Dream Up A Flounder

You know I've been dreaming about flounder.

I've read about them and studied them. I've even bought some special lures designed to catch them. My last experience with a flounder turned out to be a good one and I could hardly wait until the next trip to McNab to see if I could find another.

Saturday turned out to be the day. Tracy was set to attend a bridal shower in the morning so I made plans to get up early and head to the marsh. The only thing that could keep me from getting up at 4AM was....

Night fishing on the pier!

When I got in from the Friday traffic, Tracy was ready to escape from the housework blues so we headed to Palacios. I had an idea that I might throw the cast net for some finger mullet and we found some at the boat launch.


This girl is ready to fish! She is game to try the mullet but her go-to lure at night is the MirrOdine.

Casting for some bait. The finger mullet are fast and they figure out pretty quick that danger comes from above.


We fished the spot near where the pier leaves the seawall without any luck and got out to our preferred spot before the sun went down.

Tracy is tired of fishing with mullet. Let the games begin!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset behind the pavilion pier.


Once the sun dips below the coastline, the lights come up and the fishing gets good. The specks moved in early and we had some good action on both the shad rigs and the MirrOdine.

We fished with mullet and I lost a couple and caught some small fish but no keepers.

I also tried various top water lures and other than a couple of halfhearted swipes I didn't have much luck with them.

There were some new visitors to the pier this time. These small jacks were good fighters and really liked the shad rigs.

We ended up catching lots of sand trout and specks but none over 15".

My buddy Tony showed up just as we were about to leave and he was ready to catch some keepers. He had a good load of finger mullet and another rod for throwing artificials and was planning on being there when the big girls moved in.

We intentionally didn't stay too late as I was still planning on heading to McNab in the morning. Good luck Tony!

I didn't sleep in too long and was able to get to the launch before dawn.

The water level was way up and I fished all the way in to the lake without any success. I did get a couple of blow ups on the top water but nothing serious enough to take the lure under.

Once in the lake, I found two fish working the south shoreline. My first hookup came up empty as I lost the fish at the boat trying to get my net out from under the bungee. I'll say for the record that it was most likely a redfish even though I never did get my eyes on him.

The thought that it might have been the flounder I was hoping for is too difficult to contemplate. I caught the second fish and it turned out to be just shy of legal. Both fish fell for the Flounder Pounder.

Off you go Mr. Red. Thanks for the fun!

Now quit loafing and GROW UP.



I paddled down to the corner and saw several gators but no fish. I finally tied on a green and red Texas rigged Culprit worm and tricked this little rat red.

I was beginning to think I would be going home empty. It was nearly 10AM, my stringer was empty, and my arms were beginning to tire from all the paddling. I headed up to the marsh opening to the left of the mouth of the lake and continued throwing the MirrOdine. This is the lure I had caught several fish on the last time I was in the marsh. Once again the 'Dine didn't disappoint.

I threw into a small cove off the main lake and started a slow retrieve. The color scheme of this lure seems to immitate a small croaker and when they like it, they like it.

Well to make a long story short - this guy liked it!

I fooled the trout on a tube jig on the way in but I was more than pleased to have what I came for.

This big girl measured nearly 20" and tipped the scale at 3 lbs even.

Not quite big enough to win the STAR tournament but definetly big enough for the grill! Looks like we have Sunday dinner figured out.


I met Tracy at home and after a light lunch we decided to head out once again to Three Mile Lake to make the best of the nice weather.

There is definetely a change in the air this time of year. The humidity was a little lower and though it was still hot, the afternoon angle of the sun causes it to seem less severe.

Tracy was once again queen of the bank fishing. She caught three reds that weren't big enough to keep and one keeper trout.

The blue tails of the redfish are part of the signature of this colorful species.

Red number three had a perfect tail. These fish were all about the same size.

We watched the sun set in Matagorda County for the second time in two days. Summer is over and the shorter days are ahead. I wonder what that means for the fishing?


On a final note to this long post...

If you think I've got fish on the brain, Tracy noticed that the clouds resembled a trout so I took this picture on the way out of the marsh.