"Wind doesn't slow saltwater action"
Victoria Advocate Sunday, January 1,1989
Partial clipping of complete article

Port O'Connor -  Gary Gray's favorite time to fish the back bays for redfish, speckled trout and flounder is in the fall.

The Seadrift guide says he prefers the fall months because "I just like looking for the fish and finding them instead of going to a particular spot where they are bunched up. That makes it too easy for everybody.

On another side, the operator of Bay Rat Guide Service doesn't  hesitate to point out that "one of the best times to catch redfish is when it gets real cold. They congregate and bunch up in the holes."

When the cold weather remains in the area for several days and drops the water temperature, Gray travels to different winter "hot spots," including  the Army Hole adjacent to Matagorda Island - south of Port O'Connor.

"Whenever the weather starts getting cold, the Army Hole is usually the first place I go," Gray said, "and then I try several other places. The type of cold weather I'm talking about it is when you can't feel the redfish... when your hands get numb.

There are not a lot of trout caught when it's cold but one of the best times to catch redfish is when it gets real cold. They congregate in the holes. It's also a time when a lot of places get to crowded."

Gray said "you're limited to catching black drum, redfish, and sheeps-head when it's cold. Every time I've been out during cold weather I've seen a few small trout caught in the Army Hole. I've heard of big ones being caught but I've never seen anybody catch one.

When the temperature start climbing between the northers, you can catch some trout in places other than the Army Hole, like Pringle Lake, or places next to deep water... any shallow water next to deep water.

Gray said drum and redfish are the primary catches during heavy cold spells since trout just don't feed that much. You can be fishing right on top of them and catch them.

"They can go a couple of days without eating. If they're not feeding, you're out of luck. If you're fishing when the trout start feeding, you're going to catch some. You don't know when that will happen.

"At one place we fish during winter, you might get some little bumps from the trout. On every cast you might get a tug or bump. The trout are there but they just don't feed as much in the winter. Reds feed anytime there's food.

When fishing for reds during the colder spells, Gray uses dead shrimp and artificial lures.

"I always throw out shrimp," he said, "They usually hit dead shrimp the best so that is what I go with first. Sometimes they won't hit the lure. They're sluggish and moving so slow, so I stick to the shrimp. You have to leave the bait sit in the water."

Although black drum in the 3 to 6 pound range congregate in the same areas the redfish, Gray said they are not on his "catch list."

"It just so happens that drum eat the same thing as redfish" Gray said, "I seldom fish for drum, but you usually catch them where you catch redfish.

If the redfish are not there, I will catch drum. They feed on the bottom and they're fun to catch. The 3-5 pounders are best size to catch."

The arrival of Tuesday afternoon's cold front lowered the Fahrenheit along the Texas Coast but not enough to generate a severe drop in the bay water temperature to drive the larger reds into the Army Hole.

A trip to the Army Hole south of Port O'Connor with Gray yielded five-fish limits of drum in the 3-6 pound range and a 21 inch redfish. Several reds under the 20-inch minimum size limit were caught and released. The drum were caught in 10 feet of water on dead shrimp.

Gray uses a 3-ought hook, a 12-inch leader and two egg-shaped weights above the leader when fishing.