marginal wind days. Every stretch of the coast has a spot like this.
SURF CAN BE TOO CLEAR Last summer, my charter and I
bailed from the boat at daylight about 18 miles west of the Matagorda jetty. The morning tide was swollen, so I worked the first gut downwind with the current. Tossing an Okie Shad Super Spook Jr, I noticed at least three trout following the bait on every cast. The fish were there, but they were
not ready to eat. One of the greatest attributes a top- water aficionado can have is patience. This wasn’t the first time a trout had turned its nose to my offering, and I knew when the moon crept closer to the horizon, the fish would bite. Sure enough, the bite commenced about a
Typically, the farther south you travel
in Texas, the clearer the surf becomes. The upper coast’s rivers allow for more sediment and cloudy water, while South
Texas estuaries don’t get that muddy, freshwater inflow.
half-hour later, then ceased in about the same time frame. I put a few on the stringer, then watched large schools of seatrout ride the tide as the sun crept overhead. It was definitely an early-morning bite as far as the moon was concerned, but the translucent, Bahama-like water clarity may have had just as big an impact.
“It gets too clear at times,” said guide Cliff Webb of Corpus Christi. “I have seen herds of trout riding the waves that would not hit a soft plastic.” Anglers often enjoy the best fishing the first day the surf clears, then endure a tougher bite the second and third day the Gulf remains clear. Typically, the farther south you travel in Texas, the clearer the surf becomes. The upper coast’s rivers allow for more sediment and cloudy water, while South Texas estuaries don’t get that
TIDE
www.joincca.org 45
muddy, freshwater inflow. Webb says he likes eating trout, so
he resorts to live bait. Standing on the beach, he waits until he sees a trout running the first gut, then he flips the fish a live bait. That program is popu- lar from Port O’Connor south and anglers able to fish with live bait can score easy limits on the beach, while those fishing artificials struggle at times.
“It is tough fishing at times,” said guide Bill Pustejovsky of Matagorda. “We really have to work for our fish and wait on them to eat when we throw topwaters and Bass Assassins.”
Most jiggers and pluggers find the
first and last hours of light the best for fooling trout in a lucid surf. “Sometimes we get a real good bite the first hour of daylight, and then it just quits,” said Pustejovsky. “We know the fish are still there — we can see them — we just have to wait on them to feed again.” With the arrival of summer, the wait
is over.
Bink Grimes is a freelance journalist, licensed fishing guide and lodge proprietor (
www.matagordasunriselodge.com).
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