# Matagorda Surf End of the Year Recap



## TPOTTS (Aug 17, 2017)

2020 was a pretty crappy year all over the world and one that Iâ€™m sure weâ€™d all like to forget. In terms of fishing, however, it was fantastic. 2020 presented us with numerous great weather windows and opportunities to land big fish all up and down the coast. Almost every trip I ventured out on would result in good quality slot reds and bull reds, which I was able to land over a 100 bulls this year with 39 of them breaking the 45â€ mark. The sharks were plentiful from mid March all the way up into the middle of December and I was able to land several (lost more than I can counâ€™t though haha). Fishing around the fronts in the later half really paid off in a big way. Another thing that really helped this year was the almost complete lack of sargassum weed. I think I only had one day where it was an issue but other than that it was non-existent on the middle coast. Not sure if the guys down south had to deal with it, only ran to PINS twice this year and both times there was none. I had several good friends join me throughout the year for their first time surf fishing and getting them hooked up on big fish was definitely one of the highlights for me, they are all now hooked for life! I was also fortunate enough to meet several new people while down on the sand and hope to meet more next year. Bring it on 2021, letâ€™s see what you got!

-TPOTTS

I picked out a few of some of my favorite pics from the year:


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## fish4food (Feb 11, 2011)

Awesome!


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## [email protected] (Jan 14, 2005)

Nice cateches! tell me more about the snook? Thanks,


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## jpdarby2 (Aug 17, 2016)

Nice Snook! That is a quality year of fishing!


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## TPOTTS (Aug 17, 2017)

Thanks guys!

Oscar- The snook was actually caught on fishbites while bait fishing for whiting, pretty cool surprise catch on that section of the coast.


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## [email protected] (Jan 14, 2005)

Sure the hell is. Again - Great catch!


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## psalty (May 31, 2004)

May your 2021 be as successful and looking fwd to many more pics


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## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

So where on the coast do you go , I wanna take my 13 yr old son out but need instruction and insight , I haven't surf fished in 30 yrs and thats the tackle I'll be using . 
Fenwick and Harnell rods with Jigmaster and Squidder reels . Can ya cast from knee deep 
or do ya have to wade out real far for fish ? Thanks


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## TPOTTS (Aug 17, 2017)

therealbigman said:


> So where on the coast do you go , I wanna take my 13 yr old son out but need instruction and insight , I haven't surf fished in 30 yrs and thats the tackle I'll be using .
> Fenwick and Harnell rods with Jigmaster and Squidder reels . Can ya cast from knee deep
> or do ya have to wade out real far for fish ? Thanks


Matagorda beach is where I spend 99% of my time fishing. That beach is excellent for surf fishing because of the really deep guts and structure created by the shell. The tackle you have will work just fine, the jigmasters and squidders used to be the standard surf casting reels and have caught many many fish over the years. You can definitely cast from knee deep water, several places on that stretch of beach you can cast over the first bar without even getting your feet wet. Find an area where the first bar comes in close and launch baits out over it. Start out using fishbites or dead shrimp to catch whiting, croaker and sand trout for bait and work up from there. Blue crab is another great bait for redfish this time of year. 4x4 is needed on that beach, can be nasty driving at times. If you have anymore questions ask away or you can send me a PM and I will be happy to answer them!


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## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

^^^^Thanks^^^^


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