The View: November 2016

It feels good picking up the paper in the November morning. The first real cold front of the fall will appear this month, rejuvenating with chilly air and the breathtaking portrait of clear, autumn sunrises.

With fresh recruits of nippy air blowing from the north, water temperatures plunge, tides recede and marshes dump the year's hatch of shrimp, shad and crabs.

The next month should provide the best fishing opportunities of the year and there is not one bay system in Texas more prolific than Matagorda in November. Here are a few hangouts to target:

Obviously, the mouths of bayous and marshes on a falling tide are fall hotspots. Places like Oyster Lake, Crab Lake, Horse Trailer Lake, Boggy Lake and Lake Austin are all good choices.

Live shrimp under a popping cork, roach-colored plastics or small topwaters worked across points are excellent offerings.

Don't be surprised if birds work in the back lakes, especially on an ardent falling tide. Stay back from the pack and gingerly work the covey so not to spook the fish. I can recount past autumns where one flock of birds filled a limit of both trout and reds.

Waders should work the same terrains, but more methodically. In East Matagorda Bay, Boiler Bayou, Kain Cove, Hog Island, Catch-All Basin and Brown Cedar Flats hold solid trout since all of these spots have a mud bottom. Super Spooks, She Pups, Skitter Walks, Catch 5s and your favorite soft plastic gets the job done.

If you prefer staying in the boat and anchoring with live bait, the fall offers excellent redfish and black drum action. Shell Island, Twin Island, Mad Island Cut and any other piece of shell holds fish with live shrimp under a popping cork. Watch for oyster boats dredging shell and remember that spot for another day. Harvested reefs are especially good the next day when things have settled out after being overturned by the dredging.

There is always the bull redfish run if you prefer to tangle with a brute. Large reds are caught at the jetties and passes on cracked crabs.

Sight-casting to redfish along a muddy grass-line is always fun, too. Watch for ripples, wakes and jumping shrimp near the grass and wait for the freight train to pass. Then toss a spoon, shrimp or soft plastic in front of the school and loosen your drag. Listen for crunching jaws when a large school of reds work through the grass. Small crabs do not have a chance.

For flounder, work soft plastics, Gulps or soft plastics tipped with shrimp over muddy bottoms of marsh drains and bayous. Tandem-rigged grubs tipped with shrimp around the locks is always a hotspot. Don't forget the flounder limit drops to two per person per day in November, and gigging is not allowed.

If you can't get out in the morning just wait for the afternoon. I love fishing from about 2 pm till dark. Once duck season gets going Nov. 5, that will be my normal schedule. Crowds are gone and those last two hours of daylight are usually magic.

Follow our catches on Instagram @matagordasunriselodge.