Matagorda - Day 5

The wind was a little lighter today so the plan was to paddle across the river mouth to the jetties on the far side and do some fishing and beach exploring. The paddle was easy going over with the breeze at our backs and I fished a topwater plug along the far shoreline. While casting near some jumping bait I got a nice blowup but didn't connect. It was most likely a trout but the feeding had probably shut down by the time I got there.

We pulled the boats up on the river bank and headed down the jetties. There were some Spanish Mackerel chasing bait in the channel between the jetties but they would have nothing to do with my topwater plug. They were targeting small shad and I needed a silver spoon with a wire leader to get serious with these guys. They would have made short work of my fluorocarbon leader had I successfully hooked one.

Captain Tracy preparing to launch the Plastic Navy at the river mouth.

Big John pulling the boats up on the rocky shoreline.

The west jetties are somewhat remote even though you can see the RV park across the channel.

We were greeted by this "Wave Wrangler" heading out for a One Man Water Rodeo.

Walking along this wild beach we saw many shells and this Stone Crab claw.

After returning to the park, we decided to head back to the Colorado River Locks.

An incoming cloud bank provided this nice sky scene.

The tower at the locks is a magnet for the local turkey vultures commonly known as Buzzards. There is even one on the light pole - he must be the ugly one.

I caught another Stingray and got him up on the grass for a quick picture.

This is the business end and you can imagine if this comes in contact with any part of your body it's gonna hurt!

Once again we had a great day with lots of together time and spent mostly outdoors enjoying the "Matagorda Life".

I need to be careful... I could get used to this!

Matagorda - Day 4

Wednesday was a day for bank fishing. We decided to try a couple of spots and settled on the Colorado River Locks. The fishing was fun with lots of different species and watching the barges and boats added to the enjoyment.

This Sheepshead was one of many interesting fish that were hungry for shrimp.

This Pinfish was a little easier to handle with gloves.

While small enough to be used for baitfish for larger species, these colorful little bottom feeders are fun to catch on light tackle.

Several boats were coming through the Locks including this US Coast Guard vessel.

On the way home for lunch we spotted this juvenile armadillo on his way to safety in the brush.

One of the species we caught were Gafftopsail catfish. (the big one was Tracy's) Her biggest one was 20 inches long!

This Mangrove Snapper is a relative newcomer to this part of the Gulf Coast. You can see his "snappers" in this picture.

When the barges would pass through, the water would get stirred up and different species would show up like this saltwater eel.

We caught both versions of Kingfish aka Whiting. The Gulf Kingfish is silvery gray above, paler on the abdomen, with no markings on the sides.

The Southern Kingfish is silver-gray to brown in color, with darker markings often more mottled than a regular pattern.

Sometimes it's hard to leave work behind. Tracy caught me taking a call from work as I simultaneously landed a fish.

This Corp of Engineers work boat bears the name LockTender(Lock Keeper) for all you Stan Rogers fans.

Click the video below to see this Little Blue Heron in action.

Another Successful Fisherman.

The day ended with a cool sunset. God's glory abounds if you can take time to look for it.

Matagorda - Day 3

Tuesday began with a trip to McNab Lake. The wind had died down some overnight but before long it was back up to a steady 15mph. I managed to find one keeper red in John's Pocket which was fooled by a 1/4 oz gold spoon.



On the way out I came up on this feral hog and managed to get close enough to almost reach out and touch him before he realized what I was. Check out the video below.

After lunch we tried the piers again and I shot these two videos of the new fisher in the family.

Tracy catches a croaker right on cue.


Blue Crab anyone?

Tracy and I were joined by some good friends from Bay City for supper. Our usual hangouts were closed so we had to settle for dinner at the local bar & grill called The Reef. The cusine wasn't exactly low fat but tasted good anyway.



We took a sunset walk out on the pier and spotted the schooling mullet for the shot below.



The day ended after a nice visit with David & Sharron.

By the time we said goodnight we were all ready for a good night's rest.

Matagorda - Day 2

Monday started with a little pier fishing while Tracy enjoyed some beachcombing.

I was able to connect with a few hardheads like this big boy.



Next on the list was a small stingray. You have to be careful with hardheads but this guy packs a stinger that would ruin your day.



You always seem to forget something on every camping trip and this time it was the grill. We took a trip to Stanley's and picked up a replacement, an "Old Smoky".


(some assembly required)


Success! This means "Silver Turtles" for supper tonight.

After lunch it was time to break in Tracy's fishing rod, a Pflueger Lady Trion.




We fished on one of the park piers in the Colorado River and caught some small fish.


Tracy caught this beautiful golden croaker. After a while we decided to head out to the big pier and try our luck in the Gulf. The surf was pretty rough but we found some calm water behind the stairs leading from the pier to the jetties.


