In April, some of the best fishing in the Corpus Christi area for both trout and redfish can be found on the East side of Corpus Christi Bay. Especially when we have extra windy conditions in the middle of spring, East Flats, Little Flats, Shamrock Cove and the shorelines adjacent to those areas can produce really good catches of trout and reds. Because of the lay of the land, the water stays pretty and green, even clear in pockets along the shoreline and in the coves, even when strong southeast winds muck up the water over much of the rest of the area, including in Baffin and the ULM. In fact, fishing gets better in the protected pockets when it’s windy from the direction, probably because the winds create movement in the water and stir up the bait. Calms weather can make the fish in the backwater areas really skittish and spooky. We do well with a variety of lures to target trout on East Flats and in Shamrock this time of year, including top-waters. Bite is best for reds on paddle-tails, mostly. The best catching in the shallows this time of year occurs on strong incoming morning tides.
The generally mild and pleasant weather of April creates ripe opportunity for catching trout and redfish in Baffin Bay and the Upper Laguna Madre. In Baffin and areas south of there, some of the biggest trout like to hang close to large rocks, sometimes lurking right on top of them. So, fishing for them is usually good for people willing to cast right at the rocks with both soft plastics and top-waters. If the water’s clear enough, casting a soft plastic right next to a rock and letting it flutter down the face of the boulder is effective. If the water’s not as clear, dangling soft plastics under corks allows for bringing the lures over the rocks without snagging on them. Throwing top-waters eliminates the risk of getting hung on the rocks, and sometimes the trout snatch them right as they pass over the tops of the boulders. The reds begin schooling well, and can be located on calm mornings by watching for the wakes they push as boats pass by them in the shallows. Catching reds after spotting the school means working well upwind of the school and moving toward them slowly, either by drifting or trolling.