# East Matagorda Bay Help?



## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

I know this may seem odd asking for fishing advice, because I'm usually the one giving it, but I need some help.
I'm taking the boat to Sargent this weekend to take my girlfriend's mom for a trip up the creek Sunday for Mothers Day.
I figured why I was there that maybe Saturday we would take a trip to East Matagorda bay and check it out. The only problem is, I've never been to Matagorda bay and have no idea how to even get into it.
I'm not really needing fishing spots. I just need to know how to get in and out, where I can safely run, and anything to watch out for.
I've had dozens of offers from people who are willing to show me around, but with my crazy work schedule it hard for me to plan anything. I would hate to set something up and than get called into work and waste someones time.
I'm running a Nautic Star 214XTS and would like to keep at least 3' of water under me at all times. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

It would be much easier (& safer) to show you than tell you in a message John...If you come in the bay out of the ICW at the tripod head South until about 200 yards from SSL then cut West...There are shell hazards around Bird Island especially Long Reef that runs E-W out in front of it...Stay off the shoreline as it gets shallow in spots...Swing wide around the Oyster Farm, but after that all is good...The shell around Old Gulf Cut is not all that tricky at the NE corner...I would stay out of the back East end especially at low tide...EMB is as far South that the Blackjack goes...Not that it couldn't go further, but it is the last water that I know in that direction...Sabine on the other.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> It would be much easier (& safer) to show you than tell you in a message John...If you come in the bay out of the ICW at the tripod head South until about 200 yards from SSL then cut West...There are shell hazards around Bird Island especially Long Reef that runs E-W out in front of it...Stay off the shoreline as it gets shallow in spots...Swing wide around the Oyster Farm, but after that all is good...The shell around Old Gulf Cut is not all that tricky at the NE corner...I would stay out of the back East end especially at low tide...EMB is as far South that the Blackjack goes...Not that it couldn't go further, but it is the last water that I know in that direction...Sabine on the other.


Thank's for the help. I'm gonna take it slow and easy until I get some safe tracks marked.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> It would be much easier (& safer) to show you than tell you in a message John...If you come in the bay out of the ICW at the tripod head South until about 200 yards from SSL then cut West...There are shell hazards around Bird Island especially Long Reef that runs E-W out in front of it...Stay off the shoreline as it gets shallow in spots...Swing wide around the Oyster Farm, but after that all is good...The shell around Old Gulf Cut is not all that tricky at the NE corner...I would stay out of the back East end especially at low tide...EMB is as far South that the Blackjack goes...Not that it couldn't go further, but it is the last water that I know in that direction...Sabine on the other.


Long Reef isn't anywhere near Bird Island. You're likely thinking of Halfmoon.


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

Good info above.. That's the route most of us take out of Sargent. Stay well away from any of the humps shown on your GPS.. many of them have crest that come all the way to the surface a hundred yards from the top of the hump. Just be off plane in those areas. 

You picking up a bunch of those little gold wiggly things?


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

Salty Dog said:


> Long Reef isn't anywhere near Bird Island. You're likely thinking of Halfmoon.


I've heard it called both over the years...I fished with a guy that worked with the Half Moon Reef restoration project in WMB and he always referred to the one in EMB as Long Reef...Call it whatever you want to, but you need to mark both ends of it so that you don't run over it...The most dangerous thing that I ever encountered is finding out how deep the mud can get back East of Brown Cedar...I was drifting and stuck a couple of fat trout but the wind was pushing me across too fast and this was before power poles....I decided to wade it...I didn't know what the bottom was like and thankfully I kept a hand on the ladder when I jumped in...The water was about 2.5' but I never touched bottom waist deep in what I thought was quicksand at the time...Was very glad that my buddy was a corn fed boy that day


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Trust me, it's Halfmoon. Long Reef is on the other end of the bay. And yes, there is also a Halfmoon in WMB and probably several other bays.


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

Salty Dog said:


> Trust me, it's Halfmoon. Long Reef is on the other end of the bay. And yes, there is also a Halfmoon in WMB and probably several other bays.


OK...I trust you & will forever call it Half Moon from this day forward...But you have to admit...It is a long reef :wink:


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## trophytroutman (Mar 21, 2009)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> I've heard it called both over the years...I fished with a guy that worked with the Half Moon Reef restoration project in WMB and he always referred to the one in EMB as Long Reef...Call it whatever you want to, but you need to mark both ends of it so that you don't run over it...The most dangerous thing that I ever encountered is finding out how deep the mud can get back East of Brown Cedar...I was drifting and stuck a couple of fat trout but the wind was pushing me across too fast and this was before power poles....I decided to wade it...I didn't know what the bottom was like and thankfully I kept a hand on the ladder when I jumped in...The water was about 2.5' but I never touched bottom waist deep in what I thought was quicksand at the time...Was very glad that my buddy was a corn fed boy that day


Know all about that mud in brown cedar. Nice trout spot though!!