There were several willing fish to be found along the rocks like this Grunt.


Tracy caught this Black Drum that was just shy of legal keeper size.

We also caught several croaker and I caught a small redfish but released it before taking a picture. Also caught and not photographed were several Silver Perch aka Yellowtail.


We gave several of the small jetty fish to some guys that were fishing for big fish up on the pier. They had landed a huge bull red before we arrived and were in the market for anything big.

They were leaving about the same time as we were and one threw a cast net into a school of mullet. They caught several mullet and this small Spade Fish. Too bad I don't have a saltwater aquarium!


After dinner I cast some big lines out into the river and caught a small shark.

This is the smallest member of the hammerhead sharks and is known as a Bonnethead shark.

To say the least the day was fun and full of surprises. The weather was great and aside from it being a little windy, you couldn't ask for a better start to our vacation.

Matagorda - Day 1

We arrived on Sunday evening for a week at the LCRA RV park.

I tried cast netting some bait but quickly decided a trip to the bait store was what I needed to do if I was going to fish.

I selected a variety - fresh dead shrimp and squid and some frozen squid.

Upon returning I baited up the two 10' rods and launched them out into the river.

The main thing that was biting was mosquitos. There were clouds of them and the strongest deet spray barly kept them off you. I ended up catching one gafftop (no picture before calling it a night.

Bass, Birds, & Blooms

Not much time to fish this weekend. Our house guests stayed until Saturday morning and had to head back. The week went by too fast!

After they headed north for OKC, Tracy went to a baby shower and I did yard work.

We attended a funeral of a dear sister in Christ after lunch and then the annual Senior Banquet on Saturday evening.

On Sunday our congregation had "Bring a Friend" day with a pot luck luncheon following. Even with all that I made a couple of short visits to Evans Lake.

I did some fly fishing and tried out this Tail Spin Shad from Bass Pro.



I caught 12 bass on the tail spin. I was using the 1/4 oz model which would cast a mile and really vibrated on a steady fast retrieve.



The wind was blowing pretty hard at one point and I was fishing near a small oak tree. I heard what sounded like an apple falling from a tree and landing in the grass with a "thump". My natural curiosity led me to the base of the tree where I found this nearly grown dove chick. Apparently, this little guy had been perched on the edge of the nest and when the wind began to blow he went over the side.

He took a pretty hard fall as the nest was a good 20 feet up the tree. I checked on him later and found that indeed he did not survive. The fire ants had already begun their work and hopefully Mother Dove would have better luck with her other chick.




For those who are feeling bad for the poor little chick I do have some pictures taken in our yard this morning of another dove nest. This nest was intact and the chicks were safe and sound.






I also had the pleasure of seeing some rose buds and blossoms on a climber called "Lafter". The early morning light and fresh petals made a nice combination.







My final pictures of this post are of some nice bass caught on the fly rod this afternoon. They liked the red & white Dahlberg Diver - a deer hair bug that mainly floats and gently dives when retrieved.



This is an exciting way to fish as the bass come to the surface to take the bug.



Some of the strikes are violent and some are subtle but either way they get your blood pumping!



You don't have to go very far to see the beauty of God's creation.

It's all around us!

The Burning Question

Here are some benign photos of a thistle blossom gone to seed.








***WARNING***

The following post contains graphic photos that may be disturbing to the casual reader, PETA activists, and other non fishermen. Reader beware.....

Ever since Jonah survived for three days in the belly of the great fish, there has been one question that causes fishermen to examine the stomach contents of their catch.

"What have they been eating?", they ask thinking that this information will help them unlock the secret to the current pattern.

Bass fishermen who prefer using plastic worms over natural bait sometimes lose the worm to an over zealous fish. That brings up some even more pressing questions.

Can the fish digest the plastic? Does it hurt the fish?

Most true fishermen are conservationists at heart and either eat what they catch or release them relatively unharmed to grow and fight another day. They don't intentionally harm the very thing that they enjoy.

Bass are voracious eaters and largemouth bass in particular can eat big prey. Frogs, mice, lizards, birds, crawfish, and other fish are easily swallowed and digested.

Redfish are the big eaters of the saltwater crowd and eat whole crabs as shown in this photo.



I've lost my share of BGWs in Evans Lake and often wondered what became of the wayward worms. Well wonder no more - the mystery has been solved.



The science of the senko. Salt impregnated and lifelike in form but apparently completely undigestible. The good news is that it passed through without any damage whatsoever to the fish. This bass was in great shape and was well on his way to clearing the worm on his own. I helped it along to make sure there was no hook on the other end and released Mr. LMB to grow and fight another day.

Just in case you were wondering...