Fishing Frenzy

Fall is nearly upon us and you may have already noticed the first signs of autumn's approach: the leaves may be starting to fade, the tides are falling and some of the wildflowers are beginning to die back. While plants may be winding things down in the fall, drift fishing is just picking up. All the way from the upper Texas coast to the Lower Laguna Madre's shallows, autumn is an excellent time for drifting for redfish and speckled trout with brown lures.

Why is fall better for drifting than other seasons? Fall brings change ranging from cooling temperatures to dropping tides. Falling with the tides is migrating bait fish that have relaxed within protected backwaters and saltwater marsh all summer long. Trout and redfish gang up and attack the fleeing feasts-all within driftable waters.

Structures which attract fish are the place to be when specking for trout and redfish, according to Captain Cody Maddox who drifts along the drops and holes of the upper West Bay.

"When you're fishing holes in the shell, you're talking working a very small area, usually about 7 feet surrounded by 3 foot deep water. I like to drift with brown lures around reef points and shell humps as well as holes and drops," Maddox tells us.

For his fall drift fishing, Maddox favors ? - 1/8 ounce riggings with soft plastic. When fishing deeper water, he tends to switch to a 3/8 oz head instead. A brown lures fan, Maddox says that he gets the best results with limetreuse, chartreuse and plum as well as with morning glory.

"If I have any great fall fishing tips to share, this is it," says Maddox. "I work my bait fast right over the bottom and then let it sit for a moment. If that doesn't get a bite, I try working it slower just off the tip of the shell - often with a weedless hook setup; sometimes just a little change gets results."

Bastrop fishing guide Captain Randall Groves tells us that he prefers fall for drifting. "I do best in muddy streaks along the upper coast. When temperatures get colder and the water becomes clearer, that's the best place for me on the upper coast."

Captain Groves tends to focus on drifting areas with deep shell as well as muddy creeks and bayous. "I'll usually drift deeper shell areas in autumn, but when it gets windy I have good luck in creeks and bayous."

Focusing on retrieval is one of the fishing tips Groves offers. "You'll hear a lot of people saying you should use a soft plastic and fish slow in fall and winter, but personally, I haven't found slow to be the best approach. I look for a reactionary bite instead of a hungry bite. You can get results by going slow, but I always do best working my lures faster in cold water."

"I rig my soft plastics with ? ounce and 3/8 ounce lead heads and use a very whippy rod like the Laguna Texas Wader III to work them through the water column."

"I use a trolling motor a lot to control my drift in fall," says Matagorda Bay guide Captain Dwayne Newburn. "A trolling motor especially helps when fishing around a group of working birds." Newburn refers to a common occurrence in fall when gulls are feeding on bait fish that are getting pushed up by feeding speckled trout and redfish below.

Captain Newburn is also a deep shell autumn angler, adding that he prefers to hit the dips and indentations of shell pads when drift fishing in the fall.

"When drifting, I do well with DOA Shrimp and Cajun Thunder Popping Corks. I'm also a fan of Norton Sand Eel Jr. with laguna shrimp and Saltwater Assassins with new penny and native shrimp," says Newburn, who prefers 1/8 oz jig heads with his soft plastic brown lures in shallow water and ? oz heads in deeper waters.

Captain Danny Neu, a Lower Laguna Madre guide is an avid autumn fisher. "It's one of my favorite times to fish, especially for large speckled trout. The bait fish head out of the bays and there aren't as many of them around, so you've got to hug the shoreline for miles sometimes, but when you come on a cluster of them, you know for sure that you've got trout and redfish right there," say s Neu.

On a normal day of drift fishing in fall, Neu typically spends the morning hours looks for bait activity in deeper water. "In colder water temperatures, I'll start drifts in deeper water before moving to shallower areas when the sun beams overhead and warms the shallows."

When asked which lures he ties on in the brisk temperatures, Neu chooses topwater plugs hands down. "I'll throw topwaters from the boat all day for trout and redfish in fall; they flat-out work!"

Neu throws smaller plugs like the super spook jr. on the lower coast. "I like to keep one rod rigged with a super spook jr. and the other rigged with a soft plastic." When throwing soft plastics, red and white Brown Lures is his personal favorite.