In April, the thrill of the chase for trout and redfish in the Corpus Christi area is at its peak 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 truly exhilarating 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 the coves, even when southeast solid winds muck up the water over much of the rest of the area, including in Baffin and the ULM. Fishing gets better in the protected pockets when windy in the southeast, probably because the winds create movement in the water and stir up the bait. The weather can make the fish in the backwater areas skittish and spooky. We do well with various lures to target trout on East Flats and in Shamrock this time of year, including top-waters. Bite is mainly best for reds on paddle-tails. This time of year, the best catching in the shallows occurs on strong incoming morning tides.
April’s general and pleasant weather presents a strategic opportunity for catching trout and redfish in the 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 suitable for people willing to cast right at the rocks with soft plastics and top-waters. If the water’s clear enough, it will sting a soft plastic right next to a rock and let it flutter down the face of the boulder, which is effective. If the water is not clear, soft plastics under a cork allow fishing the lures over the rocks without snagging on the rocks. 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. When the redfish begin schooling, you can see them on calm mornings by watching for the wakes they push as boats pass 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.