Morning at McNab

I was pretty excited about the weather forcast for Saturday, high 70's and clear until I read the fine print. In addition to the high pressure there was predicted a 20-30 mph wind along the coast.

That put the kabash on Plan A - which was to be a paddle day with Tracy from three mile cut to East Matagorda Bay. Plan B (my usual fall back) was an early morning venture out to McNab.

We figured the wind might not come up until later in the morning and if I went early I might be able to get in a few hours of casting before joining Tracy for lunch.

I loaded the boat and gear before catching some shut-eye and was on the road early enough to be at the launch by 5:45am.

The paddle out to the lake was mostly uneventful except the mild start I got when I drifted across the back of the big black drum in the dark. I don't know who was more surprised him or me!






The tide was way up and dropping and the wind wasn't too bad for a while.

I hooked a couple, landed one undersized red, and was happy to not get skunked.


Nearly slot sized




After fishing the back channel, I began paddling back to the inlet when I spotted several kayakers heading for John's Pocket. As I approached I recognized them as a family from church, Mom, Dad, & kids in several yaks armed with some dead shrimp.

I gave them my best advice and somehow failed to take their picture!

By 9:00AM the wind was howling and I started out.



With so much water in the marsh, the fish had lots of new areas to explore.

I saw the first alligator of the summer sunning himself on the bank. He slipped into the water as I approached and popped up where I could locate him. I paddled on through unmolested.

No fish for the freezer but you gotta love those reds - even the little ones.