My kids are really starting to love fishing and especially bay fishing. We've gone with a guide in various locations before and always had a great time. Problem being that we always have to plan so far in advance, can't do as much sightseeing, etc. So I've decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on a bay boat. My main question is how easy it is to learn different bay systems, actually get in spots to catch fish, etc. as a novice? Any advice from folks on what they have done to short circuit the learning curve? I imagine we will mostly fish in Matagorda area but also go down to the Rockport area when we can.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Keep planing a couple of trips a year with different guides. Talk around at some bait shops or just hang a bit and talk at the boat ramp. Then just get out and do it. You will get better and better.

Easy, especially for kids who don't really care what they catch. Buy a map of whatever body of water you're interested in, or better yet some decent electronics, and it won't take you long at all. Just be absolutely sure what's underneath you, especially sandbars, etc.

You'll learn the bay systems you frequent rather quickly once you start fishing. You didn't mention your boat handling experience, but that is something I'd want to get up to snuff and practiced at since you have precious cargo on board. As far as finding places to fish and learning bays - that comes with time. A big part of that guide fee is the experience and knowledge of where the fish are currently, why they are there, and a mental database of what's under the surface (obstacles, fishing structure, bottom type). With your own boat you'll start to compile all that for yourself, pushing a little farther out to skinny water, or finding new water the more often you go.

I've fished LLM all my life, but in 2008 I pretty much ditched conventional tackle and picked up the fly rod for good. Different boat, different parts of the bay, different method of fishing, different technique, different EVERYTHING - even if I was 100 yards from a spot I grew up fishing I was almost a stranger in a new world. It will surprise you how fast you pick it up. Good on you for prioritizing that time and taking the commitment to spend it with your kids. They'll be better off for it.

Buy a hooknline Map. They are great for learning a by system. They show spots and best months to fish by species. Along the way you will learn your own spots

And shrimp under a popping cork is great way to keep your boys busy

If youre near galveston buy the troutsupport chip!
But also think about how much you will really use it especially as kids get older and into activities.
Is it cheaper to book a guide more regularly?
If you find one you like and use him several times a year he might cut you a deal

I've seen people bay pigs before but I've never seen a person bay fish

Thanks for the responses so far. To answer a couple questions - I do not have a lot of experience driving boats, etc. That is definitely first priority to learn how to do safely and competently. On the other question I would be shocked if we saved money by not using guides. The main point of buying a boat instead of using guides is that we can go when we want, sightsee, hopefully my kids can learn how to be better fisherman/outdoorsman than their dad when they grow up, etc.

I'm 100% behind your decision man. I grew up fishing the coast a ton with my dad. He always had a boat. I thought my dad was the greatest fisherman alive. Now that I'm older, I recognize that he's certainly good, but couldn't make a living as a guide by any means. But, that's just how kids see their dads. Hopefully that holds true for you too.

Going out and catching a limit with a guide is a wonderful weekend. But, taking your kids out and catching a limit by yourself using your own strategy is a story you'll tell and treasure the rest of your life!!

Great thing to do with your kids. FYI, you don't have to spend $90K on a boat to do it either, unless you want to. While learning the places to fish, you might want to get a used boat to experiment with as you will hit reefs, etc. until you learn your way around. 65 mph from a cat boat with a huge motor is not the way to do this.

lotsofshp is also correct here. Doing it on your own with your kids will provide a better long term experience with learning and working together. Much like building your blinds with your kids and setting up the feeders etc if you would be hunting with them. Long term satisfaction of accomplishment and overall experience.

Good luck and above all, safe ventures to you and your kids. My kid is into year round baseball and now HS football, so our opportunities are much less for the fishing, however, as your kids get older, teach them the right way to operate a boat for the conditions you will be in. When Covid hit in 2020 and baseball was not being played, we spend some quality time fishing. On the bad fishing days, we spent time teaching him how to start the boat, get up on plane in the backwater flats, and sensible ways to take the best route out if under duress. It surprised me how much he had already picked up on and his thought processes on how to pick routes. These things come from real world/time experience with dad (you).

Enjoy, and again, be safe.

I learned a lot on Copano and then later on all around Corpus Christi Bay, more towards the eastern area. Went with a local guide 3-4 times and his best advice was to pay attention, learn water color, and if you run aground or run into something, don't do it again.

Certainly nothing wrong with putting along just to see the subtle changes in depths and areas. Great that you want to get out there with your kids and learn together.

I have never fished Matagorda but I've fished from Rockport to Port Isabel for decades. To me what you want to know is how to get to those "spots" and back out as opposed to where those spots are....

In and around Port Aransas there are lots of oyster reefs. If you are with a guide with years of fishing an area like PA he will pick you up and twenty minutes later you are fishing in a spot and you have marked the coordinates. The peril....until you learn...is that he may have made a couple of tight turns around a post sticking out of the water about 2' a couple of times. Missing that turn by 20' can be a problem.Getting stuck is a part of the process as well as getting unstuck.

