Around Matagorda Bay

Weekly Newsletter
and
Fishing Report

I think you're gonna find that this weekend's weather is a great improvement over the storms of last week. We still have a chance for thunderstorms on Friday and Monday, but all in all, it should be a great weekend for fishing. The winds will be around 10-15 mph out of the south southeast on Friday and become light and variable for the rest of the weekend. This will mean that the bays may be a little choppy on Friday but smoother for the weekend.

A lot of opportunities to catch fish this weekend! In the surf, you might expect to catch sand trout, gafftop, and shark on dead bait. The jetty/pier sould be good for trout, reds, and gafftop on live and dead shrimp.

East Matagorda Bay should produce for you over the mid-bay shell reefs, the south shorelines.

What baits do we like this week?

Matagorda Harbor will be hosting the Prairie Chapter Kid's Tournament this weekend, but it shouldn't clog up the bays much.

On the home front, I'm working on a new segment for our fishing page - a Park 'n' Fish Site of the Week. Each week I'll showcase a different fishing spot around Matagorda Bay that can be reached by car so that you folks without boats will have some new places to try. So, watch for the link on the Fishing page!

And in the meantime - come on down and wet a hook! Enjoy our bays!

Good Luck!

Webmaster

P.S. I would love to get some feedback from you guys -- are you finding these newsletters helpful? Any suggestions for improvements? Let me know.

Thursday 07/04/02

I had to look long and hard to find a decent fishing report for today. The wind was blowing too hard for good fishing. For the most part, fishermen came in with a few scattered catches of trout, but we had a report of some gafftop being caught in the surf. However, Linda's Bait Camp in Sargent reports nice catches of trout, redfish, flounder, and croaker - caught on live shrimp and artificials - all caught on the east end of East Matagorda Bay or in the new channel.

Wednesday 07/03/02

Today we add a report from a new source - Linda's Bait Camp in Sargent. So, thanks to the folks down there. They reported that some big reds, trout and big croakers were caught down on the east end of East Matagorda Bay as well as at the new channel and also said that some trout and reds were being caught up in Caney Creek. Skipper's Bait and Tackle reports that in East Matagorda Bay there were some trout caught by drifting over scattered shell using Bass Assassins. In West Matagorda Bay wadefishermen along the south shoreline caught some nice trout using topwater She-Dogs.

Please check out our new feature - Park 'N' Fish maps. I will post a new map each week for as long as I can come up with new areas to fish! These maps are for people who don't have a boat and have to rely on their vehicles to take them to good fishing spots. This week's map is of the Oyster Lake area that can be fished from the bank -- good fishing!

Tuesday 07/02/02

Wadefishing in East Matagorda Bay along the south shoreline produced some trout. Driftfishing over scattered shell produced some limits of nice trout on Bass Assassins. The east wind has both bays muddied up.

Monday 07/01/02

In East Matagorda Bay there were a few trout, reds, sheephead, and black drum caught along the south shoreline using live shrimp. There were a few croakers caught at Old Gulf Cut on shrimp. The threat of rainstorms kept most people home.

Sunday 06/30/02

East Matagorda Bay - there were a few trout and reds caught by drifting over scattered shell and wadefishing along the south shoreline using live shrimp under a popping cork and artificials. West Matagorda Bay produced some reds along the south shoreline using She Dogs and other topwaters. It's still pretty rough in the surf and few fishermen on the pier.

Saturday 06/29/02

Another day of rain kept the fishermen away. However, I did see some croaker being caught on dead bait between Rawlings Bait Camp and the jetties. The surf was unbelievably rough today - same held true for the bays.

Friday 06/28/02

No fishing report today because of the rainy weather.

• Look over the hull for obvious problems.
• Look for chalking of the fiberglass which could mean neglect.
• Look for spider cracks below the waterline which could mean moisture damage to the laminates.
• Does the propellor spin freely?
• Is the rudder nice and tight - if not, there might be a problem with the steering.
• Check where the stringers and bulkheads are glassed into the hull - fractures may mean that the boat was run hard in rough waters or was in an accident.
• Does the dipstick oil have a burnt smell or feel gritty?
• Is the coolant up to level - is there evidence of it in the bilge? If so, there may be a leak somewhere.
• Is there rust where the exhaust risers meet the manifold?
• Check the hour meter - fresh water-cooled gas engines have a useful life of about 1500 hours.
• Assess the condition of everything - canvas, fuel tank, carpet, upholstery, electronics.