2021…Frozen In Our Memories

“Don’t let the door hit ya in the…butt!” That’s what I told 2020 on New Year’s last year but I’m not so sure if 2021 doesn’t deserve an even harsher farewell. Between the freeze, floods, COVID and losing some of my dear friends and relatives, the year certainly could’ve been better. At least I’m still here to talk about it. So, as I’ve done every year for the past five or six, let’s go back in time – one month at a time.  

As usual, I spent the month of January fishing Galveston and Matagorda Bays. Overall, the trout fishing was good for numbers in both bay systems but my groups didn’t experience the quality that we did during the same time period in 2020. We didn’t catch a trout over 5 ½ pounds the entire month. Another thing I noticed was that we caught fewer fish on hard baits compared to soft plastics. The reason may have been because the areas I chose to fish had smaller trout. It could’ve also been the fact that we still had lots of small shad and shrimp in our bays and the trout were focused on smaller forage.

Early February fishing patterns were a continuation of the previous month with some decent catches in and around deeper guts near live shell with a few larger trout coming to hand. During the first week of the month there was weather media buzz of a severe arctic cold front forecasted to hit our area of the Texas Coast sometime around February 14^th. I didn’t think much of it initially, but as the front drew closer and forecasts became more accurate we all became concerned. Images of fish killing freezes from decades ago played over and over again in our minds. We prayed this one would somehow spare us the devastation.

I headed down to our South Texas ranch on Friday February 12^th to make the necessary preparations for a hard freeze. By mid-morning Saturday all our pipes were wrapped, water well was covered, feeders were filled, etc. I spent the rest of the day at a neighbor’s ranch doing what I could to prepare his place since he lives in Florida. The next morning (February 14^th) I awakened to overcast skies and 37 degrees. I made coffee and then quietly rode around the ranch on the golf cart looking at deer and all of the other wildlife that South Texas has to offer. I must say it felt strange being in the middle of nowhere all alone. Peaceful, but strange. 

Late that night air temperatures plummeted to 14 degrees and heavy snow began to fall throughout the night and into the next day. It wasn’t long before I lost power like many others across the state. I had a generator that was powerful enough to run some lights and a tiny space heater that generated about as much heat as a Bic lighter. I made many trips out to the truck to get warm and to charge my phone. Little did I know I would end up having to stay down there for another six days until everything was in good enough order to come home. 

Each night I would talk to friends and family making sure everyone was safe back home. With not much else to do I would peruse social media when I had cell service.  By Wednesday, February 17^th photos of dead fish started appearing. While most of the photos showed mixed species there were clearly many speckled trout that perished, especially from East Matagorda and further south. Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake appeared to fare better, most likely because trout had easier access to deeper water, not to mention there had been a cold front five days before the big arctic front which gradually dropped water temperatures. This most likely caused our trout to stage very close to these deeper safe zones. 

I finally came home February 21^st and ran my first charter since the freeze on February 23^rd. The water temperature was 44°. I had two clients and we caught and released 16 trout to 4 pounds, 2 redfish, and several undersized trout and reds. There was one deep water area we could’ve stayed and probably caught and released 40 or so legal specks but I chose to not lean on them, especially given the circumstances. At this point in time I didn’t know how hard our trout population had been hit. No one did. The next day I had one client and our results were similar. Once again we released everything.

Early March fishing in Galveston Bay provided us with lots of action when the weather cooperated. Many of the trout we caught were still lingering in their winter haunts all the way into mid-March. We had some 40 fish days and we had some 8 fish days. As the month progressed we saw an increase in the number of undersized trout mixed in. Our best quality trout (up to 5 pounds) came while wading broken shorelines and the bayou mouths. 

By the end of March, we had released 172 legal trout since the freeze and kept 22 over the course of 14 trips from February 23^rd through March 31^st. Keep in mind we weren’t fishing every day due to weather. In addition, I don’t believe in beating on the same schools of fish every day. There were many mornings where we’d catch 10 or so trout then move on to other areas. Based upon these results (and feedback from other fishermen) I concluded that our fishery had not been seriously impacted by the freeze. We most definitely lost some trout but apparently not nearly as many as our friends to the south.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conducted surveys in an attempt to quantify fish mortalities and subsequently implemented emergency bag and length regulations – three trout from 17 to 23 inches with none over 23 inches – from the JFK Causeway through the Lower Laguna Madre beginning April 1, 2021, and ending July 29, 2021. The emergency rule was then extended through September 27th and there is a current proposal that has been presented to the TPWD commissioners to expand the above mentioned bag limits and slot lengths to include all Texas waters beginning at the FM 457 bridge at Sargent (East Matagorda Bay), continuing and including the Lower Laguna Madre. This regulatory proposal could be adopted as early as January-February 2022 and remain in effect until August 31, 2023.  For more detailed information please visit www.tpwd.texas.gov.

