Free Time Guidance

Fishing in the Lower Laguna Madre can be one of the most rewarding, and difficult, fishing experiences in Texas. This region in South Texas is home to a wide variety of game fish species ranging from speckled trout and redfish, to flounder, tarpon and snook. What makes this area so unique is the over-abundance of sea grass that can be found throughout the bay system.

photo credit: f b a

One of the reasons that the Laguna Madre contains all of these different species of fish is the grass and algae. These grass beds provide a home and protection to fish as well as structure and ambush points. They are very important to the success of our fisheries.

In other parts of the Texas coast getting hung up in grass is not a major problem, but down south where the grass beds can be found in a variety of species and cover over eighty-five percent of our bay system can be a good thing and a bad one at the same time. A major dilemma for anglers that are not used to fishing the lower part of the Laguna Madre is to keep a soft plastic fishing lure off of the grass.

One particular species of grass, the Thalassia testudinum, can be the most difficult. Locally this grass is known as turtle grass, and whether you are an experienced angler or new to the region it can cause all sorts of frustration if you aren’t used to it. Turtle grass is found especially on both sides of the Intracoastal Waterway.

It is important that your lure stays in the key “strike zone” as much as possible. In order to do this you have to keep the lure just above the grass without catching it. What I do to accomplish this task is keep my rod bent at a 45 degree angle, maybe even a little bit higher when the grass is thicker. The next half of the puzzle is your lure retrieval.

What you want to focus on is making sure that your lure is constantly in motion when over thick grass so that it doesn’t get stuck. This can take a while to learn, but once you get the rhythm down pat your success rate of landing fish can skyrocket.

Everyone has their own technique of retrieval. Mine is so weird that when fishermen try to mimic my retrieve, they wonder how tired my arm gets by the end of the day. My lure is always in constant motion. If its not going up, its going down, all in one action of my rod tip. Most anglers jerk up two to three times and then let the lure drop. That technique is very successful.

Whatever technique you use, the important thing to keep in mind is that the lure needs to keep moving in order to not snag the grass. It may take hours of practice to get this method down but I assure you it is worth it. Also, watch the people fishing near you. If you see someone who isn’t getting caught in the grass then pay attention to how their rod tip is moving and their retrieval rate. Don’t be afraid to experiment and practice different methods, that is usually the best way to get better. In time you can become an expert at working fishing lures over grass areas and hopefully catch more fish.