The View: July 2015

It's getting hot out there. We like it hot. We just get on the water a little earlier and get off the water a little earlier.

West winds push dry, blistering air off the Mexican desert and give us arid days while sucking water out of the bays and draining tides from the shorelines.

With tides low and water temperatures feeling like bath water, a change in fishing tactics is in order.

Though winds do dip below 10 knots this time of year, weak tides often do not allow bays to clear, especially when water temperatures are in the upper-80s and tides are two feet below normal. When the water gets around 85 it takes the bay a little longer to clear. That's nothing new for July - we deal with it every year.

Those low tides congregate fish in guts. All those redfish that have been hanging out tight to the shorelines in June, school in the middle of East Bay. Often we catch more reds than trout while drifting 4-5 feet of water. If you happen to see a slick you better fish it.

Pick and choose your times to fish. Know when water is coming or going.

While wading, I like to be somewhere around the pass or jetty. Tides are going to be strongest around the pass. I like to work the grass beds within sight of Port O'Connor. Fish there love a Super Spook Jr. or She Pup and plastics like Bass Assassins, Down South Lures and MirrOlure Soft Dines.

Trout there seem to be a bit more aggressive, much like surf trout, probably because the trout flood in and out of the surf through the pass and jetty.

We pray for light north wind that drops the humidity and flattens the surf. The attractive aspect of Matagorda is the miles of beach available to anyone with a 4x4; and, it's just not good fishing, it is great fishing.

Whenever we can get in the surf we go. We have had some incredible days while drifting and wading the beach. Last year pompano showed tight to the beach a few weeks along with schooling bonito chasing large balls of small bait fish.

It's important to try and fish the surf the first day it greens and flattens. It's been my observation that by the third day of a green surf the trout get tougher to catch. Predators like sharks, mackerel, huge redfish and tarpon find the clear shallows and try to find an easy meal. Yes, all of these fish eat speckled trout. We prefer they eat all those shad, pogies, mullet and shrimp roaming the first gut, but often specks get caught in the fury.

Since July is synonymous with westerly wind, water clarity can become an issue. Trout and redfish continue to eat in off-colored water, you just might have to throw live shrimp at them.

If we can find streaky water–off-colored water with hints of green streaks–we feel like we can find fish to catch.

Vacation time is here. July is no better time to get the family on the water and catch a fish.