The View: September 2020

What a great time to live in the Lone Star State. Grab a rod, grab a shotgun - grab both – this is what we do. And, by the way, grab another hunting and fishing license. Yours probably expired August 31.

I look forward to north breezes that cut the humidity and mercury readings. Cooler nighttime temps do wonders for coastal fishing and for captains who have been fighting the heat for the past three months.

Expect tides to swell and expect redfish to fill the back lakes and grassy shorelines where they’ll readily eat small topwaters and weedless soft plastics. Bloated water levels also encourage large, solitary trout to extend their boundaries to the upper reaches of estuaries.

We find large schools of redfish on the north shoreline. Live shrimp, mullet and topwaters all work well. Back bay areas like Oyster Lake, Crab Lake and Lake Austin hold healthy populations. Don't be surprised to see birds working in the back lakes on calm days as shrimp begin to leave the marsh.

If water temperatures continue to hang in the 80s, Matagorda trout will remain in a summer pattern. That means over deep shell in East Bay, where Bass Assassins, Down South Lures, MirrOlure Soft-Dines, Gulps, and live shrimp are best under a cork. Small topwaters like She Pups and Super Spook Jrs get blown out of the water as well.

Wading the mid-bay reefs in East Bay produces throughout the year. With higher tides, the muddy bottoms around Brown Cedar Flats hold both trout and redfish for waders and drifters. The far east end of the bay gets really good this time of year.

Most waders forget about the seagrass beds in West Bay in September, but they still hold fish, redfish especially. Guts and cuts along the south shoreline often get overlooked. I don't know why anglers forget about West Bay in September, but it's a good place to get away from the crowds.

Reefs along the north shoreline of West Bay hold trout, redfish, and black drum. Shell Island, Twin Island, and all the points along the north shoreline are littered with shell. Redfish have been known to school in large numbers in late-September in these locales.

Bruiser redfish will be plentiful on the beachfront and along the jetty rocks. Cracked blue crabs and fresh pogies are a nice snack for big spawners.

Lots of tarpon were found along the beach from Matagorda to Port O’Connor in August and those same migrating schools should be there this month. Our tarpon fishery is an untapped resource, but it would blow your mind to see all the huge schools of ‘poons rolling and daisy-chaining so close to the beach.

Teal season runs Sept. 12- through 27 and we will be hunting the mornings and fishing the afternoons. Few things rival a dozen acrobatic teal cutting their wings over a prairie pond and dropping into your decoys. Summer rains have marsh ponds in great shape and second-cropped rice fields are being flushed as we speak.

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