Capt. Jeff Larson

July was a much better fish catching month than June and August is setting up for heavy stringers. Lighter winds are allowing all the guides and fishermen to spread out and catch fish in areas other than the leeward shoreline. We were all able to get on a great surf bite for most of the month. August has been and will be the same. The later part of July had unseasonably low tides causing the Redfish to push out of the back bays and put them on the Bay Front. Tarpon are showing up on the beach front and in the channels leading to the Gulf plus a bunch of Kingfish are showing up right outside the Jetties. I’m not a Tarpon guide but I do know they are also in areas of our bay system next to deep channels that are fed by the Gulf. So keep your eyes peeled when cruising the open bay and have a rod ready.

Capt. Benny and Capt. Derrick have shared their stories and pictures with me of their tarpon catches so they are out there. Capt. Derrick Dick relayed to me that the better action will be the beach front when the weather permits. The weather was cooperative for most of the month and we expect the same for August.

Wow! “How many tournaments can you have in a month?” Outside of the water and restaurants being a little crowded, I enjoyed all the people action, watching the new rigs show up sporting awesome graphics with high speed monster motors, and custom console configurations. The best saltwater fishermen in the State of Texas show up to these events. It’s great to see old friends and meet the new up & comers. Great Times! The comradery at all the parties and pre-parties make Calhoun County the place to be for the summer.
On a serious note with regards to the weather, this time of year brings in some serious thunder boomers and high winds at a moments notice. The following situation is a perfect example how weather changes at the drop of a hat and local guides are prepared to lend a helping hand to avoid a disaster. Capt Benny Judice with the Saltwater Lodge rescued 3 kayakers from a severe weather system that caught them out in the open bay. One kayaker was over turned holding on for his dear life and barely made it back alive. If it hadn’t been for Capt. Benny’s quick response coupled with his knowledge and good equipment there would have been another sad incident to report. Capt. Benny was able to drag the stranded fishermen aboard his boat and load their kayaks onto his 25’ Mowdy without incident. All the guides along the middle coast have great boats that can withstand these crazy weather patterns and handle the rough open bay. But even the best boat in the world can not compete against bad weather.

We are fortunate to have great boat builders and boat dealers within a 50 mile radius of our area that know what is needed to handle not only the shallow water on the middle and lower coast but handles crossing an open bay safely in strong winds. We can debate who is the best boat builder some other time but the bottom line is, don’t get caught short pushing your equipment when severe weather is going to blow in. We, guides, see it too many times, fishermen pushing their limits because they only have a day or two to get out on the water, they ignore the weather radar or they don’t check the tides before they head out and they get themselves into a bind. The POCO Tournament led by example, the weather conditions weren’t favorable and they called their Offshore Division tournament off. KUDO’s!!!

Yes, there were a few anglers who were upset and disappointed but no one was hurt, they didn’t tear up any equipment and everyone is here to fish another day. The committee made the right call. The fishing is great this time of year but everyone must be aware of the current weather plus the forecast. It’s hurricane season for a reason. There were several anglers who had to pull into my house last month to seek shelter from a thunder boomer that popped in the bay. No Problem, always come by to get out of the weather.

August will mirror July with regards to weather and fishing. The fishing tactics that have been in play are still in play. August typically has hotter and higher temperatures lending early morning fishing more comfortable than mid day fishing hours. So take a break and rehydrate during the day.

The 1st few days of August have been met with some cool weather and north winds. Sort of a shocker since the higher ups in the country claim that we are in Global Warming. Anyway, It was a great first weekend this August.

Good keeper trout are showing back up. I have been noticing another round of eggs in the females when cleaning them. Flounder populations are still at epic proportions this month. They seem to be everywhere. There have been several limits caught on rod and reel that I have seen. Flounder giggers whether in a boat or walking have been getting their limit with minimal effort.

I’m looking for August to be a great fish catching month. Fishermen should be able to harvest many different Gulf Coast species this month fairly easy.

Dove Season is about to crank off! Anyone counting the days to Teal Season? I have seen several flocks of Teal migrating already! Just got off the phone with Capt. Jake Huddleston, he has numerous private areas to whack some Teal.

Don’t forget about Alligator Season! Capt Jake also has Alligator tags to fill. He has won the Anahuac Gator Fest numerous times. So get your deposits in now!

Call Scott Weiler to organize your Saltwater Lodge Outdoor Excursion. He will place you with the guide who is catching or killing the game you want to harvest.

The Saltwater Lodge reservation line is: 361-785-DUCK (3825).

Wishing you tight lines, bent poles and heavy stringers.
Captain Jeff Larson

The Lone Star Shootout, held July 22-27 in Port O’Connor, is proud to note they hosted 64 boats and had over $1,054,000 in side pots. $52,735 of the overall pot will be donated to the Houston Big Game Fishing Club’s Scholarship and Charitable Programs fund. The organizers are also excited that the Lone Star Shootout is Texas’ First and only million dollar billfish tournament with a release format!

