Artificial Lure here with your Thursday, October 30th, 2025, Gulf of Mexico Texas fishing report, serving up all you need from sunrise to sunset. We woke up to a cool bite in the air and glassy bay waters, with sunrise at 7:31 AM and sunset at 6:33 PM—just enough daylight for a double shift on the water. Tidal action along Galveston and the upper coast featured a high right before sunup, sloping out to a low this evening, so your best fishing windows are set around dawn and a couple hours before dusk. That’s when the water’s moving and the fish get aggressive, especially near the mouth of bayous and jetties.
The weather is classic late October with light north winds and daytime temps pushing into the mid-70s. Early birds found slick calm bays, but expect a southerly chop offshore around mid-morning. Keep an eye on the birds—they’re busting mullet schools along the surf and inside the passes, a sure sign of heavy fish underneath.
Fishing activity is hot inshore right now. Bull reds are thick on East Beach, Galveston and Bolivar jetties. Anglers tossing chunks of fresh mullet into the first gut have been reporting lots of drag-burners and oversized catches, with some solid slots mixed in. If reds are your game, get there early, set up with cut menhaden or blue crab, and hold on.
Speckled trout are chasing shrimp and bait over shell and drains at first light. Offatts Bayou, Campbell Bayou mouth, and leeward marsh points are delivering trout on glow/chartreuse soft plastics and live shrimp under popping corks as soon as the sun hits that water. Move with the bait—where you see slicks and nervous mullet, trout aren’t far behind.
Flounder are staging for their annual run, stacking inside marsh drains, ferry landings, and along the ICW banks. Slow-roll white curly tails or gulp swimming mullet, or get dirty with live mud minnows on a Carolina rig. Hit Greens Bayou or Beacon for less pressured flatties, especially on a dropping tide.
Offshore crews out of Port Aransas are cashing in on a mixed bag—red snapper, lane snapper, black drum, and some quality grouper are biting on cut squid, sardine, or fresh tuna chunks. King mackerel are flashing through weedlines and rig edges—troll ribbonfish or live cigar minnows for steady action. There’s buzz about a few southbound wahoo this week, so run deep-diving plugs or high-speed lures past the outer breaks.
Best baits and lures for the Gulf this week:
- Bull reds: Fresh mullet, menhaden or blue crab on bottom rigs.
- Trout: Glow/chartreuse paddle tails, or live shrimp under popping corks. Toss topwaters before sunup on calm mornings.
- Flounder: Live mud minnows, gulp swimming mullet, white curly tails on a jighead.
- Spanish mackerel: Silver spoons and small swimbaits in the surf.
- Offshore snapper/grouper: Cut squid, sardine, tuna chunks.
- Kingfish/wahoo: Trolled ribbonfish, deep-divers, live blue runners offshore.
Hot spots to circle on your chart: the Galveston jetties are unbeatable for oversize reds and slot black drum. Offatts Bayou and Campbell marsh edges are loaded with trout and flounder when the tide’s riding out. Port Aransas rigs are the go-to for snapper, kings, and deepwater monsters.
Top tip—always follow the birds! When the bait is nervous, so is the bite. After a front, start on the windward banks or jetty rocks at first light, then slide to protected leeward marshes by mid-morning. Keep a popping cork rig and a fast-swimming spoon at the ready.
That’s your boots-on-the-dock fishing report for today. Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to subscribe for daily action, tips, and all the latest from Texas coastal water. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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