It’s been a while since I've been able to make it to the coast. Weather wasn't the best but it was manageable. Temps started off in the 50's warming up to over 60 in the afternoon. Winds were from the East at 10-15 mph. I would have been happy sticking around Mitchell’s cut but there was a ton of freshwater in the area from all the recent rain. We headed off into the bay around 9am towards halfmoon shoal. Fished with dead mullet and plastics for a while with no luck. Had to resort to these baits as no one had fresh bait that day. Saw some birds working South of halfmoon and decided to make a drift into them. Caught one keeper drum on natural gulp under poppin cork. That would be the only fish of the morning. Made several drifts around Bird Island and the South shoreline with no luck. Went back out that afternoon and fished the intercoastal for drum with no luck. The picture below is from a couple of months back. I read an article in this months edition of Texas Saltwater Magazine on Matagorda Snook. I just wanted to confirm that snook are in Matagorda Bay. This one was caught by my dad in Mitchell’s cut on a plastic cocahoe. No video report this time but thanks for reading. Looking forward to a few bass trips in the upcoming weeks before heading back to the coast.
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I had a short trip last weekend on Lake Dunlap (Guadalupe River) but nothing worth reporting. Caught a few small bass trolling a crankbait in the middle of the river. I enjoyed the setting which made me decide to finally head to Lake Austin this weekend. Launched from 360 bridge ramp. Weather was forecasted to be 47-59 degrees with a light NNE wind. It was indeed cold with light winds. Reports were saying the fish were hanging around on offshore structure in deeper water. Since I didn't have any electronics, I decided to troll crankbaits to find the fish. Headed off to the left from the boat ramp trolling a deep-diving baby bass crank bait. This side of the lake was pretty shallow. Noticed a few bass boats on the other side of the lake fishing the rock ledge bank. After a while of trolling I headed across the lake. Found a nice little reed patch that looked fishy. Saw a big fish hit the surface but didn't get a good enough glimpse to determine if it was a largemouth. Worked the shallow area with no bites. Switched to a Bandit purple and white crank bait once I hit the transition to deeper water. Had a nice hit on this out in deeper water but the line got slack when I reached up to turn on the go-pro resulting in a lost fish. A remote is absolutely necessary when bass fishing. Hope to get one before my next bass trip. Fished this bank all the way down to the creek on the other side of the bridge with no bites. Other boats seemed to not have any luck either. I fished shallow and deep, with crank baits/drop shot senko's. The number one bass lake in the state sure didn't live up to its name on this day. Spoke with a gentleman in a bass boat who confirmed what I had read before this trip. The vegetation in the lake has declined or even disappeared resulting in less water clarity. I thought the water was nice and green but apparently it used to be clear. This would explain all the sharelunkers (13# +) caught sight-fishing that I have read about. He also stated that Towne Lake still had vegetation so I may stop a couple miles short this spring and fish Towne Lake instead. Sharelunkers can be caught there as well. I will say that Lake Austin is a beautiful lake and I made a video just to share the scenery. Included the previous trip as well. If only I had footage of catching fish. Maybe next time. Until then, enjoy the video report. Took a few weeks off from fishing and enjoyed sleeping in on the weekends. The fall flounder run is one of my favorite times of the year so I had to get back on the water. Winds were from the E-NE Saturday morning with overcast conditions. We went into a cut and fished the North shoreline to start off. Managed to catch 4 keeper trout and 2 flounder there. All were caught on artificial lures one being a chickenboy on 1/4 jighead (the other to go unnamed). When things slowed down, we ran down to the triangle in deeper water. Only put one keeper trout and two sand trout in the ice chest in this area. A lot of smaller trout were caught this day. Used shrimp under cork in the deeper water. Ran up around Bird Island and saw some birds working. We headed that way and cut the engine putting the boat in position to drift over that area. Caught a few small trout but no keepers. Moved to some reefs off of Bird Island but had no luck drifting that area. We headed in around 11 to get something to eat. When we came back out after 1, winds had shifted from the SW and the sun was out (go figure). We hadn't counted on that but anyone who fishes should know not to rely on forecasts. Went back to the area we started off fishing that morning but the tide hadn't start to move out yet. We made some drifts around the Brown Cedar area but only caught small trout (a lot of small trout). Most of the keepers were not caught on video but I had enough footage to make a video report. Looking forward to getting back down and catching some more flatties in a few weeks. Until then, enjoy the video report. Hit the water around daybreak and headed out to the triangle. Winds were from the South to Southwest at less the 10 mph. Fishing was slow. Shrimp under popping cork was the bait. Picked up a few sand trout and keeper trout closer to the South shoreline. Moved towards Bird Island and found some trout over deep shell. Ended the morning with 4 trout, 4 sand trout and a redfish. Went in for lunch when it slowed down. Decided to return to the deeper water over shell in the evening and the winds had shifted out of the Northeast. The fish just weren't there. Moved back towards the South shoreline and made some drifts. Managed to catch some sandies along with a couple more keeper trout. Biggest trout hit close to sunset. I lost a big one behind the boat as it came to the surface and spit the hook. My dad landed the 6#er in the picture (CPR'ed of course). Managed enough fish to fill the freezer. Looks like we need to get to eating some fish before heading back out to catch. No video report this time as I wanted to enjoy the trip without worrying about footage.
