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Around Matagorda Bay Weekly
Newsletter |
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| Note from the Webmaster |
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Hi, Guys! I didn't anticipate correctly the amount of rain we were going to get last week...I think, though, that we've seen the worst of it for now and can only expect the usual stray thunderstorms to crop up. The winds should be out of the south for the weekend - not high, probably around 10mph. The bay should stay pretty smooth. However, it is already a "chocolate milk" nightmare, so that is going to affect fishing. In addition, the fresh water which has made it into the bays will affect fishing, too. Offshore should be good for kingfish, ling, red snapper and dolphin - may be a little choppy at times. Mitchell Cut over by Sargent should provide good night fishing under lights on live shrimp and soft plastics. The midbay reefs of East Matagorda Bay should produce some trout on topwaters like Super Spooks, etc. You might give live shrimp under a popping cork a try when fishing the deeper reefs. In West Matagorda Bay the deeper shell reefs should be good for trout. Again, live shrimp or croaker will be your best bait in that situation. If you fish live croaker in the surf, you will probably bring home a nice stringer of trout this week. Just take your time setting the hook - trout will bite a lot differently on croaker than on shrimp. Trout should be good on live bait, soft plastics, and topwaters. The pier at the jetty should produce the usual - sheepshead,
drum, some reds and trout. Be sure to check out the main page of our website - Peter Manuel, Jr. of Port Arthur sent in a picture of a 7 ft. 7 in. alligator gar he caught - man, it's a big one! I LOVE getting those pictures! And in the meantime - come on down and wet a hook! Enjoy our bays! Good Luck! See ya next week,
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. |
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| This Week's Fishing Reports | ||||||||
| Thursday 07/18/02 All the bait camps here in Matagorda were slow today - not many fishermen went out. There were some reports of a few trout being caught on the south shoreline of East Matagorda Bay and by drifting over midbay reefs. Wednesday 07/17/02 Fishing is still a little slow from the bad weather we had earlier this week. Today in East Mataogrda Bay wade fishing along the south shoreline produced some trout and some redfish using soft plastics and topwaters. There were also redfish caught on live shrimp under a popping cork by drifting along the south shoreline over scattered shell. Tuesday 07/16/02 No fishing report because of another day of bad weather. Hopefully, this will be the last "unfishable" day for awhile. Monday 07/15/02 No fishing report because of bad weather. Sunday 07/14/02 Not a real good day of fishing today - East Bay is still muddied up and West Bay is practically inaccessible. There were a few catches of trout by wadefishermen along the south shoreline of East Bay but for the most part the catches were undersized. Intracoastal Canal had a lot of fishermen anchored and fishing - catches were mostly small-sized reds, a few sheepshead and some decent-sized croaker - bait of choice was shrimp. Saturday 07/13/02 East Matagorda Bay produced reds and trout in a few scattered places. However, the wind was bad and muddied the bay up. Offshore was real good today - lots of fish brought in and lots of people seasick because of rough seas. The tournament continues tomorrow, but I've heard that several will not even go out tomorrow because of the seas. Nothing to report from the surf, but there were whiting and sharks caught at the fishing pier. West Matagorda Bay is still inaccessible for all practical purposes. Barges are lined up waiting to go through the locks, and the locks are staying shut -- only opening in stages to let barges through. The river and Diversion Channel are full of trash and logs. I believe Wharton County is receiving a lot of rain tonight, so the river situation should get worse before it gets better. Friday 07/12/02 East Matagorda Bay was the main fishing spot in the bays today. Some trout were caught by drifting over scattered shell in the middle of the bay using artificials and live shrimp under a popping cork. There were birds working the north shoreline early this morning - and some trout were caught there. Offshore was very good today with lots of catches of all the usual fish. Trout were also being caught in the surf - the surf was slick but off-color. If you go fishing in West Matagorda Bay, you need to be aware of the following: the river is on the rise, the Diversion Channel is full of logs, and it is going to take quite a while to get through the locks because the locks are staying closed. So, be prepared to WAIT at the locks and go VERY CAUTIOUSLY through the Diversion Channel if you're brave enough to try it. Thursday 07/11/02 Down on the east end of East Matagorda Bay there were a
few stringers of trout caught by drifting over scattered shell.
Working the birds on the north shoreline produced some nice trout.
The Green's Bayou area of West Matagorda Bay was productive today
for trout. |
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| Kingfisher's Tip of the Week | ||||||||
| I really believe that the key to
catching fish is in knowing what kind of structure attracts the fish
you are "targeting". This week let's look at oyster beds.
Crabs and small fish feed among the oyster beds, and this attracts redfish, trout and flounder. However, you must use certain techniques to fish these areas so that you don't allow your line to make contact with the shells. A good technique is to fish around the edges of the bed or drift your bait above the shell. Using live bait under a popping cork is a good way to do this--or use a topwater or shallow-running lure. Downstream from the oyster bed seems to be the most productive area when you have tidal flow. This dead space in the downstream flow gives predators a place to lie in wait for their prey. |
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