The typical summer time bite has definitely kicked in. That means the best action on the flats comes during the first and last two hours of light each day. Throwing small topwater plugs around sandy potholes, small run offs, and outside the mouths of bayous and creeks should produce solid numbers of strikes from speckled trout and redfish.
After the day starts to warm up, change over to a jig or live bait and look for transitions from shallow grass to deep sand where fish can hang out in deeper, cooler water but can still move quickly up to shallow water to feed. Since these fish are holding over deeper sand, you can often see them and pinpoint your bait versus just randomly casting. The fish are also far less skittish in deeper water and much more inclined to bite. Typical trout will weigh in at 1-2 pounds but fish up to six pounds are being caught.
During the middle of the day (if you feel like dealing with the heat), the mangrove snapper bite is fantastic. Structures close to shore on drop offs have been covered up with fish in the 1-3 pound range. You can chum them up with small pieces of cut menhaden, then throw small live shrimp to catch them. But remember: too much live chumming attracts ladyfish or blue runners and they can ruin your dinner plans.
Near shore along the beaches, there have been plenty of fish to target including tarpon, jack crevalle, redfish, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel. If you see boats with platforms and towers anchored up just off the beaches, please be courteous and give them a wide berth. There is no reason to run right down the beach. Go out at least a couple hundred yards from shore and run so you don’t disrupt the flow of fish coming down the beach.
Good luck!
