East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

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ben_beyer
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East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by ben_beyer »

Ok, I'm back on the conundrum I was on 2 years ago about places in either East Matagorda Bay or the Galveston area where I could drive down from Bryan, launch a kayak and fish for a few hours, and then drive back home. There is the Paddlesports Park and Allen's Landing Trailhead just to north in East Matagorda that I'm curious about dependency on tide levels to get in and out.

Two years ago and not knowing the area, I had a disappointing day when I launched into St. Mary's Bayou and couldn't get out into the Bay. This was good though because I learned that area depends a lot on water levels for getting in and out.

Not wanting to deal with dragging myself and kayak through deep mud, how much does the tide affect getting in and out of these 2 areas? If I'm going to drive around 3 hours from home to hit the salt more often, I need to know if I'm going to have at least 1 option to launch a kayak at.
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junkyard chihuahua
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Re: East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by junkyard chihuahua »

There are a number of good sloughs you can hit East Matty from. They are all shallow, but rarely impassable. That area has so many good spots to launch a kayak. If its too low to hit East Bay, go across the road and you can access West Matty from the cut near the entrance to the LCRA park. There is a trail over there and you can walk right over to west matty. Theres good fishing up off cemetery road. The river above town is an interesting place to check out. There are a few good launch spots up there too. From the beach you can drive to a cut that will lead to a maze of lakes and eventually East Matty. That area is great fishing... Then there's the whole jetty thing... or the piers. There are so many different places to fish in Matagorda that water levels should never be a barrier to fishing. Water level is just one of the things to consider when deciding the best place to fish.
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Ron Mc
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Re: East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by Ron Mc »

good time to show this again - the seasonal (yearly) mean tides
If you can't there from here, it's this month, next month, or July.

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SWFinatic
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Re: East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by SWFinatic »

Best way to learn this info is to gauge it yourself. Choose whatever tide reporting site you like (I prefer NOAA) and use only that site to look at current water levels (not historical but current) then go there is see where that water level physically is and note what the water level is on your chart. That'll give you a reference.

Right now it might be tricky getting to the bay from either of those cuts without having to drag a little. Even 3 mile cut will be really shallow getting to the bay and the mud you have to drag through there is painfully deep (speaking from experience).

You could always go and plan on fishing the river as mentioned and swing by some of these locations and check them out.

It may take some time but this way you won't be rely on some else's interpretation of where the water is.
txsparky
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Re: East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by txsparky »

i always wanted to try it.
Once in East Matty from the Paddlepark, where do you go?
just hit the shorelines?
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Re: East Matagorda Bay Paddlesports Park/Rudacell's Cut and Allen's Landing Kayak Launching

Post by SWFinatic »

Depends on the time of year, water temps, levels, wind, tide, etc. This time of year if you can get out to the bay you'll want to head for the bay and look for signs of bait along the shorelines in the bay. I launched there in the summer early one morning and caught a red right at the launch. Summer through fall (when I say fall usually through October and into November) the area where you launch all the way to the bay is good. If the tides are up you can literally spend a day meandering through the newly formed back lakes in and around that area and look for reds blowing up on bait.
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