A veteran of more than 30 years spent stalking Gulf waters in search of speckled trout, the author knows a lot about the where, when and how of catching them. Photo by Robert Sloan.

About this time of year, trout fishing along the Texas Gulf Coast is really good. And that statement applies to the entirety of the stretch starting at Sabine Pass on the Texas-Louisiana border and running all the way to the lower end of the Laguna Madre on the Texas-Mexico border.

But great as it is, that fishing's not without its problems. The biggest problem, curiously, lies not in finding numbers of trout, but rather in determining the whereabouts of the most rewarding action along that whole swath prime water.

That's what this article is all about: the top spots for finding and catching speckled trout in July. So here goes with our countdown to great trout fishing.

SABINE LAKE
When measured against Galveston and the Laguna Madre, this smallest of Texas bays -- about 14 miles long and seven miles wide, and covering some 60,000 acres -- suffers in the comparison. But Sabine Lake is big with potential, and not least when it comes to oversized trout.

I've been a regular at Sabine Lake for the past 15 years, and from the perspective of those years of experience, I can tell you for sure that there's no shortage of trout here -- a situation attributable to Sabine's layout. Indeed, if you were to design the perfect bay, it'd probably look a lot like this.

On the far upper end it's fed by two rivers, the Neches and Sabine. The marsh on the upper end is the epitome of marine estuaries; that's also true for the miles of marsh along the southern end of this bay. Then there's Sabine Pass, which links the bay to the Gulf, provides fantastic trout fishing opportunities. And as if that weren't enough, you've got the Sabine jetties. Lake, pass and jetties: Taken together, they afford you more great trout fishing opportunities than you can shake several sticks at.

Pressed to pick a place to fish in the Sabine Bay system during July, I'd be apt to opt for the jetties; more than likely, I'd fish along the east jetty, up above the boat cut. You can cover a lot of water along the rocks with a trolling motor.

At the east jetty I like to start out at the end right at daylight. What you don't want to do is get caught up in the rough water. I fish out of a 22-foot Pathfinder that's got an 80-pound thrust Minn Kota trolling motor on the bow. Once I get into position, I turn the big Yamaha off, and kick the trolling motor in and keep the boat just within casting distance of the rocks. Big silver spoons worked tight to the rocks are deadly on roving trout at dawn. Once the sun gets up, I switch to a jig. I've done best with a white/chartreuse Wedge Tail rigged on a white or red jighead. From about 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. you'll do best along the Sabine jetties by fishing deep with soft-plastic jigs.

Another very workable option along the Sabine jetties involves fishing Rat-L-Traps and topwater plugs at night under a full moon. Talk about wild adventure -- this is it!