Lone Star Shootout First Place - Done Deal

Lone Star Shootout Second Place - Got M On

Lone Star Shootout Third Place - Mojo

San Antonio Bay Partnership Presents

Paddle Mule’s Slough

Sunday, September 14, 2014 8 am – 3 pm

13 mile round trip paddling tour and marsh ecology presentation.

Ideal for Experienced paddlers.

See fish jump and run, shorebirds feed and fly while dolphins breech close by as we explore the wondrous estuaries around Port O’Connor. Put-in at 16th Street at ICWW and paddle with local guide Alan Raby along segments of Texas Parks & Wildlife POC paddling trail. Relax and enjoy lunch while Texas Master Naturalist Allan Berger introduces us to the ecology of the bays & marshes.

$20/person includes lunch and soft drinks. Proceeds support San Antonio Bay Partnership efforts to protect restore and enhance our estuaries for the benefit of the ecosystem and its human uses. To find out more about our efforts and to buy tickets go to SABayPartnership.org

Questions? Contact Allan Berger 713-829-2852 allanrberger@comcast.net

Need a Kayak? Discounted rental provided by DolphinKayak.net

Scooter Wells with CCA Victoria, Texas with Captain Harold in San Antonio Bay with live bait. -Bay Flats Lodge

Since the last edition of Guide Lines, we have had a couple frontal passages hit us that have had a northerly influence associated with them. Summertime northerly wind generally means flat water and cooler temperatures for a short period of time, so it’s great to be able to take advantage of such situations as they occur. The drop in air temperature that we’re talking about here may not be more than five or ten degrees, but we’ll take whatever break we can get in the oppressive heat of July and August. And the period of time in which the bay chop becomes settled may only be overnight or for only a concise portion of a day, but when it happens it can always be a very nice time to try your luck in some of those places you normally might not be able to fish in during the summer due to otherwise strong southerly winds.

The surf is always a good place to venture during periods of north wind in the summertime, and we have talked at length in the past about all the things the surf has to offer coastal anglers during the warmer months of the year. However, when these areas of low pressure crossed our region this past month, we decided we were going to attempt to locate a trout bite in the bays along some of the shorelines that normally get pounded on a daily basis by the strong winds that tend to blow out of the south most of the time. This particular morning happened to be the day following the latest front which completed its passage through our area late in the afternoon on the previous day. It was 5:00am, and The Weather Channel was stating that the winds were currently blowing NNE at 7mph, and that today’s winds would be shifting easterly at 9mph throughout the day, and they would then become SSE by the end of the day.
We set course for a northern section of West Matagorda Bay shoreline that we normally would never consider during the summer months. We arrived there right at sunrise only to find that the overnight wind had emptied a lot of the shoreline of its normal water level. The remaining water was clean and green, however, and we sighted an occasional jumping mullet along the water’s surface in some of the rather shallow water that was between us and the bank.

We set anchor as the morning sky was beginning to brighten, and we exited the boat in thigh-deep water that was quite a distance from the grass-lined shore. This stretch of shoreline closely resembled any imaginable portion of the Gulf surf, as the contour here was made up of a number of troughs and sandbars positioned parallel to the shore, with the bay floor consisting of hard sand. The one added feature we had here which commonly isn’t found in the surf was the presence of scattered beds of oyster shell.

It was still early morning and we were presenting top water baits to potential targets in some of the more shallow water. It wasn’t long before I got my first blow-up, but the initial strike had fallen short, and my bait sat motionless atop the calm water. I simply twitched the bait a couple times and let it sit again. A few seconds later the fish hit the lure again, but still didn’t inhale it. I repeated the process twice and received the same result both times. I retrieved the bait and retraced that same route several times, but the fish were no longer interested.

As the sun rose the wind became all but calm, and the air and the water began warming rapidly. We replaced our surface walkers with plastic tails and started heading for the coolness of deeper water. We situated our wade so as to be able to cast our lures parallel to a long, skinny oyster reef that protruded a great distance out into deeper water. As we headed away from the shoreline, we discovered a strike zone right against the edge of the submerged reef. The bite wasn’t coming from directly above the shell, but rather from the edge of the reef where the shell transitioned to sand. Hits became constant, so I set my feet in the sand and didn’t move a bit for quite a while as almost every cast was met with some sort of reward – either trout, red fish, black drum, or even an occasional flounder, in sizes ranging anywhere from ten to twenty-four inches. The bite remained somewhat consistent until around noon when the wind began blowing out of the south at about 12mph. As a result, we all voted to end our day short. However, we all experienced a good time because we had been willing to try locating fish in a place where we normally would not consider doing so during this time of the year.

Until next time, remember to practice CPR, “Catch, Photo, and Release”, whenever possible on trophy Trout and Reds…Guide Chris Martin, Port O’Connor/Seadrift region…www.BayFlatsLodge.com…1-888-677-4868