It was Saturday in Matagorda, Texas. The harbor was buzzing with boats waiting to get gas and bait so they could squeeze in one more trip before Tropical Storm Beta bombarded the Texas coast. The wind was picking up and forecast to blow twenty to twenty five miles per hour out of the northeast. This would not be good fishing conditions for east or west Matagorda Bay. Fortunately, my fishing partner and I were in a shallow draft cat boat which would allow us to get into some back lakes with very skinny water. My guide had been catching a lot of reds there on his previous trips. I am very lucky to have a fishing partner (my nephew) who loves fishing as much as I do. I have watched him grow up to be quite an accomplished fresh and saltwater fisherman and a good husband and father to his two boys. He was my guide today, and I am very thankful for the invite.
There was just enough light to start our journey as we sped down the intercostal waterway to find a back lake full of bronze backs. As we arrived at our first destination, we were greeted by a group of birds working over a shell reef. The wind was blowing bait into this shallow corner, and something was feasting on them. On our first few casts, we realized that the predators were small trout quite willing to take our artificial lures. The trout were fun to catch, but we had our sights set on some larger reds further back in the estuaries. The wind was not ideal for our location, and the speed kept increasing as the morning continued. With the help of an experienced captain, a trolling motor and of course, a power pole, we were able to set up properly to take advantage of the wind and shallow water conditions. Most of the fish seemed to be on the windy shorelines, in and around drains and on the backside of a windy points waiting to ambush our soft plastic lures. The bait was plentiful as we saw a lot of mullet and shrimp jumping for their lives and giving away the locations of our prey. For most of the morning, we stayed in the same location catching one red after another. Occasionally we would catch a small trout, and my nephew even caught a nice flounder. We were not interested in keeping any fish to eat this day, so we released all the fish we brought to the boat. As lunch time rolled around, we estimated we had caught and released twenty plus trout, twenty plus reds and a healthy flounder close to twenty inches in length. Had we targeted the flounder by dragging our lures across the bottom in the mouths of all the drains, we probably could have snagged a few more of them. It was an awesome morning, and we were both ready for some lunch and a break from the stiff winds.
Back at the harbor, we grabbed some lunch and then went to the local tackle shop to replenish the color lure that seemed to be the most effective. We also grabbed some batteries for the remotes for the power pole and the trolling motor and headed back to the dock. By now a lot of the guides and corporate outings had began putting their boats on trailers in anticipation of tropical storm Beta arriving the next day. The wind had picked up even more as we headed out in the opposite direction in hopes of an aggressive pre storm bite. As we arrived to our first spot, we noticed the absence of bait. Just a few days ago, the same area was teaming with bait and aggressive reds willing to show themselves. The only thing I could think that happened was that the flood tides had pushed the bait and fish further into the grass and flooded flats. The tide had slowed down to a trickle which is usually a factor for the lack of feeding fish. We started looking further back for movement, but they rarely gave themselves away. Soon we realized the shallower the better as the fish of the day exploded on my soft plastic back behind some large clumps of grass and algae. The advantage of using braided line allowed me to pull the fish through the grass and into my grasp. The freight train strike was not expected, as the lure was very near the clumps of grass, and I was just getting ready to lift the bait out of the water and over the grass. It just goes to show you as long as your bait is in the water, you still have a chance to catch a fish. As we tallied up the afternoon catch, we were able to add seven more redfish and five more trout to our total for the day. As the sun began to put on a show on the horizon, we started to feel the advancement of the legions of swamp mosquitoes and were soon on our way back to the harbor. We zipped through the narrow water ways with the aid of a bar light mounted on the front of the boat. The wind had actually come down a bit as the night settled in. Back at the harbor, we noticed a lot of the boats had been taken out of their slips in anticipation of a forecasted four to five foot tide. The new forecast had Beta coming ashore just above Matagorda. My nephew would come back to get the boat the next day just in case the storm intensified. Luckily, the wind shear kept the storm from becoming a hurricane. Other than the tidal surge and the large amounts of rain, we were spared from the devastation which could have been.
Just another reminder that God is in control, and we are just along for the ride. The ride was good that day, and I am always thankful for the chance to fish with my nephew. We can all be reminded in this crazy year of 2020 by the truth of Hebrews 2:1 which says, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Stay focused on God’s purpose for your life, love one another, forgive as he forgave us. Enjoy God’s creations and share the great outdoors with those around you. Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the video.
God bless you,
Tim Lumpkin
Instagram: @Tlump10
Legacy Outdoors 