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## The Last Mango (Jan 31, 2010)

Turn on your I phone
Tech these days is crazy, have any problems call Salty Dog


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Guys, where is The Tripod?

I've had several people reference this as a marker but I don't know where, or exactly what it is -?



TWG


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

TexasWineGuy said:


> Guys, where is The Tripod?
> 
> I've had several people reference this as a marker but I don't know where, or exactly what it is -?
> 
> TWG


There are two in East Matagorda Bay. One is on the west end just to the east of St. Mary's Bayou and one is on the east end on the north shoreline between Chinquapin and Sargent.

They are big tripods made of wood pilings. They stand 15 to 20' tall or so.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Salty Dog said:


> There are two in East Matagorda Bay. One is on the west end just to the east of St. Mary's Bayou and one is on the east end on the north shoreline between Chinquapin and Sargent.
> 
> They are big tripods made of wood pilings. They stand 15 to 20' tall or so.


Okay, is this Tripod (east) *IN* the bay, or along the ICWW shoreline?

I'm looking at Google Satellite images but I only see one possible vertical piling about 1500 feet *IN* the bay, from the ICWW edge.

Thoughts?

TWG

See image below....


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## irbjd (Aug 11, 2005)

TexasWineGuy said:


> Okay, is this Tripod (east) *IN* the bay, or along the ICWW shoreline?
> 
> I'm looking at Google Satellite images but I only see one possible vertical piling about 1500 feet *IN* the bay, from the ICWW edge.
> 
> ...


That is the Tripod on the east in.


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## gman1772 (Jul 15, 2012)

TexasWineGuy said:


> Okay, is this Tripod (east) *IN* the bay, or along the ICWW shoreline?
> 
> I'm looking at Google Satellite images but I only see one possible vertical piling about 1500 feet *IN* the bay, from the ICWW edge.
> 
> ...


That is the Sargent end tripod TWG. It usually has crab traps set around it. Look for floats. Lots of boat traffic there on weekends.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mtaswt (Aug 10, 2007)

John I'm down there a lot and within walking distance to you on the creek. Lets get together sometime and I'll show you what I know. I run a 22' Nautic Star so I'm in the same stuff you're in.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

mtaswt said:


> John I'm down there a lot and within walking distance to you on the creek. Lets get together sometime and I'll show you what I know. I run a 22' Nautic Star so I'm in the same stuff you're in.


 I went mothers day weekend. I ran the whole bay from one end to the other. The track on my GPS looked like a epileptic with a Etch A Sketch. There was zero wind and the whole bay was covered in biting gnats. There was no water over 4' deep and the entire bay was chocolate milk. Now I know why I've never seen anyone at the cleaning table with fish. I don't know why anyone would chose to fish in that mud puddle. I'll just stick to Galveston bay where the water is polluted and you get cancer from eating the fish.


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## mtaswt (Aug 10, 2007)

sharkchum said:


> I went mothers day weekend. I ran the whole bay from one end to the other. The track on my GPS looked like a epileptic with a Etch A Sketch. There was zero wind and the whole bay was covered in biting gnats. There was no water over 4' deep and the entire bay was chocolate milk. Now I know why I've never seen anyone at the cleaning table with fish. I don't know why anyone would chose to fish in that mud puddle. I'll just stick to Galveston bay where the water is polluted and you get cancer from eating the fish.


That's sounds about right. It doesn't take much to dirty that bay and I tell everyone I know that they could most likely walk the entire bay and it wouldn't get over their head. It does get right though you just have to pick your days!


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## gman1772 (Jul 15, 2012)

sharkchum said:


> I went mothers day weekend. I ran the whole bay from one end to the other. The track on my GPS looked like a epileptic with a Etch A Sketch. There was zero wind and the whole bay was covered in biting gnats. There was no water over 4' deep and the entire bay was chocolate milk. Now I know why I've never seen anyone at the cleaning table with fish. I don't know why anyone would chose to fish in that mud puddle. I'll just stick to Galveston bay where the water is polluted and you get cancer from eating the fish.


E Matty is a fickle slut. If you have ever been there in stained to green water you would understand the attraction. I've only hooked up cast after cast in one bay. Her.


