Some friends have a house on South Padre and I will be headed down to see them this week. They have a bay boat and we intend on fishing in the bay. We may head up to the Laguna Madre. We are just looking to putt around and maybe catch some fish. (They are new to the coast and are even newer to fishing).

I am an avid freshwater/Bass fisherman but have had few opportunities to fish in saltwater. Any tips?...

What gear should I take?
Possible fishing strategies for this time of year?

Head north until you get into grass with potholes. (miles of it) concentrate on the potholes with 1/8 oldham heads w/sand eel, favorite topwater if it's slick calm.

Manfield mauler corks if they are fighting the grass.

Pay attention to your drift, when you get bit, mark your spot, and more important the water. Small changes in depth and clarity make huge differences.

The best kept secret down there is the old bridge. Anchor with whichever tide you have to drift your bait toward the bridge. You'll catch a bunch with shrimp, but you'll catch bigger with piggies, or croaker. It's only 5 minutes from the launch.

Thanks for the help guys, It will help a lot!
I've heard good things about the Berkley "Gulp" shrimp in new penny...What do ya think??

I just moved from that area and very familiar with that bay. As stated above the old causeway is definitely a good spot for especially for trout. As for your berkley gulp question I've used it alot and have had excellent results. Shrimp is a little pricier down there, about $11.00 a pint and croaker can range from $12 - $24 depending on the local tourney scene, and gulp is definitely the next best thing perhaps even better. I only buy gulp in new penny, it works great on a 1/16 oz jig head.

If you need any good wade fishing spots let me know.

What kind of line do you think I should rig up? I have heard varying recommendations from people... Some say 30lb braid and others say ~20lb mono.
(I'm sure it is dependent on what i'm fishing for...)

Any thoughts...
Leaders???

Nevermind

I have seen the lengthy often hostile discussions on the forum regarding line choice

I will read 'em and made a decision.

Pat,

Are you referring to Berkley Gulp Sand EEL when you recommend "sand eel"?

THANKS!!

Norton Sand eel. In the LLM I like pumpkin, baffin magic, red/white.

I will be headed down to Padre this weekend as well and I would love to hear of some good wade fishing areas. I will only be down for a couple of days with a dang wedding to attend in the process but would like to be able to do some wade fishing in the morning and late evening.