advice / help for fishing texas bay.....

new to the forum, i've also never fished the bay of texas, during my research matagorda bay keeps popping up as a good fishing area ( and it's a good location for me ) now, the smart way to play it would be to hire a guide a few times to learn the ropes but i'm wondering since i have a predator 180c boat made for bay fishing i'm wondering if there is a place or places for an inexperienced guy like me to fish without traveling to far from a boat ramp ( until i learn the area ) and not getting in trouble like getting beached from a low tide ? would like to catch red fish, trout ect. appreciate your thoughts / suggestions. the perfect reply would be in the lines of, launch at so & so ramp, travel to location x & you're on fish ! thanks in advance guys !

Get a chart of the bay and look for reefs to fish. Learn to read your sonar unit to locate shell bottoms and other structure. I know some good spots to hit, but you'd never find them from instructions; someone would need to show you where they are and how to line up on them. Buddy up with a fisherman near you and learn the ropes that way.

thanks for the advice jim, is the tide thing a major issue ? i've heard of boats getting stranded & that doesn't sound like fun !

As far as tide fluctuation stranding you its not much of a problem in our bays. If you park in the wrong spot to wade (ie... in only 6 inches or on sand that's 6" at high tide) then yes, the tide may drop out and leave you until it comes back in next day. Isn't much of a problem lately since our spring tides are still running a little high on both the high tide and low tide. We have about a 1' or 1.5' tide swing between high and low.

Like Jim said, review a chart of the area, get a good navigation map and create a route of waypoints. There are reefs and sandbars near the entrances into east mattagorda and others in the bay that you certainly have to avoid. Its doable though. just be careful and take your time.

Getting a guide is not a bad idea, they'll show you a lot of good areas and show you what they are doing to catch fish. Sure you could go about it without them, but you'll improve much faster with them and that's worth a lot compared to many days on the water being frustrated.

For Matagorda I recommend a guide named Rob Cummings... really nice guy and will teach you what he knows. Paradoski is good as well. (Charlie Paradoski) sp?

Tobin

thanks for the referrals, you know it's not so much of me getting out there in my own boat and NOT catching any fish that would bother me. it's more of getting in the wrong spot & breaking a prop or worse. i'm leaning towards at least one guided trip with my hand held gps and hopefuly my guide wont mind showing me some safe spots for future visits. it's not like i'm gonna start my own guide service & fish out all their honey holes ! just a few visits a year for me. any particular months to avoid due to poor fishing ?

There's good fishing all year. January is probably the hardest but it can be epic as well. The most consistent month is June. Sept and Oct are lots of fun as well. The rest of the year it can be Hero or Zero depending on weather and fishing knowledge.

get a guide ,its worth the knowledge he will impart,then go out in your boat and start fishing using the patterns you learned-not his particular spots but that same pattern,-drift and use popping corks,you WILL catch something!

The shallower your boat can run, the easier it is to navigate. Remember a wave is half the depth of the water. Six inch wave means a foot of water, so if you know what you can run in, you can use your eyes to see any flat water where it doesn't belong. A good tunnel hull can run in dark water, but know white sand is danger.

Regardless, everyone runs aground, so when it happens, it's all part of the learning curve everyone goes through.

thanks for all the info, as far as the boat, i was told by the mfg. which is now out of business, that the predator 180-c was designed for the sole purpose of being used in the shallows of the texas bay, if i remember right i was told the boat has a 7.5" draft, but my down side is that it has an evinrude 88 long shaft or long drop. i think the prop runs a little lower than most. that may be just due to the fact that the boat has such a shallow draft. no jack plate either. i think it's all about being careful !