North by Northwest

When the wind blows in the Matagorda area, savvy anglers check out the surf or the jetties. Capt. Tommy Alexander (www.alexanderguideservice.com) cautions that the wind has to be out of a specific direction.

Jetties:

“If the wind is out of the north, the jetties are holding a lot of fish at this time of the year, primarily redfish. A lot of fishermen free shrimp the rocks…a hook, a live shrimp and a BB weight.” He also likes to throw Bass Assassin soft plastics, using either a 1/4 or 3/8 jig head. “Throw the bait or lure right up on the rocks and pull it off. With free shrimping you get a lot less hung-up on the rocks.”

Using a popping cork with about a 4 foot leader and live shrimp up against the rocks will cut out hang-ups even more.

Surf:

“Our surf is best worked when there is a northwest wind,” says Alexander. “It’ll be slick, slick, slick.

Wade or fish from your boat. If wading, move out to the first gut and cast. “If it’s slick we can fish from the boat, dropping the trolling motor and run up and down the second and third guts.

Tide needs to be moving; doesn’t matter if it’s going in or out. The fish will move up onto the beach at night into the first gut, close by the beach. “Right at daylight you want to be real shallow. As the sun comes up, move out to the second and third guts.”

Baits: “I always like to try topwaters at first daylight, bigger topwaters such as the Super Spook in either a chrome or Clown colors. If it’s before daybreak, try maybe a darker color.” If it’s overcast you might never take the topwater off. Throw it all day long.”

If Alexander decides on soft plastics, he throws a Salt & Pepper, white/chartreuse tail, or a strawberry/white tail using a 1/4 oz jig head.

“You don’t want the surf to be a complete slick, but you don’t want it to be choppy,” adds Alexander. “If it’s choppy, it’s hard to fish. You want a little bit of rollers up on the beach.

You don’t want crystal clear water where you can see the bottom. You want green.”