# E Matty



## aktxla (May 7, 2015)

Any recent trips to E. Matty to report? Haven't been able to get out for weeks and thinking of making a run down there this weekend.


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## Flyfish1 (Feb 21, 2017)

*Matty yesterday*

Fished the afternoon on in coming tide in about ft. of water. Fished a west end cove and caught 20+ specks from 15-17". Caught a Redfish that looked like it had swallowed a football Never moved the boat for 2 hours. Unfortunately, it only measured 19".Fished a quarter ounce jig with a Deep South 3" shad. Haven't had that much fun in several months. Light North wind.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

It's been really crowded on the weekends. I can tell you that. If you think you are gonna come fish the birds on a fri-sun you'll probably leave frustrated.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

I'm headed there early tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Hope to come home with some Specs and some Flounder.


TWG


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## sea-ger (Jun 20, 2016)

The crowds have seemed much higher than normal for this time of year. I fished Tuesday of thanksgiving week and got nothing but frustrated.


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

Needs to get colder to keep most of them home.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

I keep waiting for some of them to go shoot some deer or something. 

I think we have a whole lot more people down here fishing EMB than we usually do even taking into account this is a popular time of year to fish here. I'm sure a whole bunch of folks who normally fish Galveston, Trinity, etc are over here. I know I am seeing a number of Galveston guides on the water.

Lots of short tempers and lots of rude people too.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

going_deep said:


> Needs to get colder to keep most of them home.


Can't happen soon enough.

Last weekend I sat in East Matagorda Bay and could count 47 boats at one time from where I was sitting, all of them just holding, waiting for any poor little old bird to try and swoop down toward the water. You'd see 3 or 4 birds dive down over fish and 5 boats would head that way. As people fished a group of birds other boats were idling around trying to figure out how to squeeze in on the action.


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## irbjd (Aug 11, 2005)

Salty Dog said:


> Can't happen soon enough.
> 
> Last weekend I sat in East Matagorda Bay and could count 47 boats at one time from where I was sitting, all of them just holding, waiting for any poor little old bird to try and swoop down toward the water. You'd see 3 or 4 birds dive down over fish and 5 boats would head that way. As people fished a group of birds other boats were idling around trying to figure out how to squeeze in on the action.


Yep. And it's not much better if you're wading. People will roll right in on you and try to put 2-3 boats in a one boat hole. And if you're on a shoreline you're lucky if folks will go down at least 100 yards.


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## aktxla (May 7, 2015)

Flyfish1 said:


> Fished the afternoon on in coming tide in about ft. of water. Fished a west end cove and caught 20+ specks from 15-17". Caught a Redfish that looked like it had swallowed a football Never moved the boat for 2 hours. Unfortunately, it only measured 19".Fished a quarter ounce jig with a Deep South 3" shad. Haven't had that much fun in several months. Light North wind.


What a difference a day makes! I hit the bay at sunrise and fished until sundown. Started in shallow coves on the south shore and every place I went was dead water. Moved to deep/mid bay humps and shell with very little success with the exception of a brief period of unenthusiastic bird activity. Active birds were almost non-existent but occasionally there were small flocks sitting on the water and generally there were a few small fish around those birds. I moved to the west shore in the afternoon and picked up an occasional dink on mud shell mix in 3-4' of water. All in all a very tough day. Fish and game was at the harbour checking fish and they told me that the river had been very good for trout early in the day but bay catches were slim. Conditions were OK with 5-10 mph breeze from the NE rolling to the ESE in the afternoon. Water temp was 67-69 and clarity was highly variable depending on where in the bay I was.

Crowds were not too bad for a Friday but with the tough fishing there were a lot of boats running around with little regard for your drift line! I don't get that lack of courtesy.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Yeah, you had to work for 'em today.


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

I pretty much grew up in Sargent as a kid....I remember fishing with my Dad and Grandpa during this time of year where many times you might not see another boat.

Two trips ago I counted 21 boats within eyesight.


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## Speck Ops (Jan 29, 2013)

98aggie77566 said:


> I pretty much grew up in Sargent as a kid....I remember fishing with my Dad and Grandpa during this time of year where many times you might not see another boat.
> 
> Two trips ago I counted 21 boats within eyesight.


^^^^^
Me too!!
I remember looking forward to deer season because once it kicked off Ematty would pretty much be empty.


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## BluewaterAg26 (Jan 12, 2009)

I remember when East Bay was quiet but its a good bay and gets a lot of exposure. Good times growing up in Sargent.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Speck Ops said:


> ^^^^^
> Me too!!
> I remember looking forward to deer season because once it kicked off Ematty would pretty much be empty.


As I sat in the middle of the great East Matagorda Bay armada I was thinking to myself, when are these folks gonna go kill their deer? I wish they'd go on to deer camp.


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## skifffisher178dlx (Aug 3, 2017)

I was down there Sunday I limited out by 10 am then caught a bunch more under some birds pushing bait in the intercoastal parks and wildlife was there at the ramp when I left 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

Salty Dog said:


> As I sat in the middle of the great East Matagorda Bay armada I was thinking to myself, when are these folks gonna go kill their deer? I wish they'd go on to deer camp.


It's all my fault, I've been writing articles the last 10 years telling everyone what a great time of year it is to fish ;-) I guess I need to start writing about how good the hunting is, now that everyone is fishing. ;-)

Definitely have to be sneaky when you're on fish that's for sure.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*crazy these days*

I started fishing East Maty in the mid 90's, times were different. The bay was empty, I'd like to fish it now and will occasionally, but can't deal with the crowds. At one time I fished it exclusively. Can't even imagine trying to guide on that bay. It is very small and once the fish show, social media has the whole world down there. Galvetraz doesn't have 31 and 32 inch trout but it's easier to hide from the crowds.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*losing tract of time*

Sorry started fishing East Matty in the mid 80's, not the 90's. Getting old is for the birds. lol


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

c hook said:


> Sorry started fishing East Matty in the mid 80's, not the 90's. Getting old is for the birds. lol


Early and mid 80s is the time frame I was talking about.

My parents and grandparents had houses on the creek...I grew up running crab traps in a canoe my grandfather and I built...them a 14' flat bottom with a 6 hp when I was 13.

I fished the east end of the bay in that little boat, had a tri-net that I could catch bait in.....good times and not many folks.

Sargent was discovered in the early to mid 90's it seems....never be the same.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

We always thought it was too busy and couldn't stand the increase in popularity that each year brought. I remember back in the 90's and 00's and 10's thinking I was gonna totally quit going to EMB in the fall because of the crowds. And every year I still spend some time there.

On the right days it can still be pretty incredible but by the time the word is out you already missed them.


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