“The Fish are Out Front”
When speckled trout cover up the bars and fill the potholes in the water “out front” of the town of Port Isabel.
Story and photography by Danno Wise
“The fish are out front.” Those are magical words for anglers fishing Texas’ southernmost stretch of inshore saltwater — the Lower Laguna Madre between Port Isabel and South Padre Island. During early spring, Lower Laguna regulars await the time when trout begin to cover up the bars and fill the potholes in the portion of water “out front” of the town of Port Isabel. When those fish move in, it creates one of the best periods of speckled trout fishing of the year.
Throughout March and April, anglers can expect regular limits of fish over 20-inches. There will also be plenty of two-foot-plus trout taken from this area during the spring. All in all, anglers would be hard pressed to find such fast action on “solid” specks anywhere else, at any other time.
