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Oyster Bayou, East Bay

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  • Oyster Bayou, East Bay

    Arrived 7:30 AM at the Anahuac Wild life Refuge , September 19, Saturday,taking the gravel road to the far east end where it stops at the gate. Launched my kayak there and headed east to Oyster Bayou in the far NE cornor of East Bay hoping to score some flounder. It was a falling tide until late afternoon at which time I'd planned on fishing my way back on an incoming tide. Wind was N, NW 8-15 MPH .but protected and not choppy at all. Water was decent green , 6-8 " visibility. Overcast early, partly cloudy the rest of the day. I did a little casting now and again and landed a under size speck on a Super spook Jr.. Been to Osyter Bayou once before briefly several years ago, so I really never fished it. The fishing maps say " flounder " and wanted to see if they were right. It's about a 3 mile paddle, about an hour to get there. Had some boats fishing there off and on during the day, mostly in the morning. All but one came from up the bayou, you can launch a boat near the information booth at the refuge entrance. Not a great looking launch, but it gets the job done evidently. Most were using live bait . Only saw catfish and croaker, and such caught. I fished the mouth a good while, mainly 4 " GULP curly tail in chartreuse 3/8 oz. jig head as the current was picking up. Fished mainly on the bottom for flounder, but tried top waters, 51 MR, and soft plastics. Lots of bait popping all day, saw a big alligator gar periodically rolling on the surface. Finally worked my way up the east side of the bayou to the south end of an oxe bow bayou working the grass close , then a cast 3 feet out, the another 6 feet out which was about where the drop off was. The water was murky in the bayou as the outfall current picked up. By the time I reached the ox bow , I had a 16 ", 21 ", and 19 " flounder. Went into the ox bow and the entrance was about 3 feet deep, then 2 feet, then it widened into a lake area that was 6" deep. Turned around and went down the bayou working the west shoreline in the same way. That side produced a 17" flounder and at the mouth ,a 15" flounder. All this took about 10 hours- not exactly a barn burner. I had hoped to get a 5 fish limit sooner. The bayou is deep and may be a place to check in the winter. Fished the mouth for half an hour with solt plastics, corkies ,51 MR and top waters. Only one boat at the mouth and saw them land a decent speck on live shrimp. Started heading back as it was getting late. About 200 yards from the bayou with the tide coming in in earnest now, I saw swirls and surface skipping bait 25 - 50 yards from the shore. Water was still green, but still 6-8 " visibility at 3-4 foot depth. Second cast with a soft plastic and my rod was jolted down hard and the fish raced to my right then left and was gone. Reeled in and evidently it had taken the tail but not the hook. Put on something with more hooks and more vibration - a small crack bait with a tight wobble at 1 foot diving depth. Third cast reeling in I looked down to see my plug as it surfaced at the side of the kayak and saw a big trout trailing it ready to engulf it , mouth open and gills flared to suck it in. But she saw me at the last second and with a big tail slap, she was gone. The whole thing was only a second and the huge splash actually startled me. Crude, second nice fish missed. Cast out some more then put on a corky fat boy , pink and silver flake. Second cast and the rod bowed up and then I saw a big trout fly out of the water, gills flared and my fat boy flying in the opposite direction. Double crude, third fish missed. Kept chunking and landed a fairly large croaker, and 2 10-12 " trout quickly. It was over . I figured the big girls had moved on as these trout wouldn't be here as they would be supper for what I had seen.The fish I landed were all hooked on the side, not taken in the mouth. Just the first one I missed on the soft plastic got a hold of the tail. I guess the water was not clean enough to see well and these fish were body slamming the bait and then coming around to pick 'em off- that's why all the hooks on the side of the fish and no solid hook-ups. The ones you miss always seem bigger and larger in the water, but these were solid fish, maybe 5- 7 pounds , but that may be incorrect. Hard to tell for sure. Paddled hard to get back and loaded up and drove off at 7:30 Pm with dense clouds of marsh mosquitos chewing on me. Driving off with the windows down and the AC cranked up to flush out the little tormenters, I had to turn the stereo down to try to figure out what that pinging sound was- like driving through a dust storm. It dawned on me that I was wipping out hundreds of insects impacting on the truck. When I got home at 9 Pm there was sticky carnage all over the truck. Wish I had stuck one of those trout.
    Last edited by plugger; September 21, 2009, 09:42 PM.
    GEORGE A. BRANARD, COLOR SERGEANT, CO. L, 1 ST TEXAS INFANTRY, HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE, C.S.A. : S.C.V.

  • #2
    great report.congrats on the catch
    Beer,its not just for breakfast

    Comment


    • #3
      Great report....Thanks,
      sigpic
      Everything God does is right, the trademark on all his work is Love. Psalm 145:17

      Comment


      • #4
        Great Report!!
        Shut up and FISH!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Very nicely descriped trip. A limit of flounder is a good catch, even if it took a while. Nice yakkin!

          Comment


          • #6
            Nice detailed report. sounds like a great excursion.
            "Hey Hillary, regarding the Benghazi Attack on 9/11-we'll just blame it on that movie, not my total lack of security. By the way, what's so significant about 9/11 anyway-was that a date my buddy Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground blew up a government building?" asked Obama to Hillary. BEAUTIFY AMERICA, RUN OVER A LIBERAL, THEN BACK UP AND SEE IF HE'S DEAD.

