Oyster Lake, Palacios Aug 7

[Jeff Kessler]

Braved the heat and the 8 miles of dirt road to hit Oyster lake on Friday. Was feeling lazy and didn't get into the water until 9 AM.

One other kayaker and a couple of wade fisherman at the launch. Last people I saw for 8 hours. Oddly, saw a dolphin in about 2' of water 300 meters from launch, thrashing around. Couldn't tell if it was hurt, hungry or horny. None of which would be good for me. Kept my distance and it was gone by the time I returned.

Dolphin.jpg (7.39 KiB) Viewed 3579 times

I was lucky and had light winds heading along the south shore in the morning and a good 15mph tail wind back to the launch in the afternoon. A few storm clouds, but missed me giving a welcome bit of shade and wind. Water visibility was miserable. Maybe 3 to 6 inches.

Caught a 19" red, a scrappy 9" red (he'll be a brute one day), a flounder I caught wade fishing and lost before getting back to the boat, and finally a 23" red at 4 PM while getting ready to call it a day.

Took advice from an uncle and made fish tacos. Deep fried redfish with homemade picante and garlic/lime sauce. Loved it! No going back now!

Tight lines!

-Jeff

[Neumie]

Great report. Oyster Lake is a place I've wanted to fish, but it's such a long drive from my home base on Copano Bay. Maybe one day I'll make the drive that far north.

[junkyard chihuahua]

I love that area but get so frustrated at running into all the dang oysters. Maybe it gets better farther into the lake, but the area close to the bridge is, uhm... challenging. Nothing like that sound of a nice carbon fiber paddle smacking oysters

I always seem to see dolphins over there. They cruise the Tres Palacios bayou and chase fish out of the deeper channel up into the shallow water on either side. Its really surprising to see them flopping around in the oyster nightmare that exists on both sides of the channel...

[outbreaker]

Great report. Oyster Lake is a place I've wanted to fish, but it's such a long drive from my home base on Copano Bay. Maybe one day I'll make the drive that far north.

If I lived that far south I would never come north.

That lake is a minefield of oyster. Good fishing though.

[Neumie]

Great report. Oyster Lake is a place I've wanted to fish, but it's such a long drive from my home base on Copano Bay. Maybe one day I'll make the drive that far north.

If I lived that far south I would never come north.

That lake is a minefield of oyster. Good fishing though.

A little spoiled from the waters around my home base; but it's always fun to explore something different every now and then.

[junkyard chihuahua]

Follow that bayou that leads out of the lake into west Matty. It seems to stack up trout out there when the tide dumps oyster lake back into the bay.

[Jeff Kessler]

Haha! Yep, I bottomed out on an oyster field by the bridge. And yes, cringed at the sound. The hull definitely has some new battle scars after that.

Also, good tip on the marsh! That's where I got the one keeper. It's a haul, but worth it.

[impulse]

Head over to YouTube and do a search for "kayak rash".

Nowadays, my sphincter doesn't clench so tight when the inevitable happens in my fishing tool.

Of course, it also helps that I bought mine well used (but in great shape) for a lot less than I can sell them on for, even if I add my own scratches to them. I followed Craigslist, called in the morning and showed up with cash. 4 nice kayaks, $950 all in.

[junkyard chihuahua]

THere are good deals to be had if your quick and have cash ready to go. Sounds like you got one. I thought for sure kayak rash was going to be a video of some poor guy falling in oyster... There is a lot of good info on that page!