Was on the water rather early since the reds seemed to pass through right after sun up last weekend. Fished from 7-9:30 and it was a nice morning weather wise. Not a whole lot of wind and cool temperatures. I paddled out to where the reds had been the weekend before. I began fan casting my chrome rattletrap while scanning the surface for activity. Bait was everywhere. I thought this may bring in the predators but it was not like the previous week. No activity out in deeper water. I did hear some splashes behind me in the cove closer to the dam. I decided to investigate and began paddling towards the dam. I was not where the splashes had been but I casted anyways due to the overwhelming smell of baitfish. I had a short strike on the first cast. A couple of casts later a 13# redfish inhaled the lure. It put up a good fight for over 5 minutes. I edited the footage to get it down to 3 minutes. Personal best redfish for me so far. Chasing redfish around is a blast but I have the urge to go after bass. I saved up enough for my fall scouting trip to Lake Austin and will likely head that way in the next few weeks. It's sharelunker season here in Texas. Don't know if I will catch a monster but I'm looking forward to learning enough to ensure a good spring trip. Enjoy the video report! "Reds, Rattletraps and Redemption" Hit the water around 7:30. The plan was to target redfish. I started off trolling a chrome rattletrap towards the middle of the lake. It didn't take long to reach a school of redfish hitting the surface. I reeled in and casted in their direction hooking up after a few casts. Evidently my drag was not set correctly and when the red ran, my line snapped. I was a little frustrated but the mistake was mine. I was also using 10# test with no leader. I caught a 12# redfish a few weeks ago on this same setup but I now know I was very lucky to do so. A boat in the area hauled in two nice reds but I didn't get another bite. I headed off to troll the dam. Close to the buoys I landed a 21' redfish on a shad rattletrap. It was choppy, so I turned around at the buoys and headed back. No bites until I reached the kayak launch cove. This red ran immediately and took about all the line I had on my reel. The drag was set right (almost too right). I attempted to get the kayak to turn around as the red ran the opposite direction the kayak was facing. It wasn't happening. A last ditch effort, I put my thumb on the reel and paddled my butt off to get the Hobie to turn left. About the same time, Ol red decided he wanted to make another run. SNAP! Another redfish and rattletrap lost. This time I was more frustrated with the darn kayak and may have let everyone in the cove know about it (don't worry, all adult males so no vulgarity was shouted in the presence of women or children). Headed in not too long after as the frustration had reached its tipping point. Made a stop at the store to buy more rattletraps. Was on the water by 6:40 the next morning. I knew the bite would be early and I didn't want to miss my chance at redemption. I paddled out to the same general area the fish had been the day before. I fan casted a chrome rattletrap (w/ a 20# test leader) and kept my eyes open for activity on the surface. I made sure my drag was set properly. Around 7:40 the reds moved in. I saw a couple roll on the surface within casting distance. A few casts later I hooked up to a nice 9# 26 inch redfish. Once the photo shoot was done I paddled back to the same area and began casting. It didn't take long to hook up again. This one was smaller but still put up a good fight. It came in at 21 inches. Trolled around for another hour before calling it a day. I found what I was after on this day. Redemption. Fished the weekend before the new moon. Hadn't been down to the camp in a while so it was about time. Forecast called for a chance of rain and winds out of the East to NE. Started off Saturday morning around 8-9 fishing the first cut off the intercoastal. Caught a few small trout but no keepers. Headed off into the bay to fish East Matty Triangle fishing 4-5 feet of water. It didn't take long to hook up. In a span of a few hours we caught every type of fish you would want to catch (and some that you don't). All caught using giant shrimp under popping corks (except the flounder, cocahoe on 1/4 jighead). We had to fish through some storms but that's alright with me as long a there is no lightning. The fish actually seemed to bite better in the rain than after. Headed in around 1 to recharge. Attempted to fish Saturday evening but the wind was ridiculous in the bay. Anchored along the South shoreline but no keepers caught. Some fish were not captured in the video report due to me being afraid a gust of wind would grab my hat (and gopro) and throw it in the water. Still managed enough footage for a good video. Ended up with 3 sand trout, 3 trout, a redfish, drum and flounder. Thanks for reading (and watching). I will keep fishing so I hope that web ticker keeps ticking. Over 1600 visits since June! As always, enjoy the video report. I hit the water later than usual since I knew the heat wouldn't run me off the water. The recent cold front