Rain runoff into bays doesn’t necessarily put a damper on fishing, especially for anglers that understand its effects on coastal waters and fish in them.

Story and photography by Danno Wise

There are times when even the most hardcore saltwater angler find themselves trying to figure out freshwater. Not by choice, mind you. This has nothing to do with changing venues in pursuit of bass or panfish. Rather, it has to do with playing the hand Mother Nature deals. Sometimes that hand is more fresh than salt — even along the Texas Coast.

The summer of 2024 seems to be one of the hands that trends more fresh as anglers in bays from South Padre to Sabine have, at some point, had to deal with substantial amounts of freshwater runoff this year.  That freshwater runoff can be the result of a fairly localized rain event, such as a tropical event passing through and dumping loads of rain.

It can also be the result of torrential rains falling far from the coast in the watershed of rivers that eventually transport all of that freshwater to the bays and estuaries downstream. This year has seen a bit of both.

Regardless of where and how it originates, the effects of freshwater runoff on Texas bays and the fish that live in them is the same. The overriding theme is as a large volume of freshwater enters a bay the salinity level drops – at least in portions of the bay.

Why just in a portion? Although it seems like the freshwater would move through and somewhat uniformly reduce the salinity of bay waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) very little mixing of fresh and saltwater takes place in bays in estuaries. Instead, a watery barrier forms between the two masses of water, with the lighter freshwater ultimately sliding over the denser, heavier saltwater on its way to the open Gulf.

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