Birthday on the Bay

This year for my birthday, Tracy and I went fishing with a guide. This was to be our first trip out into East Matagorda Bay.

It was a combo trip - part navagation and part fishing. Our guide, Captain Bill (Gold Tip Guide Service) agreed to help me mark some of the many shallow reefs and obstructions and was ready to chase the feeding birds whenever the opportunity presented itself.


We left the harbor at 7AM and got to see a beautiful sunrise as we headed east down the ICW.


Here is a short video of our trek to the bay. Watch that barge!


It wasn't freezing weather but the air had a snap to it this early and Captain Bill came prepared!

Here is Tracy and Captain Bill with one nice trout. Fishing over working birds is fast and furious - Tracy called it speed fishing. When the birds are feeding, the fish are just below pushing the bait to the surface. You have to be fast to keep up with Captain Bill!

We ended up with 20 fish in the box by 9:00AM and I got to mark some spots on the north shoreline for future reference. I'm especially thankful for the track in and out of the bay so I won't get hung up - or at least if I do I'll know what the name of the reef is!

Thanks Captain Bill for a memorable trip and thanks to Karen as well.

Later in the day we headed to the beach to look for beans. We got a nice unexpected suprise when we saw the migrating monarch butterflies sailing over the dunes.

While we didn't see huge concentrations of them, there were enough in the air to make it special.

Here is the sun setting across the mouth of the Colorado.

I had a great time celebrating my 49th with a day on the bay.

Mini Slam

Catching the three most popular Texas inshore species constitutes a "Slam".

Tracy and I teamed up for a mini-slam by catching trout reds and a flounder in the river and diversion channel.

This pretty speck took the live shrimp offering along the river bank near Selkirk.

Tracy matched my trout with one of her own. I think this girl tops mine.

We moved down river and fished below the ICW where I caught this 14" flounder.

Back at the trailer while Tracy was taking a break, I found a hungry red that was a little short.

Two keeper trout was plenty for our supper and even though the other two were released, they may find their way back to the box one day in the future.