With October upon us, there are certain factors to take into consideration for those coastal anglers who wish to be proactive in their approach to successful fishing. Everyone should pay special attention to the fact that each day will be just a little bit shorter than the day before, resulting in a lessened amount of sunlight hours each day. It is at this time of the year that you can generally begin transitioning to the presentation of dark-colored lures, and even start to experiment with some of the more common plastic suspending baits like the standard sub-surface B&L Corky, and its cousin the Fat Boy. Keep in mind the importance of the imagery of the silhouette of these baits. These darker, suspending lures tend to imitate a silhouette more symbolic of that of a mullet instead of that of a shrimp. And the darker the silhouette will mean better reflection of the bait against the sunlight beaming down upon the lure. The primary bite will start to come during the very early and very late sunlight hours, but with the days shortening, even the most infrequent weekend fisherman should be able to take advantage of these prime-time periods.

Most of us would expect things to cool-off a bit in October. But if that doesn’t happen as we might expect it to then the fishing patterns will almost certainly become somewhat similar to that of springtime, where the coolness of the morning will still be outdone by the warmth of the afternoon heat. With all of this, and with the anticipation of higher tides this month, you should focus your efforts primarily in the areas situated deep within the heart of the back lakes. The back-country has given up some late summertime trout in the mid-twenty inch range at times. A couple key ingredients to your success will be for you to locate nervous baitfish or diving birds. Look to place yourself along shorelines consisting of patches of grass mixed with either shell, sand, or mud, and look for schooling mullet in these areas. Also, look tight to the shoreline for the redfish, and even search for them in some of the more murky water covering the grass and mud. The trout in these back regions will be found over grass in the more decent green and clear water, but they’ll still prefer some of the sandier bottom structure at times. You can also start introducing smaller baits in these secluded lakes in October because it’s important to downsize in an effort to imitate the small silver shad that we should be finding in our bay system during this particular period of the year. Until next time, tight lines to all!

Bay Flats Lodge is happy to announce Captain Todd Jones has joined our team.

Todd Jones grew up in Victoria close enough to the Texas Gulf Coast to smell the saltwater. By the age five Todd had a fishing rod in his hand at the Bob and Leonard Camp near Port O’Connor. Those trips to Bob and Leonard’s were the beginning of a lifelong fishing obsession. After serving our country as a US Marine Todd entered a diverse career which included 10 years as a law enforcement officer and managing a health care facility for the elderly.

During these years, Todd never wavered from his love of fishing. In 2010 Todd earned his Captains License and started helping others experience what he loves so much.
Captain Todd is a great addition to Bay Flats Lodge and another reason to come fishing with us.

Capt. Todd and Capt. Jeff Larson had the pleasure of teaching these two young guns how to catch trout, reds, and flounder while fishing the Bay Front.

Whew!!! What a disastrous couple of months we had. Thank God we live in the Great State of Texas. #TEXAS STRONG We definitely want to rant and rave about the crazy issues we have been bombarded with but I will leave that for another day and publication. Let’s get down to business and update you on a couple of Heads up Issues then we can dive into the awesomeness of the Outdoors that we so enjoy. The weather has been tolerable to great over the last few weeks. The tide has been crazy HIGH! Yes, we are in Equinox which always happens in the Fall, plus the Harvest Moon and other storms. This just made for some interesting wade fishing trips. What was normally knee deep is now waist deep. And to add to the Wild Weather Pattern, we have had a alligator incident.

Most locals know, but a fisherman was attacked by a rather large alligator. The wade fisherman survived this attack and we hope he has a speedy recovery. And to top that off, Captain Pat Lester was finishing up a successful floundering trip the other night, when he nicked his thumb reaching into his cooler while cleaning a bunch of flounder. Later that morning, his thumb began to swell, get red and hurt. Capt. Kris Kelly quickly drew a circle with a Sharpie around the red spot on his thumb for a reference. The pain increased and the redness started streaking down his thumb outside of the pen mark. This indicated that the bacteria was spreading further into his bloodstream. With very little coaxing from his guide buddies, Captain Pat went to the Victoria Hospital and Dr. Burns immediately put him on several Antibiotic Drips. Capt. Pat was stuck in the Hospital for three days fighting a bacteria that can be FATAL.

Captain Pat also shared that there is a 20 to 30% mortality rate if you do not get antibiotics within 12 to 24 hours.

Over the years, we have seen Vibrio flare up with just the tiniest of cuts or scratches. Knowing most all of the guides down here, we have all come in contact with Vibrio at some point in our careers, so we keep one of these Vibrio Fighting Agents around: Rubbing Alcohol, Diluted Bleach Solutions, Peroxide and/or Anti bacterial soap. By using these as a wash on minor cuts, you can reduce your risk of getting infected by the flesh eating bacteria. I personally use Dawn Anti bacterial soap because it reminds me of my wife (Dawn) taking care of me. LOL.

As this month progresses, we are seeing the annual Fall Patterns develop and changing our focus to other parts of the Bay where the fish transition to after cold fronts push through our area. We are also changing tactics and baits to fill our coolers up with fish.

