Around Matagorda Bay

Weekly Newsletter
and
Fishing Report

I'm sending the newsletter out a little early this week - I'm going to be on a birding trip on the King Ranch on Thursday, and I wanted ya'll to have the fishing reports before the weekend!

We've been in a poor fishing situation down here. Tide movement has been extremely slow which means that the bait fish aren't moving...which means that trout, redfish and other game fish aren't feeding as much as usual. The wind, too, has caused fishing to be poor. When the wind blows from the east and ESE right down the bays, it tears the water up and makes fishing bad.

This weekend the Prairie Chapter Spring Fishing Tournament will be held at Matagorda Harbor in Matagorda, Texas. Fishing time will be from 4:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, 2002. Registration fee is $20 per person through the Captain's meeting on Friday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. No late registrations will be accepted. If you have questions, contact Harold McCain at 979-478-6315!

Even though the wind has been blowing from the ESE most of the week, it should switch back to the north or northeast and not be quite as hard starting Thursday. When the wind switches around, give the reefs on the north side of West Matagorda Bay a try. Bone-colored Super Spooks have proven themselves this week, and red shad soft plastics are worth a shot. Give Oyster Lake a try using live shrimp - you may be able to take home some redfish. Pepper/chartreuse Bass Assassins should produce in West Bay.

The Colorado River's color and clarity is improving and the bait are moving, so it's worth a try - especially at night!

Good Luck!

See ya next week,
Webmaster

Tuesday, 04/23/02
Fishing is still very slow in the bays. An ESE wind is still blowing, keeping the water messed up in most areas. A few trout are being caught along the south shorelines of both bays. We did have a report of a guide who was able to catch some trout, redfish and flounder in East Matagorda Bay on bone-colored Excalibur Super Spooks.

Monday, 04/22/02
Fishing continues to be bad - seems like the wind and a lack of water movement (tides) are the main factors. There were a couple of reports of some trout being caught in West Matagorda Bay along the south shoreline.

Sunday, 04/21/02
Fishing is still really bad - the wind blowing straight down the bays is keeping the water all torn up. Hopefully the wind will slow down a bit this week and the fishing will improve.

Saturday, 04/20/02
Sorry for the lateness of this report - we were in Louisiana on Saturday- suckin' them crawfish heads! Looks like we didn't miss much, anyway. Fishing was reportedly bad, with only a few trout, redfish and flounder caught in scattered locations in West Matagorda Bay.

Friday, 04/19/02
Fishing in the bays is still bad - the wind is tearing everything up. We are receiving only a few scattered reports of trout being caught in the bays right now. Big reds can be caught at the fishing pier at the beach, though, using squid for bait.

Thursday, 04/18/02
Fishing is still bad. Water in the bays is still messed up from the winds. Fishing pier at the beach is still good for catching bull reds. The Colorado River is still off-color.