Doctrine · not a honey-hole list

Seasonal fundamentals

When a coast, a type of water, and a fish actually line up. If you elected Texas on the list, this page opens on Texas — Seychelles stays off the board until you ask for it. Filter by region, method or habitat, and species. The year bar is peak versus present. Limits cite TPWD and FWC — verify before you keep one.

Texas

Texas — wind is the tide

Seven working bays, one printed table that is often a suggestion.

This coast runs from a brackish border estuary at Sabine to hypersaline rock at Baffin and the clear classroom of the Lower Laguna. The main event is the red. Trout live a foot deeper in the same bays. Flounder own the fall nights at the passes until the November closure. Winter belongs to drum and sheep on mud and granite. Corpus still sees a tarpon along the beach in mid-summer — Port A was once Tarpon, Texas — but that is a bay-boat job, not the skinny skiff. Do not fish Baffin like Rockport. Do not invent Rollover Pass; it was filled in 2019. Birds are GPS for trout. A hard norther empties the shoreline and stacks fish in the guts. Fly when the morning is honest. The gold spoon is what you came for when it is not.

December. Flounder stay closed through the 14th. Drum and sheep take the granite. Trout in the guts. A Christmas cold snap is a plan, not a cancellation.

December · peak

What is actually on

Black drum

Sheepshead

Peak Present Off

Closures

No coast-wide harvest closure on the board. Still verify before you keep a fish.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

Present DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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52–88°F · best 62–82°F

Texas and Louisiana main event. Tails in flooded grass, wakes on shell, winter schools on mud, bulls in the passes. Keys: backcountry only, not oceanside. Boca Harbor yes. Jupiter is a snook desk.

Fly. 8-weight. Crab or shrimp on bead-chain for tailers. Gold spoon when the wind wrecks the fly. 20 lb near oyster.

Spin. Weedless gold spoon, paddle, or soft plastic. Heavy spoon or big paddle for the fall jetty bulls.

Leads the brief on Sabine, Galveston, Matagorda, Rockport, Corpus, Baffin, LLM.

Texas. Texas (Sep 1 2025–Aug 31 2026): 3/day, 20–28 in slot. One over 28 in per license year with a Red Drum Tag.

Official source

Speckled trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

Present DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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48–86°F · best 62–78°F

Same bays as the red, a foot deeper. Birds are GPS. Heat drives them off the flat at midday. Cold drives them to guts and mud. Louisiana lives on this fish.

Fly. 7–8 wt. Baitfish and shrimp. Gurgler when they are up. Soft mouth — strip-set, do not trout-set a trout.

Spin. Topwater at dawn. Soft plastic on a light jig the rest of the day. Slow down after a front.

Leads the brief on Sabine, Galveston, Matagorda, Rockport, Corpus, Baffin, LLM.

Texas. Texas: 3/day, 15–20 in slot. One over 28 in per license year with a Spotted Seatrout Tag (plus bonus). Soft mouth + slot = measure every fish.

Official source

Southern flounder

Paralichthys lethostigma

Present DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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50–84°F · best 58–74°F

Fall migration to the Gulf when water drops a few degrees. Males leave first. Spring return. Texas closed Nov 1–Dec 14. Louisiana typically closed Oct 15–Nov 30 — verify LDWF.

Fly. Clouser or shrimp on the bottom. Slow. The eat is a weight, not a tap.

Spin. Gulp or soft plastic hopped on sand drains and jetty guts. Fall nights at the passes are the run.

Leads the brief on Sabine, Matagorda.

Texas. Texas: 5/day, 15 in minimum (verify Outdoor Annual). Closed Nov 1–Dec 14.

Official source

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

Peak DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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50–84°F · best 55–72°F

Winter/early spring. Schools with reds on Galveston mud. Roots — look for puffs and a thicker, darker tail.

Fly. Crab/shrimp a size bigger than the red. 8 wt schoolies, 9–10 for shoulders. He will eat a fly that sits.

Spin. Crab, light jig, or dead shrimp. A 30-pounder in a channel is a day that does not allow the fly.

Leads the brief on Sabine, Galveston, Matagorda, Rockport, Corpus.

Texas. Texas: 5/day, 14–30 in. One over 52 in allowed as part of the bag.

Official source

Sheepshead

Archosargus probatocephalus

Peak DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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52–80°F · best 55–70°F

Winter and early spring on jetty granite and pilings. Midday better than dawn. He faces the tide and picks.

Fly. 7–8 wt, short 16–20 lb leader, ugly small crab. You are putting food on a post, not presenting to a cruiser.

Spin. The honest tool. Light jig or fiddler, 15–20 fluoro, watch the line. The bite is a tick.

Leads the brief on Galveston.

Texas. Texas: 5/day, 15 in minimum.

Official source

Florida pompano

Trachinotus carolinus

Present DecemberTexas

Thermal window

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62–82°F · best 66–76°F

Surf and clean sand. Texas and Florida beaches in the cool months. Not a permit. Not a jack.

Fly. 8 wt. A small crab or Clouser in the wash. He wants sand, not grass.

Spin. Jig in the surf and on the first bar. The honest pompano tool is a pompano jig.

Texas. Texas: typically 6/day, 9 in — verify TPWD. Do not keep a permit you called a pompano.

Official source

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