My personal transition has been from the main bays to concentrating on the Jetties or the Pass. Don’t misunderstand me, the main Bays still have plenty of fish and wading is still the best option to catch ‘em despite the hurdle of Alligators and Vibrio. Shrimp and a popping cork while drift fishing has been a great technique to load the boat. Fishing will remain Good throughout the next several months. You will just have to play the weather patterns.
This is a special time of year for Texans. We can do multiple hunting and fishing trips. The old cast and blast is now in play. We are also getting creative by adding flounder gigging trips or hog hunts at night. There is no rest for the weary!

We just came off of a big combo package which consisted of dove, duck, gig and fish, all in one weekend. The Kevin Jeter Group hosted by Chuck Glass pulled off a memorable weekend at the Lodge and they’re ready to come back for more. Special Thanks to Scott and Heather for their hard work getting the Saltwater Lodge ready after Harvey. Things are getting back to normal slowly, but surely. So give Scott a call and he can set up a powerhouse weekend of Cast’n and Blast’n.

Scott can be reached at: 361 – 785 – 3825.

We hope everyone is doing well and We Pray for a Speedy Recovery. Give us a call if you want a weekend get a way.

Captain Jeff Larson
281 217 0399

By far the months of October and November are my favorite of the year for fishing on the Mid Coast of Texas.

Change is the theme during these magical days on the water. We get cold fronts knocking on the door as the heat of the Summer seems long gone and we usher in a Fall feel to the air that makes me think of times gone by and times to come. Memories of cool fronts plowing through on a Thursday night ahead of a Friday fishing trip. The times of blasting off South of Corpus on a Friday at day break heading for the Land Cut facing strong Southeast winds only to return on Sunday struggling to point her into a stiff North wind. Yes this is the time of the year when change is the norm and we welcome it with open arms.

The reality is to fish when you can fish! Luck may have it that timing on these weather changes will occur when you can be on the water to take advantage of them and by that I mean a pre-frontal bite can be fabulous. A good friend and mentor of mine often calls me the day before a frontal passage and wants to know if I’m wade fishing in the fog! The warm humid air builds up just before a norther at times and the fish can be on fire! What I want to say to you though is even if you miss this short time window don’t be discouraged from donning the gear and getting out here.

A few years ago when I was a new guide in a lineup of veterans I mentioned to the lodge owner that I didn’t think the bite would be on at all and we might just be spinning our wheels out there. He gave me some advise that I have lived by from that point on which was…PROVE THEM WRONG! At first I didn’t know exactly what he meant but then it dawned on me that I was talking myself out of fishing on my game plan and giving it a good try. I was letting the forecast and the naysayers dictate my day on the water. I put my head down that day, blocked out the negative thoughts and information and made a decent day out of it.

It is hard to go wrong in October and November because this is the time of year when the shrimp are plentiful, the fish are eating and the weather is cooperating. If you are a live or dead bait angler there should be plenty of availability at the bait stand to fill your wells. Prefer tricking the fish this time of year when you get on the water? Go with what you know and be open to new tackle and techniques you learn along the way. Some of my most memorable days on the water during this period of full moons and harvest time are wade fishing in waist deep water catching fish on every cast. I may have been having speckled trout bite my lure two, three, four times before hooking the fifth and wondering if there were really that many trout following my soft plastic. This is a time you will remember and think about for years to come. Fish are hungry in the Fall and it’s hard to go wrong on what you present for their appetites. Focus on movement patterns of the different baits in your lure selection, think about what is happening with the water temperature, we are often decreasing in degrees on a Fall morning into the low 70s and with the rising sun may reach 75 degrees. These fish are fired up like you are at a Friday night football game! Expect the bite to be immediate and vigorous and the fish to have increased stamina. It’s about oxygen in these cooled waters the fish have not experienced for months in some cases. The same is true for you as you enjoy the cooled air and water temps.

Don’t forget the ducks! Hunters will be in some of your best honey holes at the beginning of November so be sure and pay attention to these guys and give them room. Usually the hunt is done by 9 or 10am and they are picking up decoys and getting back to the casa by then so I strongly urge you to be considerate and move on to another location to start that wade in the time when the sun is just about to come over the horizon-shooting time is one half hour before sunrise. Look for boats parked in non traditional spots and think about where you would want to be on a hunt, did you hear someone say something to you? It could be a hunter hollering that you are too close! It’s much easier to move a wader than a hunter because of the flocks of decoys set out hours before you may have even heard your fishing alarm go off.

The great outdoors is there for all to enjoy and cherish and we are so blessed that we have the Mid Coast of Texas to fish and hunt and bird and enjoy. This of all years is a blessing because we have endured many obstacles with the weather not to mention the political and other environmental factors and interests. I want to be of age somewhere in my mid 80s like my dad is right now and take my kids and their kids fishing and hunting in this wonderful, resilient, natural resource we call the Mid Coast and pass on this feeling and experience to them. Their future depends on our actions and care for the resource right now and while I believe we are doing the best we can with it I wonder what we could do better. Maybe that’s our challenge over the next 10 to 20 years, how can we help make this gem of the Texas Coast better, more natural, more fruitful and more beautiful while enjoying it’s bounty and taking our fair share of fish, fowl and other game deemed appropriate and responsible by the state and federal guardians elected to do so by the people.