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## On The Other Line (Aug 12, 2016)

sharkchum said:


> I went mothers day weekend. I ran the whole bay from one end to the other. The track on my GPS looked like a epileptic with a Etch A Sketch. There was zero wind and the whole bay was covered in biting gnats. There was no water over 4' deep and the entire bay was chocolate milk. Now I know why I've never seen anyone at the cleaning table with fish. I don't know why anyone would chose to fish in that mud puddle. I'll just stick to Galveston bay where the water is polluted and you get cancer from eating the fish.


Yeah I'm with ya. Place is way overrated. Head north to Galveston or south to Palacios. East Bay has been dead for years.


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## 223AI (May 7, 2012)

On The Other Line said:


> Yeah I'm with ya. Place is way overrated. Head north to Galveston or south to Palacios. East Bay has been dead for years.


Man, ya'll are fishing a different east matty than I am. The influx of fresh water and the 5 trout limit has changed that bay completely, in my opinion.


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## Tidebreaker (May 19, 2017)

223AI said:


> On The Other Line said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah I'm with ya. Place is way overrated. Head north to Galveston or south to Palacios. East Bay has been dead for years. Palacios sucks there are no fish there and I think it's a big gay nudists colony stay away or you may get stuffed


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

sharkchum said:


> I went mothers day weekend. I ran the whole bay from one end to the other. The track on my GPS looked like a epileptic with a Etch A Sketch. There was zero wind and the whole bay was covered in biting gnats. There was no water over 4' deep and the entire bay was chocolate milk. Now I know why I've never seen anyone at the cleaning table with fish. I don't know why anyone would chose to fish in that mud puddle. I'll just stick to Galveston bay where the water is polluted and you get cancer from eating the fish.


Yep, no need in fishing EMB, no fish there.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Yep, no need in fishing EMB, no fish there.


Yep. I am NOT going there this weekend.

Nope.

TWG :wink:


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

Galvatraz is better just look for the floating city of boats and pull up in the middle...


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## Racked Back (Dec 27, 2016)

On The Other Line said:


> Yeah I'm with ya. Place is way overrated. Head north to Galveston or south to Palacios. East Bay has been dead for years.


Thanks for the info. Took your advise and went to **** island this morning and it didn't take long for a limit of 5 trout. Won't be going back to East Matty much anymore.


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## On The Other Line (Aug 12, 2016)

**** Island one of my go to's. Consistent fishin regardless of conditions.


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## cwool (Jun 21, 2016)

I started to post a thread with the same subject matter on EMB after recent trip June 9 - 11. Invited down by a friend with a house on the Colorado. Hadn't been to EMB in over 30 years as my uncle has a place on Caney Creek we frequented was I was young. The thing's I remembered from the Caney Creek days going to EMB and this past trip were one and the same....hard to find fish! We ran every where looking, "reading the water", etc... Ah man it was tough and the only thing we came away with was gaftop and a puppy drum. Brutal. The water didn't look right to me and I mentioned it to my buddy. He said it actually wasn't to bad and I thought "huh?" but ok. 

I want to like EMB as the absence of crowds is very nice and the Matagorda Harbor is terrific along, great ramps, ample parking, superb fishing cleaning tables(although not much use)...top notch...now just need some fish!

I know, I know get Tobin's videos...I have them and I've watched them...with a fair amount of success most places but my childhood memories of EMB still exist 30+ years later.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

cwool said:


> I started to post a thread with the same subject matter on EMB after recent trip June 9 - 11. Invited down by a friend with a house on the Colorado. Hadn't been to EMB in over 30 years as my uncle has a place on Caney Creek we frequented was I was young. The thing's I remembered from the Caney Creek days going to EMB and this past trip were one and the same....hard to find fish! We ran every where looking, "reading the water", etc... Ah man it was tough and the only thing we came away with was gaftop and a puppy drum. Brutal. The water didn't look right to me and I mentioned it to my buddy. He said it actually wasn't to bad and I thought "huh?" but ok.
> 
> I want to like EMB as the absence of crowds is very nice and the Matagorda Harbor is terrific along, great ramps, ample parking, superb fishing cleaning tables(although not much use)...top notch...now just need some fish!
> 
> I know, I know get Tobin's videos...I have them and I've watched them...with a fair amount of success most places but my childhood memories of EMB still exist 30+ years later.


You can cover more water with plastic


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> You can cover more water with plastic


I don't understand this statement. Please explain.

