I made the trip down to Casa Del Pescador lodge in Matagorda this past weekend to fish the Matagorda Bay complex.
Mike Thomas, the owner of the lodge, offered to fish with me this weekend to show me around the bays. I haven't fished this bay system often, so any help was very appreciated.
Friday night we were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by Mike. Shrimp tortellini with spinach and a sqaush casserole. It was the perfect dinner before a hard day's grind.
Saturday morning we headed to West Matty and Palacious Bay for a tough day. We started the morning on a mud/shell shoreline with tons of bait, but the fish weren't hungry. We made another stop in the area, again, with tons of bait. There weren't any hungry fish at this spot either!
Next we made the run across West matty to fish some drains and guts. Here we found some willing fish catching 5 reds, 1 23" and the rest just under 20". After grinding hard for the reds we decided to head back towards Palacious to fish some scattered shell. We found some schoolie trout and were able to box 4 of 8 fish, all in the 15"-16" range.
We ended the day with 4 trout and 1 red in the box.
Mike once again cooked up a superb meal! This night we would have 1.5" thick ribeye's cooked over a wood fire! While the steak's were cooking I sat on the enclosed back porch with a fine scotch/water and a Monte Cristo cigar. What a way to finish out a day of fishing and learning!
Sunday morning we awoke a little tired, but the anticipation of learning East Matagorda Bay was enough for me to get out of bed.
We headed down the ICW and into East Matagorda bay. Our first stop was to wade a reef that held promise. The water was starting to clear and there was bait in the area. Within 5 minutes Mike nails a healthy 19" trout. I follow it up with another healthy 19"er. We thought we might be able to grind out a nice box of trout here, but those were the only two we caught.
Next we decided to drift some scattered shell. Our first drift produced 2 keeper reds. We shortened the drift a little and I immediately missed 2 fish! Mike was able to add another trout to the box, but it just wasn't happening like we wanted. So we made a move or two or three only to find nothing. I did learn a lot of valuable information thanks to Mike Thomas.
We cut the day a little short and quit around 11am with 3 trout and 2 reds in the box.
In total we had 3 keeper reds and 7 keeper trout for the weekend. Not that great of a box, but better than sitting on the couch!
After talking to several guides I felt better about our catches as most of the did about the same.
I now have the confidence to head back to this bay system and catch fish when Mother Nature cooperates better!
Mike Thomas, the owner of the lodge, offered to fish with me this weekend to show me around the bays. I haven't fished this bay system often, so any help was very appreciated.
Friday night we were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by Mike. Shrimp tortellini with spinach and a sqaush casserole. It was the perfect dinner before a hard day's grind.
Saturday morning we headed to West Matty and Palacious Bay for a tough day. We started the morning on a mud/shell shoreline with tons of bait, but the fish weren't hungry. We made another stop in the area, again, with tons of bait. There weren't any hungry fish at this spot either!
Next we made the run across West matty to fish some drains and guts. Here we found some willing fish catching 5 reds, 1 23" and the rest just under 20". After grinding hard for the reds we decided to head back towards Palacious to fish some scattered shell. We found some schoolie trout and were able to box 4 of 8 fish, all in the 15"-16" range.
We ended the day with 4 trout and 1 red in the box.
Mike once again cooked up a superb meal! This night we would have 1.5" thick ribeye's cooked over a wood fire! While the steak's were cooking I sat on the enclosed back porch with a fine scotch/water and a Monte Cristo cigar. What a way to finish out a day of fishing and learning!
Sunday morning we awoke a little tired, but the anticipation of learning East Matagorda Bay was enough for me to get out of bed.
We headed down the ICW and into East Matagorda bay. Our first stop was to wade a reef that held promise. The water was starting to clear and there was bait in the area. Within 5 minutes Mike nails a healthy 19" trout. I follow it up with another healthy 19"er. We thought we might be able to grind out a nice box of trout here, but those were the only two we caught.
Next we decided to drift some scattered shell. Our first drift produced 2 keeper reds. We shortened the drift a little and I immediately missed 2 fish! Mike was able to add another trout to the box, but it just wasn't happening like we wanted. So we made a move or two or three only to find nothing. I did learn a lot of valuable information thanks to Mike Thomas.
We cut the day a little short and quit around 11am with 3 trout and 2 reds in the box.
In total we had 3 keeper reds and 7 keeper trout for the weekend. Not that great of a box, but better than sitting on the couch!
After talking to several guides I felt better about our catches as most of the did about the same.
I now have the confidence to head back to this bay system and catch fish when Mother Nature cooperates better!