made for a nice morning temperature wise. My original plan was to paddle across to 181 cove and fish with live bait under corks. I just rigged the hobie with two rod holders on the front for this type of fishing. I got to the buoys by the dam when I realized I left my water in the vehicle. This coupled with knowing the slight chop could turn into something much worse later on with the Northeast wind made me abandon that plan. I was trolling a chrome rattletrap behind the kayak and decided to turn around and do the same closer to the dam. I had trolled all the way back to the kayak launch cove when I saw a redfish leap out of the water. I quickly reeled in and began fan casting where I saw the fish jump. After no hits I went and anchored throwing out live bait under a cork. I continued to throw the rattletrap as well. After a few minutes I heard a huge splash behind me. I turned around to see that it was within casting distance. I hummed the rattletrap as far as I could. On the second cast, annihilation! This fish took off from the get go taking drag out. Chaos soon followed as I attempted to reel in my other line, throw the bait bucket in the kayak and get the anchor in. I did all of the above except the anchor. As you can see in the video, I was lucky to get this 12# beast in the boat as he wrapped up in my anchor line there at the end. Absolutely nothing was keeping that fish from swimming away as the hook broke of the lure. Luckily for me, he was worn out by then. The cove went from two boats to five or six in a hurry. There must be some sort of secret radio channel they use on that lake. Didn't catch anything else the rest of the morning, but this one fish was worth the trip. One thing is for sure, I will always have a rattletrap tied on when I'm on this lake! Enjoy the video report. My focus this weekend was to take it easy. I took Saturday off to lounge around but still had the urge to get on the water. I've done some research since last trip and decided I would like to fish Lake Austin this year. Those plans are still in the works but I figured I would get myself ready by fishing something similar. Headed down the road to the Guadalupe river to accustom myself to that style of fishing. Was on the water by 7am. Started of fishing a spinnerbait along the shoreline. I soon switched to a watermelon wacky senko and hooked up to a decent bass. It spit my hook close to the kayak. Further down the bank I had a similar result and decided to put the go pro up. Instead of reeling I kept trying to turn on the camera resulting in slack line. Caught another on a bandit crankbait closer to the deeper water. Found a nice creek to head up in when the ski boats arrived. Looked like some fishy water but didn't have any takers. I felt a solid tug on one cast but was surprised not to find a fish on the other end of the line. The little guy in the picture was the last fish. The senko flew off my hook mid-cast resulting in a backlash. By the time I got the line all straightened out I reeled in to find him on the end of the hook. Maybe I should just fish with a hook from now on. Nice morning on the water and learned how to fish this type of environment. Looking forward to trying those tactics on some Lake Austin trophy bass in the near future. I was on a mission to catch a red Saturday at Calaveras. I got there early and tried to fill my bait bucket before the sun came up. It was one of those mornings where it seemed that nothing could go my way, but getting on the water cleared my mind of all that. I headed straight to 181 cove and was the first yak there. I anchored shallow and chunked out a perch on Carolina rig. Caught a keeper catfish the first cast. There was plenty of bait activity but no bites after that first fish. Stayed in 181 for a few hours before heading to the crappie wall for a few minutes. Ended the day fishing a ledge on the East side of the lake. My bait was robbed a few times but nothing landed. Headed in when it got too hot tolerate it.
On Monday I decided to try something different and headed to Braunig to fish the reeds for bass. I had tried this at Calaveras a few weeks ago with no luck. I knew Braunig had more reed patches so I thought it was going to be a good day. Was on the water by 6:30 and started off throwing a spinnerbait on the outside edges of the reeds. When I saw a pocket I would get closer and flip a plastic crawfish up in the reeds with braided line. This tactic usually produces big fish at Fayette and I was expecting similar results. There was plenty of baitfish deep in the reeds but nothing wanted my lures. I left the lake after only a couple of hours due to frustration. I much prefer to move down a bank looking for bass than sitting in one spot waiting for a fish to hit my line. Instead of worrying about getting a trip to report, I think I am steering towards slowing things down and preparing for a good trip. Choke Canyon is down the road along with Amistad. Guess I will have to do some research and narrow it down. No video report this time but thanks for reading. |
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July 2019
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