West Bay 2/16

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FoolishSchoolFish
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West Bay 2/16

Post by FoolishSchoolFish »

This weekend I was determined to catch my PB trout. Full moon, warming trend(ish), the stars had aligned. Fished the refuge yesterday with nothing to show for it. Started my wade at starvation this morning at 3am. The plan was to post up outside a cove known to hold big fish and id let the outgoing tide sweep them right to me. There was bait, but no fish wanted to eat. After grinding it out for 5 or 6 hours I made my way to confederate, which is where I'm currently sitting ask type this. I see about a dozen boats and half as many kayaks. Haven't seen anyone catchin.

Hopefully you guys did better than I did. I had high hopes but it's lookin like I'm going home empty handed.

What's up with the hard sand bottom in starvation? I was looking for a muddy shortie but no luck. What holds the fish there in the wintertime if it's all hard sand? I have always read about some monster trout being caught there but this was my first time actually making the paddle.

All in all, good adventure.
Backcast
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by Backcast »

There is some deep mud there. I started in back of cove and waded out toward the mouth. The mud was toward the west side. I got out of my kayak and sunk to my knees and just crawled back into the kayak.

Did you wade it?

Joe
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mpg2yahoo
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by mpg2yahoo »

I went out Saturday night at the g-town causeway around 5:30PM. All the PB's were coming back from the day fishing trip. I launched and stay there until 8:30pm all alone having no PB's or kayaks around. I fished all the way to the middle of the bridge with nothing to show for it either. I pickup my stuff and went to Clear Lake and started fishing from 9PM to 11:30PM. All lights were empty but small baitfish. Not a single bite or thump on the line. Packed my stuff and went home to sleep.

Next day my wife told me to go out and take the kid fishing. Went to Texas City Dike and bought a pound of dead shrimp. about 1 hr later and no shrimp eaten I dediced to pack and go get some food for the starving kid...and myself.

Day/Night fishing has been futile for me the last 2 times out. I was able to catch a 18.5" rat red in West Bay on February 1st, but from that time forward nothing has moved my line or bother with it.
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FoolishSchoolFish
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by FoolishSchoolFish »

Backcast wrote:There is some deep mud there. I started in back of cove and waded out toward the mouth. The mud was toward the west side. I got out of my kayak and sunk to my knees and just crawled back into the kayak.

Did you wade it?

Joe
Hey Joe, thanks for that info. I had a feeling there was probably some mud towards the back but I decided to stick to my plan of posting up at the points for the falling tide. In hindsight, considering it was my first time there, I should have done some more exploring with my feet around the entire cove to map out what sort of bottom is where. I was surprised to see the bulkhead built all around it, was it there when the area became known for big fish? Did the construction have any affect on fishing?

I'm sure the area can be very productive if the timing is right. I was just frustrated after 48 hours of fishing without a bite and tried to blame the location. And of course, the spot I had chosen as a close 2nd to confederate turned out to be where all the fish were biting. Live and learn! Next time!

Were you fishing starvation over the weekend? Did you find any fish in there?
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by Backcast »

I have not fished it in a long time. There was no geotubes and you could not come from Eckert into Starvation Cove. So I do not know about effecting the fishing. I suspect it did not change the mud area.

Last time I was there I got a 24" trout on Pearl/chart original Corky. Not sure of month but it was cold.

Joe
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frankie14
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by frankie14 »

I have never been there, but I'm curious.... Is all the hard sand outside the geotubes? And mud towards Mentzel??

If the cove is the face of a clock from 5 o'clock to 9 o'clock hard sand and from 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock looks more muddy... That is just a pure guess based on Google Earth
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by Backcast »

Way in back of Starvation is mud and very shallow as in inches. There is harder sand toward Spanish Grant side and mud in mid section was closer to Eckert Bayou side.


Joe
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by civilaggie2011 »

Foolish, you left Confederate a little too early. I launched at 10:30 and didn't have a single bite for four hours. Then at 2:30, the action turned on just west of the reef. I finished with 26 trout and one 25" red. The trout were all smallish though (14-16 inches).
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vincent
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by vincent »

What's up with the hard sand bottom in starvation?
Thank the Corp of Engineers for that. they put it in there about 5yrs ago...they dredged it up and filled in 80% of the duck ponds in that area and coated the western shore with about 2' of sand....stopped the flow of water from starvation to settegast and ruined what was the spot to locate a state record flounder...previous record holders have come from that spot..
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frankie14
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Re: West Bay 2/16

Post by frankie14 »

vincent wrote:
What's up with the hard sand bottom in starvation?
Thank the Corp of Engineers for that. they put it in there about 5yrs ago...they dredged it up and filled in 80% of the duck ponds in that area and coated the western shore with about 2' of sand....stopped the flow of water from starvation to settegast and ruined what was the spot to locate a state record flounder...previous record holders have come from that spot..
Any idea why would they want to stop the tide from going into Eckert Bayou?
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