Best time to hit the bay

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

I have a few vacation days I need to schedule between now and mid September. I would like to use them for another trip to East Matagorda. Would probably be about 3 days of fishing the bay from the kayak. When would you experienced guys say would be the better time to go. The end of this month or wait til August, or September? I'm not picky about which I target trout, redfish, or both.

[texnomad]

In my opinion it is better the closer you get to October the better. It seems to me that October and November are much more productive than August and September and the heat.

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

In my opinion it is better the closer you get to October the better. It seems to me that October and November are much more productive than August and September and the heat.

Thanks Tex. That's kinda what I thought. I wasn't sure if the fishing would be better later on but I certainly would enjoy some cooler temps to fish in. Even if only by a few degrees. Now if I can just hold out til then. I'm really ready for a break from work!

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[Ron Mc]

October coincides with redfish herding up and the pelagic fish migrating down the coast. Schooling trout travel 25 mi/day on their way south in and out of the bays. The jetties are hot with migrating fish. Weather is temperate. November is the better month for South Padre.

[TroutSupport.com]

Actually, trout have the ability to swim 25 miles a day on any given Sunday. What happens inshore and offshore with redfish and trout are two different things with regard to the fall Bull Red spawn.

back to the o.p. September and October, both, are great months to fish. In September I'd still focus on redfish shallow and in October the trout bite inshore begins to get better, especially a good topwater bite and better quality fish as long as you don't chase the fish under the gulls.

I would say that both of those months are better than july and august. Fish can be caught in July and August as well, but they tend to be finicky due to clear water and little water movement.

[Ron Mc]

yes, schooling trout travel 25 mi every day, because it takes that much to keep a school of trout on food.
(the nursery trout pretty much stay put, and big females stake out breeding turf)
As far as the redfish spawning offshore (actually, at the passes), the same instinct causes the juveniles in the bays to herd. One fall day we saw 300 backs out of the water in Panther Lake, which is the other end of Cedar Bayou from the surf.
In July and August, you're more likely to find reds in pods of 3 or 4 - tough to beat the back-lakes on a rising tide.

[Yaklash]

So, once you take the above advice into account, if it were me, I would then try to schedule the actual week or days of my trip to coincide with optimal tidal movement. And I'm not sure it's in your plans, but if you were to hire a guide, those Thursday thru Sunday time slots when the tides will be optimal, tend to book way in advance, so get to work on finding a time frame and then call any guides you might be considering ASAP.

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

I really appreciate all the advice guys. We will be fishing on our own from kayaks and I'm leaning towards middle to maybe the end of September if my son can get the days off. Most of the decision on when will come down to us being able to coordinate our days off together. I was really looking more for a general idea of which month of the 3 (July, August, September) would be better fishing in the bay/marsh. I suspected September, if cooler, would be best but was looking for confirmation and it sounds like I had the right idea. Lots of good information from you guys as usual. Thanks

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[Ron Mc]

I really appreciate all the advice guys. We will be fishing on our own from kayaks and I'm leaning towards middle to maybe the end of September if my son can get the days off. Most of the decision on when will come down to us being able to coordinate our days off together. I was really looking more for a general idea of which month of the 3 (July, August, September) would be better fishing in the bay/marsh. I suspected September, if cooler, would be best but was looking for confirmation and it sounds like I had the right idea. Lots of good information from you guys as usual. Thanks

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We had a really good mid-October trip last fall to Estes - easy paddle to be on fish, and the location is an easy drive to launch at B&R or Lighthouse Lakes.
My dad's birthday is the end of September (he was born on the day the stock market crashed).
His annual birthday trip was always successful fishing.

[AHP]

The bite is picking up a bit from what I have seen.
Have been out the last 2 weekends and have found the best luck early in the morning and right before dark.

Looking forward to the next couple of months!

[CMOS]

I really appreciate all the advice guys. We will be fishing on our own from kayaks and I'm leaning towards middle to maybe the end of September if my son can get the days off. Most of the decision on when will come down to us being able to coordinate our days off together. I was really looking more for a general idea of which month of the 3 (July, August, September) would be better fishing in the bay/marsh. I suspected September, if cooler, would be best but was looking for confirmation and it sounds like I had the right idea. Lots of good information from you guys as usual. Thanks

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Reminder to also plan this trip around the greatest tide movements, hopefully as stated previously, during incoming tide movements.


CMOS