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Around Matagorda Bay Weekly
Newsletter |
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| Note from the Webmaster |
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Hi, Guys! In this time of hurricanes and tumultuous rains, I guess I ought to say...everything around Matagorda Bay depends on the weather! We can predict a good fishing day, but when those thunderstorms roll in, all bets are off... Right now it looks like the winds will remain out of the south about 10-15 mph for the weekend and begin switching to a more southeasterly direction the first of the week. Bays may be a little choppy at times, and there is always the slight chance of being caught in an isolated thunderstorm, but for the most part it looks like good fishing weather! That southerly flow of wind makes places like the south shorelines of both bays, Oyster Lake, Coon Island, and some of the mid-bay reefs look good for fishing. We should have another nice weekend of fishing offshore unless the wind picks up too much. Look for catches of ling, kingfish, dorado, and snapper to be brought in. In East Matagorda Bay the Mitchell's Cut area is still looking good - use live shrimp or soft plastics like Bass Assassins and Norton Sand Eel Jrs. Drifting over the mid-bay reefs, wading or drifting over scattered shell along the south shorelines, or hitting some of the spots down on the east end of the bay look good for live shrimp, Bass Assassins, and topwaters like Super Spooks and Top Dogs. Try the deeper shell in West Matagorda Bay on live shrimp or croaker or soft plastics. A few places to try might be the Green's Bayou area, Outer Shell Island Reefs, or Oyster Lake areas using live and artificials. If you're gonna chase those trout in the surf, get some croaker and you'll be catching a nice stringer full when the wind is light. The pier and jetties at the beach should produce well this weekend on live and dead shrimp -- you should be able to catch some sheepshead, drum, sand trout, and gafftop -- maybe even a couple of specks or reds. What baits do we like this week? Almost any! Of course, live croakers and live shrimp -- that's the ticket. But for you folks who like artificials - give morning glory, electric chicken, fire tiger, plum or red shad a try in soft plastics. For topwaters like Top Dogs and Super Spooks, I suggest bone and black - especially in the surf! And don't forget - this we ekend (July 26, 27, and 28) is the Outdoorsman's Fishing and Hunting Expo at Reliant Arena - Halls C & D in Houston! Lots of fishing gear, hunting products, camo clothing, sporting luggage, wildlife decor, etc.! 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 07/25/02 Not as good a day today as we had yesterday. There were some trout caught in both bays along the south shoreline -- not a lot, though, because of the west wind. There were some trout caught in the surf by people who drown down the beach and fished. There were also some trout caught by boats that went out the jetties and turned right and fished the surf by boat. Wednesday 07/24/02 A good fishing day today - all around! East Matagorda Bay was good for stringers of trout along the south shoreline over scattered shell for wading and drifting using both artificials and live shrimp under a popping cork. The same was true in West Matagorda Bay for the area down around Green's Bayou. Good stringers of trout were caught at the surf using live shrimp and live croakers. It looks like the situation at the Locks is improving - not as long a wait, but still not back to normal. Tuesday 07/23/02 A little here and a little there - that's the word today. A few catches of trout in East Matagorda Bay and a few in West Matagorda Bay -mainly using artificials. The wind was out of the southwest, tearing up the bays again. Monday 07/22/02 A pretty slow day of fishing today - because not many people went out. Those who did go to East Matagorda Bay were able to catch a few trout along the south shoreline. The same was true of West Matagorda Bay, too - a few trout brought in from there. There were also trout being caught in the surf using live shrimp over a popping cork and topwaters. Sunday 07/21/02 No report from the fishing pier or jetties at the beach. In East Matagorda Bay the south shoreline was good for trout and redfish again today along the south shoreline for drift fishermen and wade fishermen using artificials such as topwaters and live shrimp under a popping cork. West Matagorda Bay produced for those who made it through the locks - trout along the south shoreline and tripletails at the wells. The tripletails were caught using live shrimp under a popping cork. Offshore had a really good day, too - amberjack, red snapper and kingfish. Great day! Saturday 07/20/02 We received no report from West Matagorda Bay today. However, fishing was excellent everywhere else.In East Matagorda Bay there were trout, redfish, and flounder being caught by wadefishing and drift-fishing along the south shoreline over scattered shell -- using live bait and topwaters. Offshore had a real good day, too, with lots of kingfish, ling, red snapper, and dolphin being brought in. At the jetties and fishing pier down at the beach there were catches of sand trout, speckled trout, whiting, sheepshead, and some sharks. At that location live and dead bait both were being used. In the surf people were catching trout on live shrimp under a popping cork and topwaters. Friday 07/19/02 We had a pretty good day of fishing in Matagorda Bays today. In East Matagorda Bay there were some good stringers of trout and some redfish caught by wadefishermen along the south shoreline and by drifting over scattered shell along that same shoreline. The winning baits were live shrimp under a popping cork and soft plastics such as Bass Assassins, etc. West Matagorda Bay had a good fishing day, too -- but only for the people patient enough to wait to go through the locks. Those fishermen caught nice trout and reds along the south shoreline of West Bay from the Cullen houses on westward. For those of you who don't know where the Cullen houses are -- as you follow the south shoreline going west, there are two houses on the beach side before you reach Cotton's Bayou and Green's Bayou -- those are the Cullen houses. Winning baits in this bay were Norton Sand Eels and live shrimp under a popping cork... If you go over there, wade and fish over the grass beds. That's where the action was today. But remember -- there's still a long wait at the locks, don't go through the Diversion Channel, and the east end of West Bay is real fresh right now anyway. The pier and jetties produced good fishing -- nice catches of trout, reds, and big whiting. Fishing in the surf down the beach produced some nice trout on topwaters and live shrimp. 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. |
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| Kingfisher's Tip of the Week | ||||||||
| This week let's take another look
at structure types and how to handle them. One of the manmade structures
that a lot of us fish around is the jetty. Jetties lead into harbors and other kinds of inlets, and over a period of time, become covered with all types of marine plants and animals. This is food for all the bait fish...and baitfish attract game fish. Since the jetties are constructed of rocks, there are always lots of little nooks and crannies where prey can hide. You might be able to catch speckled trout, sand trout, flounder, red and black drum, sheepshead, and Spanish mackerel around areas like this. Of course, the biggest problem with fishing around this
structure is hanging up. A lot of your time can be wasted this way
if you don't make an effort to avoid the "hangs". You
should: |
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