Report: Convict Corralling, 2024-02-10

February 14, 2024February 14, 2024"Puck" Leave a comment

7 of us met at the Matagorda Harbor, County Road 213, Matagorda, TX 77457, and were on the water by 0815, in three boats.

Making our way across the bay was fairly easy. There was very little wind and only a light chop.

Once we got the boats anchored and got into the water, the goal was to find some structure. That was a challenge, as the water clarity was only about 9″. We saw a few sheepshead, but never got a clean shot at any. A few stingray were hanging around, so moving slowly was greatly advised.

Blind casting, and then some more blind casting. From the reports, there was one redfish and one small flounder landed.

The wind picked up early in the afternoon, so fishing the shoals in the middle of the bay was scrapped. We made our way back, with a much choppier water, lending itself to a fine spray as we made it back into the intracoastal waterway. We did try a few casts there, but between the wind, and the current, a better decision was to head in and have lunch. The Waterfront Restaurant fed us well, and I do plan to go back.

It was a good day on the water with friends. Let’s do this again.

This is what happens when you make a fewe hundred casts with the same fly

Report: Hot weather wading at Aransas Pass, 2023-08

August 31, 2023"Puck" Leave a comment

John and Scott fished hard on Wednesday with just a few fish coming to hand.

I joined them on Thursday, with a launch time of 0630. There was enough light to navigate safely, and we were at our first fishing spot before sunrise. A north wind made the water slightly off color, but still it looked great. A nice hard bottom made the wading easy, so we wondered a lot further from the boat than originally planned.

https://vimeo.com/859947754?share=copy

By the end of the day, we had all landed fish, but the catching was slow.

Black drum, sheepshead, speckled trout, ladyfish, and hardheads all came to hand.

The flies that worked:

Who	What fly?
John	Redfish crack
John	Spoon fly
Scott	Spoon fly
Scott	Mohawk minnow
Puck	VIP
Puck	Platinum pilchard

Report: Prison Permit Roundup, 2023

March 16, 2023"Puck" Leave a comment

Four anglers participated in this event – to stalk the elusive Prison Permit, aka Sheepshead, in East Matagorda Bay. The two boats left the Matagorda Harbor Marina a bit after 8am and motored up the intercostal waterway to the cut that led into E Matagorda Bay. From there the boats went to the barrier island shoreline and anchored in wadable water near oyster beds.

The conditions were excellent. Water clarity was good with visibility to knee deep and there was full sun. Winds were moderate at 12 knots with occasional gusts and the bottom was solid for secure wading.

As anyone who has participated in this event knows, catching a sheepshead on the fly is very challenging. Several of the anglers had shots at sheepshead feeding around the oysters but didn’t connect. Others had shots at cruising reds but also didn’t connect. One angler brought to hand a flounder on a green weenie.

Around 1pm the parties separated, with one exploring the area, and the other returning to the marina. All parties safely returned without incident.

Headed to the fishing area. Jesse’s boat

Report: East Matagorda, looking for a kayak launch 2023-01-22

January 22, 2023"Puck" 6 Comments

Q and I took a road trip with a few ideas in mind:

Find a place to launch a kayak in support of https://texasflyfishers.org/2023/01/13/prison-permit-roundup-2023/
Run down the beach and see if we can a place to launch kayaks to fish the SW corner of East Matagorda Bay
Get as close as we could to our marked honey hole by travelling down the beach
Identify any costs that outsiders, such as us, would not normally know about.

Here is what we learned:

Rawling Bait Camp is closed for some major renovations, so you cannot buy your required beach pass there. The renovations are looking good, from the road, but I have no idea when they will open again.

You can buy your beach pass ($10) from Matagorda Bay Nature Park. We visited there for a few minutes and it is a great place to stop in, even if you already have your beach pass.

Rawlings Cut, (28.626098994838287, -95.97050488400687) the way a lot of us used to get into the western edge of the bay, is no longer assessable. There is a cable strung up across the old kayak launch. The area we used to park is also now off limits.

There is a new(-ish) kayak launch point (East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park) in place a bit further north and is easy access. The distance to our fishing hole is a bit of a paddle. From my map spot it looks to be about 4 miles. Too tough to do in February, IMO.

By travelling down the beach we found a large cut through the dunes. This took us into the marsh, but it does open up into the bay. From that parking area to our marked spot is only a shade over 2 miles. With a south wind, in February, it should be an easy paddle.

By going down the beach a lot further, past “Hog Island” we came to another cut through to the north. We travelled about a half mile on this trail, before the terrain became too wet, and soft. The only way I could see getting to the fishing grounds here is to hike the remaining half mile or so to the bay. There is not enough connecting water to get to the bay in a kayak.