Astute anglers migrate to Texas’ lower coast to take advantage of phenomenal fishing opportunities during colder months.

Story and Photography by Nate Skinner

The curvature of the Texas coastline plays a major roll in determining the patterns that anglers adhere to in order to successfully stay hooked up with the fish that inhabit its bays and estuaries.  Two of the largest contributing variables to these patterns are wind velocity and direction.  These two factors ultimately control how large of a playing field anglers have to work with in terms of fishable water.

The geographic orientation of Texas’ lower coast is a perfect example of how this equation comes together.  For the purposes of this article, consider the lower coast to be the stretch of bays located south of the JFK causeway in Corpus Christi all the way to the southern most waters of Texas at Boca Chica.  With the exception of Baffin Bay and a few other areas, these waters are for the most part elongated in a north to south direction.

These bay systems contain extensive shorelines that offer protection from winds that have any sort of easterly or westerly factor, allowing them to handle the rapid changes in wind direction and velocity associated with wintertime cold fronts extremely well.