According to Bay Flats Lodge veteran guide Harold Dwoarczyk “This is the best trout fishing we’ve experienced in the past 5 years.” From boat fishing with live live bait to wade fishing with top waters or soft plastics, trout fishing has been good as it gets for most groups.The big push on monster size reds is already taking place as well. Just the other day our guests released a 42” & 38” red.
This year in the Northern Hemisphere, Autumn begins on September 23, 2011, at 6:05 A.M. (CDT). It’s a time that is both pleasant and regretful at the same time for some, but for others it’s their favorite time of the year. This is the beginning of fall, when baseball season is coming to an end and when football season is just getting underway. Temperatures will begin to get lower, and nights will begin to get longer. In most of the northern parts of our country the foliage will be turning vibrant shades of red and orange and there will be a noticeable newness and cleanness to the air that’s unsurpassed by any other time of the year. For the southern portion of the country, however, this is the time of the year when we look forward to our first opportunity at relief from summer’s relentless heat as we welcome some of our initial encounters with the year’s coolness. And, if you’re one of those southern anglers who like to hunt redfish with artificial lures, then the end of August and the beginning of September is a great time of the year for you along Texas’ Gulf coast. Redfish action, for us, has already increased over the course of the past couple weeks, as some catches have provided our clients with personal-best records – the most recent being a 42-inch redfish that was caught (and released) in mid-August. We’re discovering these fish to be located in the upper water column above grass patches in the sand in one to three feet of water in our local bay systems, and that the bait of preference is the smaller-sized top water baits, like the new GunDog Little Dummy from the fine folks at Texas Tackle Factory. Now then, by the time you read this article, some of the year’s most awesome fishing for redfish will probably have already begun to take place. Each passing day will begin to bring with it reduced winds, with some of those being out of the north, and these light winds will tend to flatten both the bays and the surf. Some fast action can’t help but be experienced during the low light conditions associated with the first two hours of daylight in the fall, so make your plans accordingly.
The September forecast for Texas coastal fishing is looking favorable as long as the weather gods don’t deal us any extreme tropical weather during this year’s hurricane season. So far, this year has been, for the most part, quiet. But that’s not completely unusual for this time of the year, as some of the most historical and disastrous Texas hurricanes have decided not to hit shore until later in the month of September. The latest La Nina events have come and gone, and weather forecasters say its once again time for things to begin working back to normal for our region, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed in hopes that the experts know what they’re talking about and that this means we’ll experience a somewhat minimal storm season this year (although a big hurricane might just supply us with the much needed rain across the state).
Regardless, locating both trout and reds in the upcoming month of September will continue to include the necessity of first locating active mullet. We’ve recently run across redfish feeding in knee-deep water along leeward shorelines of Espiritu Santo and San Antonio Bay, and within those schools of reds have been some really nice trout ranging from three to five pounds. But like I said earlier, the taking of these really nice trout, for the most part, has been a hit-or-miss opportunity for most of us. This record-setting hot summer has placed us in a pattern where we have gotten familiar with fishing deep during low tides and an outgoing current, and fishing tight to the grass during periods of higher tides with an incoming current.
Given these circumstances, I continue to hear reports of spectacular trout catches in areas west of Seadrift – areas like that of West Matagorda Bay such as…the Cedars, the Ranch House shoreline, Cottons, and Greens Bayou. Recent fishing reports from these areas indicate that sand flats surrounded by grass beds have been the most productive for the redfish, while deeper shell that happens to be located between waist and shoulder depth has been proven to be the ticket for picking-up most of the trout over the past couple weeks.
In my last article, I spoke of my anticipation that redfish shall begin to school in greater numbers along our neighboring shorelines in the not-so-distant future. Well, it now seems as though my anticipation and anxiety over this future event may be coming true.
Just after the middle of August we began experiencing winds out of the southeast and southwest, bringing with them some somewhat higher water. And these higher tides will only become more predominant as we make our way further into the month of September. But higher water levels are not the only favorable conditions that we welcome at this time of the year. We’ll also begin seeing minor cooling to area water temperatures – almost always a result of the higher water levels at this time of the year, even in the absence of any pre-autumn northern frontal passages. This mild cooling effect upon the water temperature is generally affiliated with higher water levels, and generally will boost bait activity along area grassy shores where both the trout and the reds will begin to feed on a more regular basis throughout the course of the entire day. The fish will once again begin lurking in camouflaged locations that were previously uninhabitable due to low tides – places such as back lakes, marshes, sloughs, and coves. So, before you spend an enormous amount of time and effort wading up to your neck out deep, think about all the possibilities of the shallows first, as it was just yesterday that we took the majority of our fish out of waters that were no more than two feet deep, and the bite was ‘on’ from early morning through late afternoon……just sayin’ !!!!!
When it comes to a world-class level of wing-shooting, it’s hard to beat the Seadrift and Port O’Connor areas for Pintail, Widgeon, Redheads, and a wide variety of ducks. This upcoming season, let Bay Flats show you the hunt of a lifetime with an action-packed day of waterfowl hunting, fishing, or even both. Our “Blast & Cast” packages include morning shooting for ducks and geese followed by a relaxing afternoon on the water while bay fishing for trout, redfish, and flounder (or, returning to the blind to finish-out your duck limit with an afternoon of hunting). Either way, your afternoon is completely fun filled. Until next time, be courteous while on the water, and remind yourself to always approach wade fishermen while idling slowly, or pass them with good distance.
Captain Chris Martin, Owner, Bay Flats Lodge, Inc.
Seadrift, Texas 1.888.677.4868 Office 1.361.785.4176 Fax
www.BayFlatsLodge.com BayFlatsLodge@gmail.com
Guest of TAS of Dallas enjoyed releasing this big red with Bay Flats Lodge Jason Wagenfehr, August 2011.
42 inch red released by Trish, who attended a corporate sales meeting & fishing trip to Bay Flats Lodge with Capt. Harold, San Antonio Bay with live bait on 8-17-11.
Personal best trout, 7 pounds, Sharon T. from Houston with Bay Flats Lodge David McClelland, using live croaker in San Antonio Bay, August 2011.
