My buddy CG and I both had the day off and decided to hit East Matty. CG runs a sweet Boatright and I love fishing off of it. It's a tank and since this was my first bay outing since Ike, a tank is a good thing when there is debris both afloat and submerged. CG has a side business that supports his fishing habit. He's a talented rodmaker and I am proud to fish one of his creations. My Charlie original is a 6'6" medium-light action rod that is fairly firm. It's perfect for throwing tops and Corkies and works great with tails as well. I've now fished East Matty a half dozen times over the last eighteen months. Each time has been with CG and I am forever grateful to him for showing me what's fast becoming a contender for my favorite Texas bay. I love the proximity of this bay to where I live. This bay features reefs, sandpockets, and grass. It's a quick hop to CG's house and an equal hop to Sargent. It's a nice alternate to Baffin for big Winter trout without having to drive five hours each way.
Hurricane Ike caused some damage to the Sargent area but nothing compared to the upper coast. During the storm surge, East Matagorda and West Matagorda essentially became Matagorda. Since East Matty is landlocked, we typically have not had to deal with stringers of fish being taken by sharks. Well, contrary to popular belief, we now have confirmation that there are sharks in East Matty. There have always been sharks in West Matagorda. Maybe the storm surge deposited a few new residents for us to compete with.
After waiting for good daylight, we ran the IC from Sargent and hit our first spot. Since the water temperature was in the mid 70s, I opted for breathable waders for the first time this fall. We saw a few slicks pop up and waded for a couple of hours with only a single tap on a tail and a faint-hearted blow-up. I opened with a pink Skitterwalk and CG opened with a pumpkinseed/chartreuse tail. I switched to a purple corky devil and did not draw a strike on my second bait. I threw a Mann's baby 1 minus in both crawfish and blue/chartreuse without drawing a strike. Both CG and I saw several slot redfish cruising slowly by. For whatever reason, they were not eating even though we were on the major. I opted to throw an dual injected mold Norton Sand Eel in plum with a 1/8 oz jighead and a few casts later, felt a tap and reeled in a Sand Trout the size of a keeper Speck. The skunk is off my back.
We moved on to another spot and noticed a few slicks and pelican activity. I continued to throw the plum Sand Eel. On my fourth cast, I missed a tap on the drop. A half dozen casts later and I felt a slight tap and set the hook on an eighteen inch Speck. While playing the fish, I looked over at CG and was elated to see him hooked up with a solid speck. We strung four trout each at this spot and missed a couple of others. I switched a pumpkinseed/chartreuse Corky with the hopes of luring a sizeable trout. The old familiar 'whop' came about and I played a heavy fish. After four or five seconds, she spit the hook and that was that. Our largest trout was twenty-two inches and weighed over three pounds. CG also had a slot redfish that gave us our third species of the day.
CG was fishing and dragging his stringer when the strung trout bunched up near him. He felt a tail slap across his thigh and a tug on the stringer. Yes, the man in the gray suit now resides in East Matagorda bay. This was the one place where we had not encountered him while wading.
We returned to the same area we had tried earlier in the day with the hopes that the reds might be more cooperative. I threw a Redfish Magic with a Norton Bull Minnow in Mardis Gras. After finding an eighteen inch Rat Red, I continued throwing the bait and was rewarded with a solid strike. This was a heavier fish and I thought that this would be a redfish at the upper end of the slot. Nope, a beautiful twenty-two inch flounder that went just over five pounds. This was my new personal best. CG has been with me when I've caught my personal best trout and now here is my personal best flounder. I praised God for this unexpected gift. It's a rare thing for me to catch flounder as I almost always target trout. Redfish would be my second species to target, but maybe I should put flounder in to the mix more often.
Somehow, my wadebox slipped out of my wadeaid and a whole bunch of topwaters and corkied floated off. Luckily, we were able to spot and retrieve the box after scouting from the bow and following the drift pattern. This was a double-gift. I caught and kept a few fish to restore my freezer stock which Ike ruined and I also recovered my wadebox filled with my favorite baits.
This was a perfect day for restoration of my saltwater soul. The bay looks healthy and full of life. It's strange to look at the tide lines and think how high the storm surge was. Living on the coast, I have accepted that every couple of years, one has to deal with the threat of hurricanes. This year the threat materialized in my own back yard. Except for those high stress days, living on the Texas coast is enriching. I thank God that I live this close to the bays and that His majesty is revealed to me each time I venture out to fish.
Conditons:
Sunny and clear in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon
Water temperature mid 70s
Winds out of the SSE building from 3 to 10 in the afternoon
Fish caught: Sand Trout, Specks, Redfish, Flounder
Highlights: E Matty - personal best flounder
Nautical Twilight 6:28 am
Civil Twilight 6:56 am
Sunrise 7:19 am
Sunset 6:56 pm
Moon Phase(0.35%)
Moon Rise Moon Set
4:25 pm 3:06 am
Highs & Lows..
High 2:14 am 2.22 ft.
Low 6:43 pm 0.84 ft.
Baits: JH threw a Pink Skitterwalk, Plum Norton Sand Eel, Hothead SuperSpook Jr, Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse Corky, Redfish Magic with a Norton Bull Minnow in Mardis Gras, Mann's Baby 1 Minus in Blue/Chartreuse. All trout were on the Sand Eel, but also had strike on the Corky. The redfish and flounder were caught on the Mardis Gras Bull Minnow.
CG threw and caught all his fish on WD40 tout. He also threw a White Superspook, a Corky and a Mann's Baby 1 Minus in Blue/Chartreuse.
Fish caught: Sand Trout, Specks, Redfish, Flounder
Currently Reading: Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
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