Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post Reply
Thunder1
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:18 am
Location: Austin, TX

Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by Thunder1 »

Fished Oyster Lake Friday night and Old Gulf Cut in East Matty and the "fingers" in West Matty. The water was 1-2' below what I was expecting. Also, the water in all locations was dirty. I was very surprised by the "blown out" water color and very low water levels in Matagorda. I'm still trying to understand tides and influences on water depth and clarity, so any help in understanding the conditions would be much appreciated. Oh, fishing was poor at best. I fished topwater, gulp on 1/8 jighead, and gulp under a popping cork. I squeaked out a few small trout, one flounder, and two undersized reds.
User avatar
redneckyakclub01
TKF 2000 club
TKF 2000 club
Posts: 2430
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:36 pm
Location: san antonio/lytle

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by redneckyakclub01 »

The only advice I can offer is that wind affects tides. Sounds simple, right. Not so much. This past week we had 3 days and nights of winds that never got below 20 mph. Those winds are going to push water somewhere. The problem is that every location and every wind direction is different so you have to learn what hype effects are in your area. Find a good ride site. NOAA has one that shows predicted and actual heights. Watch it for your area and learn what different wind directions,speeds -and total time blowing do to your area.
User avatar
karstopo
TKF 5000 Club
TKF 5000 Club
Posts: 5612
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:30 am
Location: 77566

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by karstopo »

My experience is that actual tide levels seldom track lock step with predicted levels. The Texas Coast has such minimal tides anyway. Strong offshore winds, wind blowing from the land out to sea, blow water out and tend to lower water levels. Sometimes, it takes a while to recover "normal" levels even after the wind calms down. And then the more distant from a major outlet to the gulf you are, the weirder the tides can get.

The NOAA link is pretty informative on tide level trends. I use it on every trip. Project Tarpon collects data from various sources. I find it helpful planning trips.

https://tidesonline.noaa.gov/monitor.html
User avatar
GoDoe
TKF 1000 Club
TKF 1000 Club
Posts: 1275
Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:45 pm
Location: Norman, OK & 50 days a yr in AP

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by GoDoe »

This kayaking fishing thing is way too hard to get to your spot and find something you did not expect. You need to have a NOAA tide station that you can use as a reference that is close to your fishing spot. Then you need to know how the water level at that station translates to the water level at your spot.

This will take time and experience but you will learn at what tide levels which of your spots are the best fishing conditions for how you like to fish. The NOAA sites are great because they show you the predicted tides but also show the actual tides so you can see if the trend is higher or lower than the predicted "normal tides". I never go on the water without checking on my personal reference NOAA stations and thus I am never surprised by the water levels when I get to my spots. In fact I usually make my decision on where to go by checking the NOAA site.

A log or a good memory will serve you well with keeping this data straight but it sure helps keep you from paddling just to find an unexpected surprise. Oh, you still need to be lucky to catch fish!
User avatar
kickingback
TKF 5000 Club
TKF 5000 Club
Posts: 5178
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2016 3:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by kickingback »

GoDoe wrote:This kayaking fishing thing is way too hard to get to your spot and find something you did not expect. You need to have a NOAA tide station that you can use as a reference that is close to your fishing spot. Then you need to know how the water level at that station translates to the water level at your spot.

This will take time and experience but you will learn at what tide levels which of your spots are the best fishing conditions for how you like to fish. The NOAA sites are great because they show you the predicted tides but also show the actual tides so you can see if the trend is higher or lower than the predicted "normal tides". I never go on the water without checking on my personal reference NOAA stations and thus I am never surprised by the water levels when I get to my spots. In fact I usually make my decision on where to go by checking the NOAA site.

A log or a good memory will serve you well with keeping this data straight but it sure helps keep you from paddling just to find an unexpected surprise. Oh, you still need to be lucky to catch fish!
Totally agree. You heard it here from a pro! ^^^

Get out and watch the tides with many different factors such as solunar, high winds for days straight, no winds with a one day hard blow...they all make the areas different when combined. I have learned and started to apply this in just the past year I started fishing salt water full time now that I am retired. Amazing what the water will do.
Mother Nature can be a sneaky B1^@H at times too. I was at the causeway fishing one night, calm winds, no rain, 1"-2" waves almost flat when all of a sudden a "storm" blew through. Heavy rain, winds picked up to 10-15 knots, waves got to 1' in after 5 minutes of the onslaught and then 30 minutes later it stopped. I was lucky to be under the causeway and not caught out in the open. My anchor rope went so tight I thought I may have to cut it. Went back to almost flat conditions again. Weird as Wonderground weather site did not forecast anything like this at all and the site is usually 80% correct for me.
User avatar
TroutSupport.com
TKF 3000 Club
TKF 3000 Club
Posts: 3587
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:29 am
Location: Gulf Coast Texas - Florida
Contact:

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by TroutSupport.com »

I wrote a long explanation on how wind and weather affects tides on my facebook page.

Covers all factors and more.
https://www.facebook.com/TroutSupport/p ... 8505451495

Enjoy all,
t
User avatar
Big Kahuna
TKF 1000 Club
TKF 1000 Club
Posts: 1240
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:24 pm
Location: Sight casting flounder potlicking Mt Stringer and Osochuck

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by Big Kahuna »

Some places or bait houses have tide cams. Another is to use a local tide cam and log what it looks like with what the conditions see. I live by the coast but there are certain stumps or trees and even banks I watch as I approach my launch to give me an idea of water depth.
yaknewby
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 7:38 am
Location: Pasa-Get-Down-Dena, Texas
Contact:

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by yaknewby »

One of my bro-in-law has a place in Chinquapin, Matagorda Bay. http://www.stxmaps.com/go/chinquapin-reef.html
He uses https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_ ... l?gid=1413

I've used it too, fishing the flats at West Bay, out of the State park launch for Kayacks, and it's a pretty good reference. I also call the bait camp I get my shrimp from and ask them about it. Just saying, for what it's worth. :D
Thunder1
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:18 am
Location: Austin, TX

Re: Confusing Tides and Low,Dirty Water in Matagorda

Post by Thunder1 »

This is why I so greatly appreciate TKF. Thanks to all that shared their wisdom.
Post Reply