laguna Madre eat shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp.  Actually, Sand Eels do well too.  The go-to artificials in the region are Bass Assassins and a gold spoon.
> 
> ...



Thank you kindly for the informative reply.Some good stuff to chew on. I've always heard about the monster trout in that area and a buddy just purchased a floating cabin in Land Cut so I was working up plans for a fishing holiday this fall. I'll definitely research Laguna Madre, sounds like my type of fishing and I always have a fly rod ready. Thanks again.


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## kenmorrow (May 1, 2011)

You can take a lot of trout on topwater down there...big trout.  On the fly, you'll want to cast Hot Lips Gurglers, cork poppers, and rattle shrimp pattern sliders like Georgia's own Drift Fishing's Georgia Shrimp in addition to spoon flies (get the ones made by locals).

On conventional tackle, the good ole popping cork and shrimp rig is pretty much the standard for trout.

For Redfish on the fly you'll only need a couple of fly patterns in a few different colors.  They call the mainstay the Mother's Day Special.  It's nothing special.  It's a size 4 shrimp pattern tied with Estaz body wrap, small hackle feather splayed left and right with some very thin mylar strips and a tiny tuft of chartreuse or pink marabou clipped very short in between as a tail (actually the head of a shrimp, but tail of the fly), light bead chain eyes tied underneath behind the eye to invert the hook point, and a few sililegs coming off the sides out of the Estaz.  The top colors are white, rusty brown, and light olive.  The gold spoon flies are also killer on the Redfish at times.


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