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High water scatters fish, helps marsh

Tides have been well above normal and waders have had to fish deeper.
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  • Originally published July 10, 2010 at 8:45 p.m., updated July 10, 2010 at 8:45 p.m.

The cool water took my breath away for a second, then was a delight as my body quickly adjusted. The bands of rain that fell in the wake of Hurricane Alex, along with several days of cloud cover, allowed water temperatures to chill from a sauna-like 90 degrees to a more refreshing 80 degrees.

Likewise, the rains coupled with the storm surge sent walls of water inland along the entire Texas coast. The flat I was wading was normally knee-deep, but as I bailed out of my boat, the water met me at the chest.

Storm surges are a beast when they creep into coastal homes, however, they are also a boon to estuaries when they bring heaps of rejuvenating water to the upper reaches of the marshes.

Sure, the fishing suffers for a few days with all the water, but when tides recede, the bays come alive like they did this week.

"Big trout showed up," said guide Mark Talasek. "We had four or five up to 28 inches in East Bay."

Talasek said the calming winds early in the week allowed tides to fall a bit. Even after Alex drifted into Mexico, tides remained well above normal due to stiff southeast winds that blew for three days after. Any easterly flow holds up tides and pumps water into the bays.

"When the water is everywhere the fish are everywhere," said Talasek. "Your best bet when tides are so high is to chase redfish in the marsh. Trout normally scatter with so much water and it is hard to get a good pattern on them."

The tide rose so high in Matagorda the marsh running between East Bay and Farm-to-Market 2031 (road to the beach) was a solid sheet of water. I saw weekenders wading to their thighs on what is normally dry land. The ditch that runs parallel to Farm-to-Market 2031 coughed up numerous catches of redfish, as well as one trout that was just shy of 29 inches. However, by mid-week, water levels were returning to normal.

"The tide fell and the trout started eating," said Talasek. "I haven't had that many nice trout in one trip in about three years."

Guide Ken Marshall enjoyed similar results, with quick limits on live shrimp just after the sun came up.

"They were nice fish and staging right on top of the humps with shell," said Marshall. "There was some freshwater in the ICW and I think that dumped all of those fish out of the ditch into the bay where it remained salty."

The buckets of freshwater also helped balance the brine in the marsh. When the marshes become too salty, as has been the case the past two summers, the shrimp, crab and menhaden crop suffer. Those results have been evident the past two autumns as fewer pods of shrimp entered the bay, evident by fewer birds working over shrimp driven to the surface by feeding fish.

The good news is this spring and summer has been wet and we should reap the rewards of the rain when the first cool front makes it here in October.

Bink Grimes is a freelance writer, photographer, author and licensed captain. For a copy of his new book, "Sunrise Sunset: Devotionals for the Sportsman and Outdoor Enthusiast," contact him at binkgrimes@sbcglobal.net or www.binkgrimesoutdoors.com.


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