            Comment


            • #7
              Plugger, that is a cool trip. thanks for sharing.

              Comment


              • #8
                nice report.flounder my favorite
                I LIVE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY WITH A LARGE PROBLEM AND A PROBLEM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Good report plugger.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by plugger View Post
                    Arrived 7:30 AM at the Anahuac Wild life Refuge , September 19, Saturday,taking the gravel road to the far east end where it stops at the gate. Launched my kayak there and headed east to Oyster Bayou in the far NE cornor of East Bay hoping to score some flounder. It was a falling tide until late afternoon at which time I'd planned on fishing my way back on an incoming tide. Wind was N, NW 8-15 MPH .but protected and not choppy at all. Water was decent green , 6-8 " visibility. Overcast early, partly cloudy the rest of the day. I did a little casting now and again and landed a under size speck on a Super spook Jr.. Been to Osyter Bayou once before briefly several years ago, so I really never fished it. The fishing maps say " flounder " and wanted to see if they were right. It's about a 3 mile paddle, about an hour to get there. Had some boats fishing there off and on during the day, mostly in the morning. All but one came from up the bayou, you can launch a boat near the information booth at the refuge entrance. Not a great looking launch, but it gets the job done evidently. Most were using live bait . Only saw catfish and croaker, and such caught. I fished the mouth a good while, mainly 4 " GULP curly tail in chartreuse 3/8 oz. jig head as the current was picking up. Fished mainly on the bottom for flounder, but tried top waters, 51 MR, and soft plastics. Lots of bait popping all day, saw a big alligator gar periodically rolling on the surface. Finally worked my way up the east side of the bayou to the south end of an oxe bow bayou working the grass close , then a cast 3 feet out, the another 6 feet out which was about where the drop off was. The water was murky in the bayou as the outfall current picked up. By the time I reached the ox bow , I had a 16 ", 21 ", and 19 " flounder. Went into the ox bow and the entrance was about 3 feet deep, then 2 feet, then it widened into a lake area that was 6" deep. Turned around and went down the bayou working the west shoreline in the same way. That side produced a 17" flounder and at the mouth ,a 15" flounder. All this took about 10 hours- not exactly a barn burner. I had hoped to get a 5 fish limit sooner. The bayou is deep and may be a place to check in the winter. Fished the mouth for half an hour with solt plastics, corkies ,51 MR and top waters. Only one boat at the mouth and saw them land a decent speck on live shrimp. Started heading back as it was getting late. About 200 yards from the bayou with the tide coming in in earnest now, I saw swirls and surface skipping bait 25 - 50 yards from the shore. Water was still green, but still 6-8 " visibility at 3-4 foot depth. Second cast with a soft plastic and my rod was jolted down hard and the fish raced to my right then left and was gone. Reeled in and evidently it had taken the tail but not the hook. Put on something with more hooks and more vibration - a small crack bait with a tight wobble at 1 foot diving depth. Third cast reeling in I looked down to see my plug as it surfaced at the side of the kayak and saw a big trout trailing it ready to engulf it , mouth open and gills flared to suck it in. But she saw me at the last second and with a big tail slap, she was gone. The whole thing was only a second and the huge splash actually startled me. Crude, second nice fish missed. Cast out some more then put on a corky fat boy , pink and silver flake. Second cast and the rod bowed up and then I saw a big trout fly out of the water, gills flared and my fat boy flying in the opposite direction. Double crude, third fish missed. Kept chunking and landed a fairly large croaker, and 2 10-12 " trout quickly. It was over . I figured the big girls had moved on as these trout wouldn't be here as they would be supper for what I had seen.The fish I landed were all hooked on the side, not taken in the mouth. Just the first one I missed on the soft plastic got a hold of the tail. I guess the water was not clean enough to see well and these fish were body slamming the bait and then coming around to pick 'em off- that's why all the hooks on the side of the fish and no solid hook-ups. The ones you miss always seem bigger and larger in the water, but these were solid fish, maybe 5- 7 pounds , but that may be incorrect. Hard to tell for sure. Paddled hard to get back and loaded up and drove off at 7:30 Pm with dense clouds of marsh mosquitos chewing on me. Driving off with the windows down and the AC cranked up to flush out the little tormenters, I had to turn the stereo down to try to figure out what that pinging sound was- like driving through a dust storm. It dawned on me that I was wipping out hundreds of insects impacting on the truck. When I got home at 9 Pm there was sticky carnage all over the truck. Wish I had stuck one of those trout.
                    In those conditions when i am not setting a good hook I like o go to a super spook Jr. But hey hell of a trip and some great fish . Good report thanks for the info!!
                    Bacon Bacon Bacon!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Yeah, driving away I was kicking myself for not putting on a topwater.
                      GEORGE A. BRANARD, COLOR SERGEANT, CO. L, 1 ST TEXAS INFANTRY, HOOD'S TEXAS BRIGADE, C.S.A. : S.C.V.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I love your detail. That is what I call real sharing. Thanks and keep those kind of reports coming so we can sponge off some of that experience. We appreciate the time you took to post the report after a long day. Good timely stuff!
                        If we don't leave any, there won't be any.

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