Texas Gulf Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and Offshore Action on the Upper Coast

Artificial Lure here with your Gulf of Mexico Texas fishing report for Sunday, September 14, 2025. We’ve had a steamy mid-September day on the upper Texas Coast, with the **sunrise at 7:03am and sunset at 7:25pm**. Anglers hit the water early to beat the midday heat, running lines from Galveston to Freeport. **Tide conditions:** Texas City saw a **high tide at 3:30am, dropping all the way to a low at 5:26pm**. Tidal movement was strong with a coefficient above 70 per Tides4Fishing, which primed the bite on both the incoming and outgoing swings. Water clarity remained fair inshore, despite those big flows. **Weather:** It’s been hot and humid, classic late summer on the Gulf, with southerly winds picking up to 10-15 knots by afternoon and a muggy high near 92°F. Skies started partly cloudy but gave way to a few scattered rain showers after lunch. **Fish activity and catch report:** Captain Experiences confirms **redfish and speckled trout have been the top catches**. Early bite was best – trout took plastics and live shrimp drifting over shell or grass beds in 4-6 feet of water, while reds hammered cut mullet and crab tight to marsh drains. Flounder have started moving as fall approaches, coming around the passes and jetties. Offshore reports are solid, with snapper and kingfish fired up on reefs and rigs – large snapper continue to bend rods, though the season for red snapper is winding down. **Amounts and types:** This week, several buster schools of slot reds showed up around Bolivar and West Bay, some limits taken by 9am. Trout runs have been scattered, with most boats reporting 6-10 good keepers for a morning effort. The jetty crowd has seen bull reds and the occasional jack crevalle chasing mullet. Deeper offshore, boats working the platforms landed kingfish to 25 pounds, plus lane snapper and a steady pick of mangrove snapper. **Best baits and lures:** - **Inshore:** Top live baits have been **shrimp and finger mullet**. Artificial crews are cleaning up with **soft plastics on 1/4 ounce jigheads**, working morning glory or chartreuse under popping corks. For reds, toss **gold spoons or paddle tails** tight to grass. - **Offshore:** Cut bait or sardines are killing it on bottom setups for snapper and grouper. Trollers are doing best with **deep-diving plugs in blue/silver** for kings. According to The Hook Up Tackle, Texas anglers are reaching for **Jackall Live Darters and Lucky Craft Pointers**—these realistic jerkbaits shine in clear water and trigger reaction strikes from finicky trout. Don’t sleep on classic **Gulp! shrimp** for consistent action when the bite is tough. **Hot spots:** - The mouth of **Dickinson Bayou** is red hot for slot reds on the outgoing tide. - **San Luis Pass** is firing for flounder and the occasional big spec – use mud minnows, shrimp, or curly-tailed jigs. - For offshore, the **Galveston 32-mile rigs** are producing on both live bait and vertical jigs, while Freeport’s closer reefs have held steady n This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.