Thanks,
TWG


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## irbjd (Aug 11, 2005)

cwool said:


> I started to post a thread with the same subject matter on EMB after recent trip June 9 - 11. Invited down by a friend with a house on the Colorado. Hadn't been to EMB in over 30 years as my uncle has a place on Caney Creek we frequented was I was young. The thing's I remembered from the Caney Creek days going to EMB and this past trip were one and the same....hard to find fish! We ran every where looking, "reading the water", etc... Ah man it was tough and the only thing we came away with was gaftop and a puppy drum. Brutal. The water didn't look right to me and I mentioned it to my buddy. He said it actually wasn't to bad and I thought "huh?" but ok.
> 
> I want to like EMB as the absence of crowds is very nice and the Matagorda Harbor is terrific along, great ramps, ample parking, superb fishing cleaning tables(although not much use)...top notch...now just need some fish!
> 
> I know, I know get Tobin's videos...I have them and I've watched them...with a fair amount of success most places but my childhood memories of EMB still exist 30+ years later.


As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, EMB is a fickle mistress. You can fish, fish, fish with no success, and then the switch flips and it's on. Keep grinding and have confidence in your ability to find fish.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

TexasWineGuy said:


> I don't understand this statement. Please explain.
> 
> Thanks,
> TWG


Think about how many more times you can fan cast an artificial versus popping live bait and fooling with losing live baits etc. I can catch fish all day on two or three tails and I bet I cover ten times the amount of water with my lure over bait. There's nothing wrong with live bait but if you are wanting to locate fish a topwater or tail is second to none in my opinion. I have gotten away from hassling with croaker all summer and catching just as many if not more fish and the crutch is gone. As my buddy says "I'd rather trick them than feed them".


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Think about how many more times you can fan cast an artificial versus popping live bait and fooling with losing live baits etc. I can catch fish all day on two or three tails and I bet I cover ten times the amount of water with my lure over bait. There's nothing wrong with live bait but if you are wanting to locate fish a topwater or tail is second to none in my opinion. I have gotten away from hassling with croaker all summer and catching just as many if not more fish and the crutch is gone. As my buddy says "I'd rather trick them than feed them".


This is all very true. Sometimes it takes covering a lot of water to find the fish, and nothing does that better than artificial, but things can change.
I can pitch hardware with the best of them and I've never needed bait to catch fish, but I just can't cast all day anymore. 
I have 2 torn rotator cuffs, carpal tunnel in both hands, tendonitis in my right elbow, and nerve damage in my right arm from my shoulder to my wrist. I physically can't cast and work a lure for more than about a hour without severe pain. This is why most of my fishing trips are only a couple of hours. Sure I can go grind out a limit on plastics, or I can drop barking sea monkeys over the side of the boat and limit out in 30 minuets. With the pain I've been living with, I'll choose bait if I have a choice.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Think about how many more times you can fan cast an artificial versus popping live bait and fooling with losing live baits etc. I can catch fish all day on two or three tails and I bet I cover ten times the amount of water with my lure over bait. There's nothing wrong with live bait but if you are wanting to locate fish a topwater or tail is second to none in my opinion. I have gotten away from hassling with croaker all summer and catching just as many if not more fish and the crutch is gone. As my buddy says "I'd rather trick them than feed them".


Understood. My plan is to use a good arsenal of artificials and use some trapped Mud Minnows if all else fails. . . .

Thanks for the reply.

TWG


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

TexasWineGuy said:


> Understood. My plan is to use a good arsenal of artificials and use some trapped Mud Minnows if all else fails. . . .
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> TWG


Nothing wrong with a fat little mud minnow. My first trout over 27" came on a live mud minnow AKA killifish when I was about 10 fishing three mile lake from the bank.


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## wennis1 (Nov 5, 2008)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Yep, no need in fishing EMB, no fish there.


 Hehe


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

I've had my *** handed to me there many times but when it's good it's good.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

I'll be fishing the ICWW at Sargent this evening with night lights. Got a nice High Tide this evening. Then Saturday morning a friend and I will take his 22 Triton and hit the mid bay to drift over some Oyster shoals. Also have a nice high tide that morning.

I'll do and AAR when I return home Saturday afternoon.


TWG


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## irbjd (Aug 11, 2005)

TexasWineGuy said:


> I'll be fishing the ICWW at Sargent this evening with night lights. Got a nice High Tide this evening. Then Saturday morning a friend and I will take his 22 Triton and hit the mid bay to drift over some Oyster shoals. Also have a nice high tide that morning.
> 
> I'll do and AAR when I return home Saturday afternoon.
> 
> TWG


Other than the east end, East Matagorda does not get much tidal flow.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

irbjd said:


> Other than the east end, East Matagorda does not get much tidal flow.


