Heading North with a First Stop at Matagorda, Texas

It was time to leave our winter camp at Fulton, so saying goodbye to our friends we drove north to Matagorda, Texas. There we stopped to fish for a few days and maybe enjoy the site of the cattle drive across the Colorado River.

The fishing has usually been great but this time we arrived to muddy waters, muddy not only from the high winds but also from the heavy rains that had brought down the flood waters of the Colorado.

Still we hoped to catch some red and black drum so baiting with dead shrimp and cut mullet we cast out our lines. 

Waiting patiently two hours went by before my reel screamed with the run of a big fish.

I picked up the pole and started to reel as the fish continued its run. As I started to wind the circle hook pulled free and the fish was gone. No matter as I cast out another piece of cut mullet. It was my only bite for the next three days.

Occasionally a whiting would hit, or a sheephead. Roy and I both caught keeper gaff top catfish. We did see a couple of black drum caught but that was it. Renita showed up and I rigged her a slip bobber with a piece of live shrimp.

She soon had a fish on and then another. Before the day was over she ended up catching her limit of sheephead. Adding those to the stringer we had enough to have a fish fry. Dave and Jane showed up and Dave cooked the fish in his turkey fryer, (I wish I had room for one in our rig as it also works for fish and crab boils, but we can only carry so much stuff). The last day the water got even muddier and so the only excitement was the cattle drive.

It wasn’t till five pm that the cowboys herded the cattle into the Colorado and guided by two boats they began the swim. Everyone held their breaths as the cows and calf swam the muddy waters. Unfortunately one cow broke its leg but the rest all made it. Having watched too many alligator and shark movies we were pleased to see that none showed up to chomp on fresh beef.

The next day was time to leave and our next stop, on the long drive to our summer camp in Wyoming,was a short one to High Island, Texas. So putting the fish poles away we hooked up and headed north. Hopefully the fish will be biting better next year. Clear skies