Andy Dear | Monday, 11 October 2021
Laguna Salada is situated on the far southwestern edge of the Baffin Bay complex. Baffin has been and continues to be one of the premier locations in the world to catch record size Spotted Sea Trout on both Fly and conventional tackle. Although connected to the Upper Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay and its satellites, Alazan Bay, Cayo De Grullo, and Laguna Salada make up a very unique ecosystem unto themselves. Among other unique features, Baffin is notorious for its underwater rock formations formed by Serepulid worms thousands of years ago. It is these rock formations that are FAMOUS around here for destroying props and lower units on outboard motors.
Because much of Baffin and it's tributaries are surrounded by extremely large tracts of private ranch land, access is somewhat limited compared to other locations on the Texas Coast. Additionally, a fair amount of local knowledge and preparation is in order to fish this area because of its remoteness, and its penchant for hourly weather changes and subsurface anomalies.
A few months ago. my wife found a house for rent right on Laguna Salada specifically geared to the fisherman. It sits right on the water and is literally less than a mile from the only boat launch on Laguna Salada. Additionally, it has a lighted pier for those wanting to carry their fly fishing addiction post sunset. Jack and I decided that this would be the perfect place to splash the MonArk as the new owners and explore the far reaches of this unique body of water.
Saturday morning was clear and calm with the wind blowing less than 5 knots....perfect for poling the new skiff! I wasn't expecting much in the way of fish, since the freeze back in February had a very profound effect on the gamefish population here in Texas. In spite of that, Jack brought two Speckled Trout to hand, both of which were fine specimens that went over 20" Unfortunately on Sunday, the wind blew in excess of 20 knots all day, which prohibited all but the biggest vessels from going out. However, tomorrow shows the wind calming in the morning to 5 knots, so when this article hits the Front Page, with any luck, I will be back on the pole in the MonArk, while Jackson probes the depths with his 6wt. for whatever swims below.
Hope you all are having a great week!
Andy