I have had a place in a large Port Aransas complex for a long time. I have taken a lot of new owners out and showed them how to get into and out of various places to get started. Hopefully you can find a friend in that area to help you.

Theres a lot of info in the troutsupport videos by Tobin Strickland.

https://troutsupport.com/

I got a express 18 foot hyper lift bay boat with 110 go Yamaha -$28k and serves all my needs - only thing I would add is a power pole for the bay. So I agree you don't have to spend $90k. I have taken that boat to Florida and spend most of my bay time in Keith lake. I love my boat and really don't see where I could catch anymore fish with a more expensive boat unless I was getting really specialized as mentioned by center pole 90

Thanks again for the feedback. If you were to pick one bay system to learn first would it be Galveston or Matagorda? Galveston is a bit more convenient to where I live but seems like Matagorda might be good to get away from the crowds a bit easier. On the boats I still need to go test drive some, get feedback from folks who know more than me but I'm hoping to get a 4-6 year old Pathfinder 2400 TRS based on my early research. I've always loved the Rockport area but trying to find a spot a little closer to home so we can get out there more often.

I've had my boat for 2 1/2 years now, and the single best investment I made was a quality GPS with quality aerial imagery. Specifically, I got the Standard Mapping Texas-One GPS base map for my Simrad GPS, and it has been crucial as I've navigated the reef-laden bays in the Rockport area.

Basically, instead of a map base layer, it is a high quality aerial image that was taken when skies and water were both clear. You can see reefs, channels, and much more. I have been able to avoid high-speed encounters with reefs and have been able to navigate potentially treacherous areas with confidence. I know without the map, these would have been a much more anxious couple of years with more time in the shop and less time fishing.

In addition to the safety component, it has also helped me identify structure (shell vs. grass, dropoffs, etc). My favorite fishing spots today are places I found because of the imagery. Of course, I've tried tons of spots that looked "fishy" but didn't hold fish. But a few of the spots have pretty reliably held fish, and it's really fun having spots you've found that even local guides don't fish.

I discovered Standard Mapping because the Lowrance/Simrad rep at the Houston Fishing Show said I should go talk to them. I wound up buying my unit from them as well, and the package is cheaper than buying them separately. Also, I just got the "Classic" level, and it has been plenty. The upgraded versions have more information for offshore, but the Classic has had everything I've wanted and needed.

Here is the link for Standard Mapping:

https://www.standardmap.com/product-page/texas-one-classic

Marcos05 said:

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I've had my boat for 2 1/2 years now, and the single best investment I made was a quality GPS with quality aerial imagery. Specifically, I got the Standard Mapping Texas-One GPS base map for my Simrad GPS, and it has been crucial as I've navigated the reef-laden bays in the Rockport area.

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Great timing sharing this; thank you for the solid recommendation of this product, I was just looking into it myself.

I never desired to have a mounted GPS on my poling skiff because, well, in the LLM the worst think you will *probably* run up on is a sandbar and the bay is wide open so I never saw much use in GPS outside of being a reliable speedometer. Taking our skiffs to the Everglades last month obviously changed that. Just getting back to Flamingo would be darn near impossible for a newbie without the security of GPS. I chose a Lowrance unit compatible with Florida Marine Tracks that, while pricey, is a true difference maker for navigating the 'glades. Now I'm spoiled to that high-res imagery since the thing is mounted to the console anyway. On the way home we fished East Maddy so I flipped back to the basemap imagery and every time I looked at green/blue blob I thought, 'oh no, this just won't do!'.

Alta said:

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Thanks again for the feedback. If you were to pick one bay system to learn first would it be Galveston or Matagorda? Galveston is a bit more convenient to where I live but seems like Matagorda might be good to get away from the crowds a bit easier. On the boats I still need to go test drive some, get feedback from folks who know more than me but I'm hoping to get a 4-6 year old Pathfinder 2400 TRS based on my early research. I've always loved the Rockport area but trying to find a spot a little closer to home so we can get out there more often.

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I wouldn't go out in Matagorda until you're familiar with your boat and the area. It gets really shallow in spots. Ive seen lots of people run aground out there.

Wow, I'm really interested in that but the web site is kind of dated. Any screen shots of what the map looks like? Would love to see what all they have for Copano and Aransas before purchasing.

The website, as you point out, does them no favors. And unfortunately, I don't have any screen shots. My boat is three hours away, and I'm tethered to the house for a while with a four-month old (investing now in future fishing and hunting adventures with my fishing and hunting buddy!).

What I can say is that a few of my friends who saw the mapping on my boat have gone and purchased the exact same thing for theirs. I really cannot endorse this product highly enough.

