This past week was a pretty busy one for me. "What the hell happened to last week's report?" you might be thinking right now. Well, this time I have a pretty good excuse. My kids came in last Sunday and spending time with them and taking care of them rates higher than entertaining you guys with tells of trout on the grass beds, redfish schooling, and getting my new boat rigged out.
Yep, Maci, Hunter, and Luke were here. That meant that instead of watching pre-season football I got to see more Sponge Bob Square Pants than any grown man should be subjected to. The good news is that Maci and Hunter really like fishing shows, so I did get a minor reprieve on Sunday for a couple of hours.
Tuesday Hunter and Luke went back to Huntsville and Maci stayed with me. It was her special time with Big Daddy (that's what they call me) and we were taking Jim Jordan and his 8 year old daughter Caroline fishing. They were to meet us at the harbor at 7 am which is later than I usually meet my clients but getting two 8 year olds up at the crack of dawn can be a challenge. By 6:30 Maci and I were at my boat eating "pigs" and drinking chocolate milk. Maci informed me that chocolate milk was loaded with protein and was good for you. I always thought that it was just something tasty to wash pigs and honey bums down. It was obvious that I was in for a learning experience. Anyway Jim and Caroline were on time and we were off to West Bay. I pulled in to a spot near a reef on Shell Island and Power Poled down. For the sake of safety, Jim and I cast for the girls. Now Maci is pretty accomplished at casting with an open faced spinning rig, but on a 23 foot boat she needs about 15 feet of swinging room. Anyway it wasn't long before the corks were going under. We spent the morning with plenty of action from drum, rat reds, small trout, skipjacks, and naturally hardheads. The girls were pretty cute helping each other. When ever one would hook-up, the other would net for her. It was pretty much non-stop action all morning. It was a perfect fishing trip for a couple of kids. That night Maci wanted fried redfish and yellow squash for supper so I fixed it and she ate like a little pig.
Wednesday we went to Gulf Coast Boats where Mike Gilley tweaked the hull of my new Kat boat. We took it for a spin in Baytown, declared it to be just right and headed to Houston for some birthday shopping. Oh, did I forget to mention that Maci was having her ninth birthday. I had a special surprise for her. One of her passions is horses and she has been doing some competitive barrel racing and pole bending on her quarter horse Camper and she has been doing pretty well with some top five finishes. I took her to Charlotte's Saddlery and bought her a hot pink saddle blanket for her horse. It wasn't a run of the mill saddle blanket. It was a Charmane Rodman James signature blanket. I had to explain to her that Charmane was the greatest barrel racer in the history of the sport and that her horse Scamper was the greatest horse in the history of barrel racing. Did I mention that I paid more for that blanket than I did for my first horse when I was a kid? Oh well, nothing is too good for my little sugar. That afternoon she and Aunt Mary went shopping for some school clothes and later we all went to Pappadeaux's where Maci hurt a pretty good pile of crawfish. She was so full that she didn't even want any Blue Bell before bed.
Friday I took Bubba Boeer, Don McReynolds, and Mary C wading in West Bay. Don's ambition in life is to beat Mary C fishing. This was what Bubba and I refer to as the Forth Annual Don McReynolds Butt Kicking Tournament and she didn't disappoint us. She kicked Don's butt one more time. She stepped out of the boat that morning, made a cast , stuck a trout and set the pace for the slaughter.
Saturday Johnny Mac and Spanky were with me back in West Bay where we caught a bunch of small trout, boxed 8 and a red, and sight cast to a bunch of redfish that could care less about our offerings.
Sunday I had Keith and Marshall Dodson with me back to West Bay where we found small trout plentiful and keepers scarce. We boxed 8 specks on Electric Blue Norton Jrs.
Well I finally have my new Kat running the way that I want it. After Tops n Towers pot the T-top on it I was having porposing problems. Mike Gilley added a slight amount of wedge on the back of the hull and now it runs great. It drifts in 9 or 10 inches of water, runs in six or less, has a smooth dry ride in chop, and with my new E-Tec 200 HO tops in at 47 to 49 mph.
On the 28th I'll be attending Capt. Aubrey Black and Capt. Sally Moffet's wedding at sunrise on a sand bar in Baffin. Then I'm heading down to Pt Mansfield to fish the week before Labor Day with friends. I'll be back on the waters of Matagorda The week after with plenty of openings on week days. If you are a fly fisherman or love to see a top water explosion it will be a great time for schooling reds.
I have this Tuesday open if anyone is interested and the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after Labor Day.
By the way, if you are looking for a great boat, my buddy Don Carpenter has his 06 Gulfcoast 23 for sale. If you are interested call me to set up a test ride in it here at Matagorda Harbor. If you'd like to see how my new Kat runs, book a trip and kill two birds with one stone.

If you want to be a part of some new adventures and some great memories then you need to get on my book for a trip. Don't just sit around reading about the trout, reds, and tripletail of Matagorda. Come get you some. Be a part of my fishing experiences. If you want to book a trip don't wait too late.
Don't sit around wishin' you were fishin', give me a call at (281) 450-4037 or email me at tcountz@sbcglobal.net to book a trip or you can reach Bubba at (979) 429-6886. Remember to keep your hook in the water and have some great days on the bays.
Tommy