Cold water wading results. Bay Flats Lodge

The spring equinox is the moment when winter ends and spring begins, and it occurs on March 20th this year. But don’t let the start of spring fool you when you’re planning your next coastal fishing trip. The early part of spring along the Texas coast often brings with it weather that still fluctuates at times, to include strong and variable winds, chilling rains, and unstable water temperatures. A lot of fishing time this month can typically be spent in the numerous back lake areas, or within the confines of the Victoria Barge Canal or the Intracoastal Waterway, as anglers drop in for some immediate protection from high wind and rough water. Any time you’re forced into these secluded places in March, always keep a watchful eye for the presence of mullet. Any mullet, whatsoever!

Look for the wind to become more of a southeasterly flow rather than northeasterly, which will soon make for increasing tides and greener water. We can also anticipate water temperatures to begin warming, and to continue doing so for the next few months as we progress through spring and into summer. This will mean that it will not be long now before you can start your search for speckled trout along sandy and grassy shorelines just off the main bay systems.

On March days with less wind, setup your morning wading sessions along leeward shorelines located throughout the San Antonio Bay area that can be influenced by the day’s forecasted tide and currents. Start your day by wading mud and grass, and then transition to hard sand, or sand and shell, as the sun reaches high into the sky and the shallows atop the flats begin to warm. While it is important to fish over mud and grass during the cooler parts of the year, learning to accept the slow change from mud to hard sand can often mean the difference between fishing and catching this month.

March is probably one of the most fun months to be out on the water. The bays are once again beginning to come alive with baitfish activity, and the trout are hungry after a long, cold period. If you happen upon some decent fish this month in a private hotspot of yours, there’s a good chance you might be able to stay on those same fish for several days if the conditions are right and things don’t change drastically from one day to the next. Look to enjoy some premium action on top waters, and don’t forget to pack a couple of slow-sinkers also. Have fun, and keep grindin’!

Red Hot Airboat Action
Bay Flats Lodge

March Madness – Capt. Stephen Boriske

Time flies when you are having fun and that’s what has been going on in the middle Texas coast! February is typically our slowest month of the year when it comes to customers booking trips at Bay Flats Lodge for many reasons but I think the main one is cold and rainy weather and the uncertainty it brings with it. Then the secondary reason has to do with this month being like a Tuesday of the work week. February seems to me to be the get-it-done month because the holidays are long gone and tax season is right around the corner and fishing fever with Spring Break coming up will distract your attention so all the pressure to get your work done falls on this one month of the year. Thus we saw a lag this past month which will give way to a frenzy of fishing requests from March on through the year, in fact as I look at my bookings things are filling up fast!

Those who can put all that work aside and join us in February though have been rewarded this year because we have somehow dodged the frozen temperatures that we typically get. Instead we have enjoyed milder cool fronts with less rain than we have been getting during the second half of 2018 which has allowed us more days on the water and less weather cancellations. The fish have been strong too and our guests are bringing home the meat with most outings showing boxes of Black Drum and Redfish limits with occasional solid numbers of Speckled Trout! Overall the past six months have been milder than winters I remember with fewer frozen toes and blistered faces on the books.

We are excited that March has arrived and that fish are already showing Springlike enthusiasm on the bite and in the box. The waters are in good shape and with the warming from the sun and extending hours of daylight, soon Winter will be a faint memory. This week I will enjoy a visit from returning guests for a two day wade fishing trip with lures and I couldn’t be more excited to get out on the water. Since we are fortunate to run trips most every day of the week March through January these past few weeks have given me a much needed break. March ‘madness’ to borrow a term from the cagers is upon us and with the warming trend, the increasing tides, more daylight and a reset button on my body with rest, it’s time to get out there and do work!

Capt. Stephen Boriskie, Bay Flats Lodge, Seadrift, Texas, 888-677-4868

Welcome March! I’m always glad when March rolls around. The threat of the mercury dipping below freezing is pretty much gone, it starts to get warm and stays that way, and the birds start doing their thing. Although we get Daylight Savings Time, March Madness, and St. Patrick’s Day in March, my favorite thing is watching the trickle of migrant birds begin to grow into a steady stream.

I said earlier that the birds start doing their thing in March but that’s not strictly true. Some of the birds started doing their thing back in January. Great Horned Owls, Barn Owls and Barred Owls are already incubating eggs by March and a few shorebirds have started too. Our colleagues down the coast found a Snowy Plover nest on January 25th and we found our first of the season oystercatcher nest on January 31st. Purple Martins starting arriving in late January too and by this time many are already setting up shop in their houses and gourds.

For many birds though, March is a transition month between wintering and migration. Geese, cranes, and waterfowl will head north leaving us for the more suitable breeding latitudes. Early songbird migrants will start arriving along the Texas coast. These include Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush. These species are usually the first to arrive on the breeding grounds farther north. When I lived in Virginia I really looked forward to hearing my first parula and waterthrush singing. It was a harbinger of spring and all that would follow. Along the coast we don’t get to hear the migrant birds sing much but you don’t have to go very far inland before you can hear many of them singing their hearts out even as they are still migrating north. I guess their hormones are already kicking in.

By the end of March many other species will be arriving too and they will usher in April which brings the most species and biggest numbers of birds migrating across the Texas coast. In late April after most of the songbirds have migrated through, the late species will arrive including Canada Warblers, flycatchers and many of the migratory shorebirds. By the middle of May, most of migration will be over. But it’s only March 1st. We have so much ahead of us in the next few months!

Another reason I like March is the wildflowers. The bluebonnets give us quite a show and my favorite, the Indian Paintbrushes, are already starting to bloom. With all the rain we’ve had this winter, I expect the wild flowers will put on quite a show this spring. There is so much happening in nature in March, you just have to get out and experience some of it!

Sue Heath is the Director of Conservation Research of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory.  The GCBO is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the birds and their habitats along the entire Gulf Coast, and beyond into their Central and South America wintering grounds.

Sign Up For The Annual Adopt-A-Beach Spring Coast Wide Cleanup

AUSTIN – Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for the Annual Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup on Saturday, April 13, 2019. The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup will take place at twenty-seven different locations coast wide across Texas. Volunteers can sign up at www.texasadoptabeach.org or show up on site to take part in a fun-filled day of giving back to our community and taking care of the Texas coast.
“The Adopt-A-Beach Annual Spring Cleanup is always an amazing turnout for Texans to join together and volunteer their time to keep our Texas beaches beautiful,” said Commissioner George P. Bush. “What better way to serve our great state than by spending the day at the beach? It is because of our wonderful volunteers, that our annual spring cleanup provides the Texas coast with the care it deserves. The dedication of our fellow Texans to help keep our coast in pristine condition never ceases to amaze me!”

GLO Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup
Saturday April 13th
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
Clean up will be from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Visit TexasAdoptABeach.org to find a location near you.

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program began in the fall of 1986, when 2,800 volunteers picked up 124 tons of trash.  Since then, more than 529,000 volunteers have removed more than 9,600 tons of trash from Texas beaches. Each volunteer will be given data cards, gloves, pencils and trash bags. All volunteers are advised to wear closed-toe shoes, bring sunscreen and plenty of drinking water. The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach cleanups are held rain or shine!