Zach Edwards
Matagorda Island: March 31, 2025
The morning started early around 6:30 am, I never set my alarm during this trip, but instead I was woken up by the excitement of what I was going to do that day. I got out of my tent and got into my fishing gear. I knew that today I was setting out to catch a spotted seatrout. I ate my breakfast quickly and waded into the ocean with my best friend Noah. We went out to the flats and started casting. The mullet were erupting from the water left and right, so our heads were on a swivel trying to pinpoint where the Seatrout or Red drum were. The rest of the group of students had made their way to the water to catch these fish. Some were lucky, others were not so much, but that morning was a blast, and everyone had an exciting time.
The day went on and people split off enjoying the beautiful Island of Matagorda in Port-O’Conner, Texas. I was with Noah and since I was unsuccessful in catching fish in the morning I went out to the channel where Spencer (a Valley City State University alumni) had suggested for us to catch some fish. While Noah and I were setting out to the channel Noah spotted a Southern Stingray which I was able to pitch out in front of it and hook it onto land. That was the first time I had ever seen a stingray aside from zoos. I carefully unhooked the ray and was able to put him back into the water. That was an incredible experience, but now it was time to catch a seatrout. Noah and I worked our way up and down the channel, and we had both successfully caught 10-12 spotted seatrout, one red fish, a flounder, and a hardhead catfish.
The night had come, and everyone had brought together a feast. Steve Higgs (an incredible educator and airboat pilot) brought some delicious venison sausages for everyone to try. Red fish were thrown onto the campfire stove, as well as seatrout. We all got to dig in and try these new dishes and it was amazing. I even went off to practice my cast netting and I ended up spotting a really good-sized blue crab which I caught and was able to clean thanks to Cooper Knight (our amazing guide and educator on the island) teaching me. I threw that on the fire and enjoyed my crab, everyone’s fish, and venison sausage. The whole group of us just gathered around and enjoyed great food and great company. That night was one I will always remember.