Around Matagorda Bay

Weekly Newsletter
and
Fishing Report

WOW! I don't know about ya'll, but I'm sure looking forward to a three-day weekend! An extra day of fishing! And it even looks like the weather is going to hold for us. The weekend is going to start out with light winds from the northeast and switch around on Saturday to the southeast, but it shouldn't be blowing hard - which is good for the bays.

Surf fishing should be fair to good this week - you might give live shrimp or croaker a try - I think that will bring you the best luck. If you like throwing artificials, try a purple hogie with a lime-colored tail. People seem to have been having better luck going west at the jetties, and we've heard that there has been lots of shrimp and glass minnows in the surf.

We've had reports the last few days that there are lots of 3-4 ft. sharks offshore - biting on anything and everything. There have been some nice amberjacks brought in as well as some nice catches of red snapper, too.

In East Matagorda Bay you should be able to catch some nice trout drifting the deeper scattered shell with live shrimp under a popping cork, soft plastics, or topwaters. For reds, hit that south shoreline using spoons, topwaters or live shrimp under a popping cork.

For West Matagorda Bay you might try the wells and the south shoreline on live shrimp under a popping cork or croaker, pumpkinseed Bass Assassins, or topwaters. Oyster Lake should be good fishing for reds and maybe black drum using live shrimp under popping cork there, too.

The pier and jetties should be good for trout and sand trout, gafftop, or redfish using shrimp - live or dead. It seems like live shrimp gives better catches.

What baits do we like this week? Plum/chartreuse, limetreuse, and pumpkinseed/chartreuse looks good for soft plastics. But, as usual, my pick is still live shrimp under a popping cork or croakers right now.

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 08/29/02

Wadefishermen along the south shoreline of East Matagorda Bay brought in some nice stringers of trout today. They were caught on soft plastics and live shrimp. The surf seems to be heating up -- nice trout are being caught in the surf on live shrimp under a popping cork and on artificials like Bass Assassins, hoagies, etc. If you're in a boat, you can turn east or west at the jetties and run along the beach and fish. Or drive down the beach and find a spot -- they're both good.

Wednesday 08/28/02

East Matagorda Bay seems to be the only place where there's any action today. There were trout caught by drifting over scattered shell along the south shoreline and in mid-bay, as well as by wadefishermen who waded around the deeper shell reefs in the middle of the bay like Drull's Lump. There were amberjack brought in from offshore today - one boat had 4-5 amberjack, all in the range of 35+ lb.

Tuesday 08/27/02

East Matagorda Bay produced some trout by drifting over scattered shell in the deeper reefs using topwaters and Bass Assassins. There was no report from West Matagorda Bay.

Monday 08/26/02

Monday fishing is usually slow down here -- and today held true to form. There are still trout and reds being caught by drifting over scattered shell reefs and along the south shoreline over in East Matagorda Bay. St. Mary's on the west end of East Bay was a good spot for trout today, too.

Sunday 08/25/02

We had a pretty good weekend down here - mostly in East Matagorda Bay. There were trout being caught yesterday and today by drifting over scattered shell out in the bay and along the south shoreline. Live shrimp and artificials were the bait of choice. Yesterday was good for red snapper with several boats bringing in limits. The pier at the beach produced an assortment of catches on live/dead shrimp - some whiting, croaker, and small reds.

Friday 08/23/02

Lots of trout were caught today in East Matagorda Bay - drift fishing over shell reefs out in the bay using a combination of live shrimp under a popping cork and artificials like Rapala Skitter Walks, Top Dogs, and Bass Assassins. Good colors were morning glory with a chartreuse tail and fire tiger (on the Bass Assassins) and chartreuse Top Dogs and orange colored Skitter Walks. Offshore they were catching limits of red snapper. Looks like the start of a good weekend. We had no reports from the surf, but it looks like the water is starting to clear up.

Thursday 08/22/02

We had a good day of fishing over in East Matagorda Bay today. We saw lots of nice trout brought in by drift fishermen who drifted over shell reefs using artificials and live shrimp. It was a pretty day offshore today - not many boats out but it was beautiful. Good Day!

There are two things to be concerned with in keeping your live bait alive during your fishing trip:

• Force and direction of water flow and gentleness of water flow - some delicate baits are damaged by strong water flow. Water should flow in a circular motion - the bait will be able to school and the most amount of water will be flowing through their gills; too much force and the bait tires and is not lively on the hook.
• Size and amount of air bubbles - the smaller the bubble, the longer it will remain suspended in the water to dissolve