The View: December 2022

Our fall weather has been very mild to say the least. As I write this, my air-conditioner has been running almost continuously for three days with highs reaching near 90° as duck season approaches. With that being said, December is all about water temps. If it stays in the 70s, expect the higher tides pattern to continue. If cold fronts push temps lower, expect low tides and a winter fishing pattern to follow.

Whatever pattern the weather throws our way, December is always a great month in Matagorda. The shell in Matagorda has been and is still full of fish. We normally work on solid 2- to 4-pound trout with Bass Assassins, Lil’ Johns and Down South Lures while drifting, and there are usually redfish everywhere.

We can expect winter solstice tides around Christmastime to pull fish from the shorelines and dump them in deeper water. Large schools of trout hang near drop-offs scattered with mud and shell. When the tides are this low, redfish congregate in the holes and guts. We run shallow-draft boats and work the back lakes as they drain.

The edges of the Intracoastal Waterway can be just as productive with a piece of mullet or crab. We like working the edges of the Intracoastal with a trolling motor and tossing along the drop. It has paid off for most of the year, especially on those windy days when the bay is blown out.

We have had drought conditions almost all year, which means the tides have pushed up the Colorado River, making it green and salty. The river and Diversion Channel are great spots to “bass fish” the banks with topwaters and soft plastics for redfish and trout.

Many of our December mornings will consist of waterfowl hunting and then fishing in the afternoons. More gadwalls, wigeons and pintails will show in bags this month as passing cold fronts bring us successive waves of migrants. Our afternoon fishing sessions will normally be drifting affairs, with soft plastics over deep shell or along the river banks.

As Christmas draws closer every year I receive frequent emails inquiring of gift ideas for outdoors men and women. I always say to call you favorite guide and purchase a gift certificate for a hunt or fishing charter to be taken in the coming year. It’s a great gift; and, the anticipation of the trip and the conversations that go with the planning are often just as enjoyable as the trip itself.

Get out with the family and do something together. Put your phone down and look people in the eye and talk to them, but more importantly, listen. It is the best way I know to demonstrate kindness.

America remains a great place to live. Don’t allow a select few to divide us. Don’t allow a select few to push their agendas on us. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong.

Stand for the flag and thank a peace officer for the job they do, putting their life on the line every day as they protect and serve. Let’s stop all the nonsense. Make a concerted effort to be the best people we can be.

Please continue to take care of our fishery. Release more than you take. Give back to the bays instead of always taking. Our fishery will rebound if we give it a fighting chance. Thank the Lord for blessing us with our bays and marshes that give us pleasure and provide so many memories. And while you’re at it, thank the Lord for giving us another day in America.

Let’s just all be better people and our world will follow suit.

Merry Christmas!