Wading sandbars near troughs produced the best results during April. Our best days ranged anywhere from 15 to 20 legal trout and there was almost always a stray redfish and flounder in the mix. Saltwater Assassins and MirrOlure Lil Johns rigged on 1/16 ounce jigs worked better than other baits, most of the time. We had another exceptional shad hatch so most of our fish were suspended. In addition, the trout produced really well-defined slicks which is common when shad is their primary forage.

I spent most of May in three areas of Galveston Bay. The pattern in West Bay was still sandbars and guts, especially down toward San Luis Pass. We had a couple of really solid weeks in that area.  The birds also worked all month and some of the groups had some legal trout mixed with the pencils and sand trout. The most productive areas in East Bay and Lower Galveston Bay were over live oyster reefs. One noticeable difference compared to years past was that the schools of trout on the reefs were much smaller and they didn’t slick very much. I would hesitate to even call them schools.  Pods may be a more appropriate description.

There’s another major bay that I almost never mention anymore. Trinity Bay used to hold strong numbers of very good quality trout but fresh water inundation (primarily from the Trinity River) and habitat loss have stunted this bay’s productivity. It was finally starting to show promise in May especially along its eastern shoreline then heavy rains from Dallas and down through East Texas resulted in river flows upwards of 80,000 cubic feet per second. It was more bad news for fishermen who focus on that side of the bay.

Fishing in Lower Galveston Bay was already decent before Trinity Bay turned fresh but the wall of trout that was forced south and west was a huge shot in the arm. From late May through the entire month of June it wasn’t uncommon to catch 40 or 50 legal-sized trout before 9 AM. Most of the fish were in the 2 to 3 pound range with an occasional 4 pounder. Unfortunately, about two weeks into this “stack-up” pattern, lots of guide boats and recreation anglers showed up to get in on the action. Who can blame them? 

I must say, July and August were very inconsistent for me. It was almost like the weather conditions had to be near perfect to have a really good day. We indeed had some great days but if there was too much southwest wind or the tides weren’t just right the fishing became a grind. I did find two pretty good schools of solid trout that would slick most days if we could get out to them. Like many of the schools and “pods” I found, they were mostly swimming around on the shallowest parts of the reefs. Even in the middle of August and during the heat of the day, this is when we experienced our best topwater bite on those reefs. This pattern would continue for us on into mid-October as temperatures remained mild.

Once the cool fronts started pushing through and water temperatures dropped below 70° we started finding more fish on scattered shell and softer bottom areas, especially near bayou mouths and coves. Soft plastics were still king. Numbers of trout caught on our trips ranged from 12 to 18 legal fish per outing. There were a few days when the stars aligned and we caught 40 or so. 

Numbers of slot redfish finally started showing up from late-October through November.  We caught the majority of them here in Galveston Bay while working birds. Most mornings we would catch trout drifting small reefs then head for areas where birds were working and drag soft plastics on the bottom for the reds. On my Matagorda trips we caught quit a few slot reds mixed with solid trout up to 4½ pounds wading and drifting live oyster reefs. 

I was also amazed at the numbers and size of flounder we caught “accidently” while fishing for trout. Some of them weighed almost 6 pounds! Rattail Saltwater Assassins and MirrOlure Provokers worked beautifully all around the Galveston complex and also in East Matagorda. Chicken-On-A-Chain and Texas Roach were the best colors. They worked best rigged through the split belly on 1/16 ounce jig heads.

As I conclude this article it’s almost December. A recent cold front has brought the water temperature down to 63° and there is another front slated to arrive a few days from now. As the water temperatures continue to drop we’ll most likely see most of the white shrimp leave the bays. This is typically the time when plugging away with mullet imitations like MirrOlure’s Paul Brown Corkys and Soft-Dines can produce big results.  I’ll let ya know next month! Happy New Year!