Another Winter in the Books MATAGORDA

Reported by CAPT. MARK TALASEK

HELLO SPRING OF 2023!!!

Another winter of temperatures in the teens is behind us.

Mother nature unleashed another harsh winter on Texas.

e bay system handled it much be er than the freeze of 2021. Shorter periods of freezing temperatures aided the sheries this time. Hopefully, the trout population will continue their recovery.

I’m not quite sure whether it will ever be like it used to be. My dad started guiding in the early 1970s with the late great Raymond Cox. As a young ve-year-old boy I hopped into the boat for all the scouting trips I could.

I remember stories from the ’50s and ’60s when limits were not needed. Trout and reds were sold at market. ey caught them by the icebox full. Man! Did I not have the best opportunity to learn from two Matagorda Bay legends.

Raymond was one of the greatest wade shermen until he enjoyed staying in the boat later in life. Power poles were a galvanized anchor with three feet of chain. I was the anchor boy.

“Be quiet when you slide the anchor into the water.” “Don’t slam the icebox lid.” “You’re scaring the sh away!” He had a pet peeve for being quiet on the water.

“Cast the cut mullet out as far as possible away from the boat and let it sit.” “Don’t move it!” “You will confuse the redsh.” at was one of his favorite sayings, LOL.

It worked.

I think he had a red sh spot on his tail. He was the best in the business. RIP Mr. Raymond.

Melvin Talasek was a hardcore wade sherman. He would tie on a black topwater with a chartreuse head and throw it all day long. Mirrolure invented this color because of him—his favorite.

With a cigare e in his mouth, he’d slowly reel in the lure. “Slower the be er,” he preached.

He would cast, reel, stop, take a pu of cigare e, let the lure sit then start doing his topwater twitch. Some of the best blowups came right a er it’s been si ing.

RIP Dad.

Nothing is like it used to be. But our shing is still pre y darn good! Only slipon corks were available back then. ey worked great when sh numbers were triple what we have today.

Now you can get a good heavy cork with beads on each side. ey imitate trout hi ing the top of the water. e weight helps you cast farther to keep the bait in the strike zone longer—much be er than the old slip-on.

Golden spoons were one of the rst arti cial lures. Both old guys told me the spoons caught sh in the old days and nothing has changed. e marshes are lling up with a new crop of shrimp and glass minnows. Reds and trout are starting to feed along the shoreline again.

It’s a good time to be on the water. Give me a call for your next visit to Matagorda Captain Mark Talasek 979-479-1397.

CONTACT CAPT. TALASEK:

Email: MarkTalasek@sbcglobal.com

Online: TalasekGuideService.com

Upper Coast Hotspots

LOCATION: Galveston East Bay

HOTSPOT: Anahuac Refuge Flats

GPS: N 29 33.804, W 94 32.374 (29.5634, -94.5396)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout

BEST BAITS: Super Spook or a One Knocker topwater

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas Fishgame.com/fishandgamegear

TIPS: Favorite colors: To me colors are not as important as presentation.

LOCATION: Galveston East Bay

HOTSPOT: Siever’s Cut

GPS: N 29 26.5619, W 94 42.1379 (29.4427, -94.7023)

SPECIES: Speckled trout

BEST BAITS: Soft plastics

SOURCE: Capt. Paul Marcaccio 281-788-4041 www.gofishgalveston.com

TIPS: Top soft plastic colors are Chicken-on-a- chain-Slammin chicken-Limetreuse and pearl.

LOCATION: Galveston Jetties

HOTSPOT: South Jetty

GPS: N 29 19.0111, W 94 41.0068 (29.3169 -94.6834)

SPECIES: Redfish

BEST BAITS: Live and artificial redfish bait

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

Fishgame.com/fishandgamegear

TIPS: Best fishing with full moon and moving tides

281-788-4041 www.gofishgalveston.com

TIPS: Normally Marcaccio prefers a smaller topwater-but if the water becomes choppy he will switch off to a bigger topwater so that the fish can find it easier.

LOCATION: Galveston West Bay

HOTSPOT: Anderson Ways

GPS: N 29 15.016, W 94 53.0158 (29.2503 -94.8836)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout

BEST BAITS: Soft Plastics, Corkies or Topwaters

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

Fishgame.com/fishandgamegear

TIPS: The important thing is not the lure. It is to be at the right place at the right time.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity Bay

HOTSPOT: Bart’s Pass

GPS: N 29 31.412, W 94 49.205 (29.5235 -94.8201)

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity Bay

HOTSPOT: Vin-Ta-Un Flats

GPS: N 29 32.794, W 94 45.805 (29.5466, -94.7634)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout

BEST BAITS: Soft Plastics, Corkies or Topwaters

SOURCE: Texas Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas

Fishgame.com/fishandgamegear

TIPS: If you are looking for a state record caliber trout, 98 percent of the time, the fish will come when you are wade fishing.

SPECIES: Speckled trout

BEST BAITS: Topwaters

SOURCE: Capt. Paul Marcaccio

LOCATION: Matagorda East Bay

HOTSPOT: Bird Island

Upper Coast

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GPS: N 28 43.86, W 95 45.6169 (28.7310 -95.7603)

SPECIES: Speckled trout

BEST BAITS: Norton Bull Minnow or Lit’l Fishie

SOURCE: Capt. Tommy Countz

281-450-4037 www.matagordafishing.com

TIPS: Close to Bird Island is a big mud flat. Drift the mud flat, bouncing the bait off the bottom. During cold weather a lot of times the fish are on the mud flats…1/4 or 3/8 ounce lead head gets the bait down pretty quick, and covers a lot more water.

LOCATION: Matagorda West Bay

HOTSPOT: Greens Bayou

GPS: N 28 29.0123, W 96 13.0094