“Young Guns”
Capt. Chris Martis
If you haven’t ventured to the coast recently for a summertime fishing trip simply due to the blistering summertime heat, then you should start making plans to do so in September. The latter weeks of September generally signify the first real relief from high temperatures as Texas begins receiving some of the year’s first notable frontal passages from the north. It’s at this time in the year when the temperatures will begin to slowly drop allowing for milder conditions all along our coastal regions. The waters shall begin their greening process, and some of the season’s initial flights of ducks will start arriving from the upper states. The beginning of autumn will soon be upon us, and we all need to be ready.
Coastal bend anglers have an advantage over others in that they are presented with some of the finest fishing waters in Texas due to our locale. And because we have such good fishing, anglers should be spending just as much time as they can out on the water this month. It‘s rather easy getting caught up in spending unnecessary time determining whether it is best to be spending the day wading the pristine shallows of a protected shoreline, venturing into the back-country for redfish, or drifting open-bay shell pads. However, don’t let the choices overwhelm you, as another beautiful thing about the month of September is that you don’t have to make a choice between doing any of these things on any one particular day. Anglers can spend most of their days this month doing all of them
Once we begin experiencing higher tide levels later this month, start looking to the various back lakes on Matagorda Island and to the shell reefs of San Antonio Bay to start producing some of the finest trout action of the year. As for the reds, anglers should be able to chase them in Guadalupe Bay, looking for sand pockets and pushes (wakes) rather than tails. Maintain your summertime ritual of starting early in the morning and starting out in some really shallow water. Historical fishing records indicate some of the best top water action takes place during the last two weeks of September, so begin each day by tossing smaller top water baits like the Skitter Walk Junior, or the Super Spook Junior. But, if “Tops” don’t work, then “Tails” might. In this case, offer any of an assortment of plastic baits rigged on either 1/8 or 1/16 ounce jig-heads.
