For me, the highlight of the Texas Field Ecology trip was staying on Matagorda Island. It was different than what I had pictured in my mind and definitely not what I was expecting. I was expecting the island to be small and that we would be able to walk the perimeter of the island on a sandy beach that surrounded it, but it wasn’t like that at all. When approaching the island, I saw that it was surrounded by more of a marsh than a beach. I also was unable to see an end to it the island on either side. I also wasn’t expecting to see anything other than birds and alligators on the island, but to my surprise, the island was crawling with life. I was really surprised to see all of the bushes glowing with eyes the night that we went out looking for reptiles and amphibians. Not only that, but there were many deer in that area as well, and they didn’t seem too frightened by us. The craziest thing I learned from going out at night was how big and bright spiders’ eyes glow. I would see the bright eyes glow and then walk up to where they were, expecting to see a large tarantula, only to find a small, little spider that was hard to spot in the grass. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see any feral pigs on the island at night, but we did get to see a raccoon. I thought it was funny that Cooper thought it was a big raccoon, but he has never seen a North Dakota raccoon.
I also enjoyed the boat ride out to the island. We saw many bird species that aren’t found in North Dakota. We also got to see bottlenose dolphins as they broke the surface of the water right next to the boat. We were unable to see any alligators as we were touring around the island. I was a little disappointed, but it was probably for best that we didn’t see one because I probably would have been too paranoid to go wade fishing. I think I made the boat ride a little more enjoyable for everyone else as well, as there were a few short moments that I was not on the boat. When we first approached the island, we were going to tie the boat to the dock, so I leaned out to help, but I leaned out a tad too far and ended up in a situation where I was unable to jump onto the dock, but also was unable to pull myself back onto the boat. I ended up going for an unplanned swim that lasted for only a few seconds following Casey’s statement of “Watch out for that gator right there!” I hung to the dock as hard as I could but wasn’t able to pull myself up because it was fairly far out of the water. Everyone got their laughs and I never heard the end of it.
My favorite part about being on the island was getting to fish. I had a topwater rattling lure, and at first, I had no idea how to use it. I was having no luck catching anything. But, once our guide showed me how to work the action of the lure, I was instantly catching speckled trout. They were a fun fighting fish that hit the lure hard. Especially when the water was calm in the morning, and all the birds were calling, it was a very memorable moment fishing. Wade fishing was also fun. I was a little hesitant at first, because of all the talk about stingrays, alligators, sharks, and flesh-eating bacteria, but I was able to try it out and had some success catching some pinfish. We also were able to use a cast net to catch some fish. We caught some flounders and crabs, but I think the best catch was Emily’s filet knife that she caught in the net.
I wasn’t too excited about having a shrimp boil on the first night on the island because I have never really been a big fan of seafood. Before this trip, I had really only eaten popcorn shrimp and cod, and I have tried crab and lobster before but hated it. So, I was really surprised when I liked the shrimp that we had at the shrimp boil. I thought it was amazing and was definitely the best seafood I have ever had. I wish we would have been able to stay for a second night and try to catch some bigger speckled trout, so we could keep them and eat them. I did catch one fish that was over the fifteen-inch limit, but we didn’t get to cook it up and eat it.
The entire island experience was very fun and exciting. I would recommend to anyone traveling in that area, to find a person to take them out there and take some time to walk around and go birding. It is also a great experience to take a boat around the island and experience the coastal ecosystem. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to experience the beautiful island of Matagorda.
Picture of me and a speckled trout I caught on Matagorda island
This picture was taken on Matagorda island at sunset. It is of me fishing for speckled trout.
This phot was taken on Matagorda island. It is of Josh and I. We had caught a fish, but it fell off the hook and got trapped under the slab of concrete and I am kneeling down trying to get it out.
This picture of me sitting on a log that floated down the Guadalupe river.
This photo was taken on out way back to North Dakota. We ate at Whataburger 3 times while on this trip and it was some great tasting food.