That's why we are concentrating on that east end of East Bay.

Curious - are you suggesting that the lack of tidal flow is bad, or good?

TWG


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

That whole bay holds fish, you just have to figure them out.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> That whole bay holds fish, you just have to figure them out.


Exactly right. It's maybe a little different than other bays but it isn't that hard to figure out.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

TexasWineGuy said:


> That's why we are concentrating on that east end of East Bay.
> 
> Curious - are you suggesting that the lack of tidal flow is bad, or good?
> 
> TWG


It's not good or bad, it's just different.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

Salty Dog said:


> It's not good or bad, it's just different.


Wind driven


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Wind driven


Meaning?

With regards to wind, along the entire Texas coast, - there's ALWAYS wind. Unless there's a storm front it's going to be SE or a Northern.

Are you saying that the _location _of the fish is wind driven? That makes sense.

TWG


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Wind driven current. 

There is always wind, except for when there ain't. There are days you pray for a puff of wind.


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## Mundo97 (Aug 6, 2016)

I am sure all wind directions lead to some sort of plan. That said, I am guessing a strong south wind can blow bait out of the marsh and push it out into the south flats?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Salty Dog said:


> Wind driven current.
> 
> There is always wind, except for when there ain't. There are days you pray for a puff of wind.


Understood. Those are the days when we need to be back at the boat ramp about 10:30 AM.

Early to bed, early to rise . . .
TWG


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

The best thing to do is get on the water and figure it out, nothing else can take the place of first hand experience. You're going to have days when you get skunked or only catch a fush or two but that's fishing. Go go go! Make notes to look back on.


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Post Tip Update:

Well, there's good and bad.

The bad news is that we didn't get so much as a nibble Friday night or Saturday morning, and we didn't catch a thing. The East Bay looked like chocolate milk and it was pretty windy.

Friday night I fished the ICWW just east of the Swing Bridge, with lights, but didn't get a nibble.

The good news is that on Saturday morning we got to explore some nice looking places to fish in the East Bay with my friend's 22 Triton, and got more familiar with the east part of East Bay. We did some drift fishing by some of the shoals near Dressing Point and in Live Oak Bay areas, then went to hit the South shore. The south shore was too shallow for us to get within 200 yards of the shoreline, at least where we were. 

There will be no dinner tonight for me :wink: but at least we got to explore the bay and now have some good spots picked out when we get some good water.

Also, we didn't see anyone else pull in a fish this morning. 

Looking forward to the next trip.

TWG


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

You should get out if the boat if drifting is not paying off. Work the drains and walk into the back lakes!


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> You should get out if the boat if drifting is not paying off. Work the drains and walk into the back lakes!


Good point. We saw MANY boats that were anchored and had the entire crew wading. Didn't talk to a single boat that got anything, but your point is well taken.

"Better luck next time."

TWG


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

There were some good fish caught yesterday. I fished West yesterday but I saw two or three really solid boxes of fish come out of East Matagorda by the croaker guys.


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## On The Other Line (Aug 12, 2016)

Gave it all we had Thu Fri Sat. No more than a 26in trout one day and another yielded 4 fish. Pretty slim pickens on a weekend of high hopes with higher tides.


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

Salty Dog said:


> There were some good fish caught yesterday. I fished West yesterday but I saw two or three really solid boxes of fish come out of East Matagorda by the croaker guys.


We had solid boxes sat and sun from west


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## TexasWineGuy (Jun 19, 2017)

going_deep said:


> We had solid boxes sat and sun from west


Was West Maty water also like chocolate milk?

Green water is still a loooong way out. hwell:

TWG


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

Water looked good in west on south shore line


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

going_deep said:


> We had solid boxes sat and sun from west


There's not enough boats in West Matagorda yet...


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

They were double stacked Saturday so I beg to differ


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

going_deep said:


> They were double stacked Saturday so I beg to differ


Well with as many potlickers that will read this thread they will probably be triple stacked now.


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## Harbormaster (May 26, 2000)

Yesterday...after an early wade we had to jump from bote to bote to get back to ours!


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Well with as many potlickers that will read this thread they will probably be triple stacked now.


Well go find you another secret cove somewhere that you think no else knows about....


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## LouieB (Jun 7, 2005)

going_deep said:


> Well go find you another secret cove somewhere that you think no else knows about....


Don't look him in the eyes. DON'T LOOK HIM IN THE EYES!!!!


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

I need a map


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