If you're not in a hurry, you can wait until the Houston Fishing Show. Hopefully they'll have a booth again. And maybe they'll come to one of the local boat shows. If Standard Mapping isn't there, you might ask the reps for the actual GPS companies like Lowrance/Simrad or Garmin about their experience with Standard Mapping or any alternatives that are on the market since I got mine in March 2019.

Got excited when I read that but it looks like the only system they don't support is my humminbird

Another option to consider is most of the Bay systems have a guide in the area that's willing to take you out on your boat for the day and enter some tracks and stuff into your own GPS. That May not be the best kid Trip, but many of those guides of that type are willing to show you some basic boat handling skills at the same time that they're teaching you how to read water.

Texas parks and wildlife also has some online boater safety courses that are well worth your time. They might also be required depending on your age.

Aggieangler93 said:

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Another option to consider is most of the Bay systems have a guide in the area that's willing to take you out on your boat for the day and enter some tracks and stuff into your own GPS. That May not be the best kid Trip, but many of those guides of that type are willing to show you some basic boat handling skills at the same time that they're teaching you how to read water.

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We did this a couple of times, once in our boat, once with the guide's boat. Really good advice, but the only thing I would change is to get to know your area some before you do this. When the guide goes to 6-7 different spots, they start bleeding together in you mind. Tagging with GPS is good, but I was always more of a sight person and landmarks help me a lot. Take some good notes and go back pretty soon to practice what you saw.

I often will review a map of the area the evening after a guide trip, if we fished an area I was unfamiliar with. Then, in my fishing journal, I take great notes, draw diagrams, and mark up aerial imagery with notes too. That way even if I am back there 10 years later, I know what I was dealing with the first time. No guarantee something didn't change, but it gets me into the general area and I can read water just fine.

Lots to unpack here. Galv and Matty are totally different. A Pathfinder is probably not the best for Matty. We fish Matagorda a lot. If you want to wade, you are welcome to join use. We will show you around and talk boats. If you are fishing from the boat, not much help.

I'd pick Galveston. You'd be surprised in getting away from the crowds going to Matagorda. There's a lot less water to goto and its much shallower as another poster mentioned (which is why a Pathfinder isnt best there). In the Galveston Bay complex there's a ton of deeper water where you can find plenty of structure to fish but not be scared to hit any while running.

I fish Matagorda all the time even through the winter many times 2 weekends per month...For starters go to East Matagorda as West is more difficult to get to. I personally know several guides that will go with you on your boat and show you around...plenty of areas to just drift fish and a 24 Pathfinder will go anywhere you want to go with your family...meaning I highly doubt that you are planning on trying to get into back lakes etc. There are plenty of spots to fish without having to go that route...once the kids get older and assuming you might like to wade fish then things change but you can still do it in that boat.

The first trip really ought to be just you and the guide or someone that is willing to show you around with no distractions from the kids etc as you will be trying to learn how to properly handle your boat and then be on the lookout for navigation hazards....you don't need young kids distracting you...

Depending on when you boat purchase happens I would be willing to ride with you just to show you around and just doing this and marking major spots and hazards could take a couple of hours....leave your GPS tracking turned on and you will be fine after that. It's like anything else....it just takes repetition.

Buy a salt strong membership and watch the videos. Will cut several years off your learning curve.

I'm going to list my boat soon. Let me know if you're interested.
I'm asking 55K. It would run around 75 new and no wait time

Specs please. We just found out we will be in the market soon also.

It really is a time thing. Took me many years to feel comfortable. I go out of Port Aransas. Look for other boats and take note of what they are doing. Thats how I started. I also got a guide a few times and ask tons of questions and take note of all the rigs they are using. Ask what they are looking for when they stop at spots.

Every time out on the bay is different. Conditions change so quickly.

ArmaLite said:

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It really is a time thing. Took me many years to feel comfortable. I go out of Port Aransas. Look for other boats and take note of what they are doing. Thats how I started. I also got a guide a few times and ask tons of questions and take note of all the rigs they are using. Ask what they are looking for when they stop at spots.

Every time out on the bay is different. Conditions change so quickly.

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Boy ain't that the truth.

"We KILLED THEM here YESTERDAY!!"

2015 JH Outlaw 230x. Has around 200 hours on the engine. The motor reads 200hp, but I had the ECU flashed to 309hp and no change to the rev limiter. Runs about 52mph and would probably go higher with a different prop. K-Top is removable. 9" Garmin GPS and Minn Kota Ulterra 112lb trolling motor. Everything works well. Only selling because I'm going to get a 90K boat so the OB has someone to complain about

Does it run from the back of the first oil well cut into fish pond with no issues? That's my new measuring stick for "I must have it" or not. Skeeeeeeny!

ArmaLite said:

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Every time out on the bay is different. Conditions change so quickly.

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South wind turns north. Cuts out 75% of your honey spots.