A special occurrence when anglers seemingly get an additional month of summer-like fishing conditions.

Story and Photography by Danno Wise

Summer has come early to the Texas coast. Sure, the calendar still says spring (and will until mid-June), but the unusually warm winter and spring experienced along the Texas coast this year makes May feel like early summer. This means anglers heading to the bay in May should be prepared for fishing patterns to be a little further along than they usually would this time of year. But, they should also realize that some natural spring patterns and conditions will remain in play no matter the air temperature.

In general, late spring’s mild to moderate water temperatures usually results in more active fish. It also means a greater variety of fish are active throughout Texas bays during May than had been the case during winter and early spring. Flounder, speckled trout, redfish, snook, black drum, sheepshead, mangrove snapper, tarpon and more can be found in some combination depending on the area of the Texas coast. This will be especially true this May, as fish have already become increasingly active with the unusually warm spring temperatures. As a result, anglers will be able to use more “power fishing” tactics and cover more water, more quickly.

Although the temperatures this May are expected to be a little higher than normal, there will still be relatively mild compared to what they will be in July and August. As a result, fishermen can expect good shallow water action – and even good surface activity – for a longer period throughout the day. But, given that it is still really just late spring on the calendar cycle, anglers will usually fare best throwing “Jr” size topwater plugs as compared to the full size version that are so effective later in the summer. And, since there will be many more calm condition days in May than there have been so far this spring, more subtle baits like floater/divers (think Cordell Redfin or Bomber Long A), are often as or more effective than dog walkers.