April 23, 2008

My good friend and fishing buddy, Alan, just got back from a cruise and provided these pictures from his trip as he departed the Galveston ship channel. This is a neat perspective from the deck of a huge cruise ship. It looks considerably different from a little 18 foot fishing boat.

Here's a view of the North Jetty in Galveston. My limited saltwater fishing experience has centered around the North and South Jetty. The huge ships and strong currents make this area an interesting and sometimes daunting place to navigate. I have a great deal of respect for the water but especially in this area. The wake from some of the ships passing through this channel makes me wish for a bigger boat.

I have caught several fish near the orange weather station located in the center of this picture which is on the channel side of the jetty. The depth of the water near the jetty on the channel side is approximately 35 feet and about 25 feet on the Gulf side. If you look closely, you can see the top of a sail boat that was just recently wrecked in the rocks on the channel side of the jetty.

Here's the tip of the North Jetty. Also a great fishing spot especially in the spring and the fall. One of the popular Galveston fishing guides anchors right at the tip of the jetty and positions his boat so he can fish both the channel and Gulf side of the jetty. The currents are usually strong near the end of the jetty, so I usually prefer not to anchor there but I believe the constant movement of water makes it a good fishing spot. Crystal Beach can be seen in the far background of the picture. I have never ventured close to the beachfront mostly because it is really shallow (about 5 feet) even one mile from shore but I understand it can be fun in the summer for trout and sharks.

Here's a great picture of the Galveston Yacht Basin (GYB) which is where we launch the boat. It's a great place to start and end the day. Seeing these pictures makes me wish I could make it down to Galveston soon for some fishing, but it will likely be a few months.

April 5-6, 2008

I fished the North Jetty on Saturday and had a good day with 3 large gafftops, a small bonnethead shark, 2 large sheepshead (about 5 pounds each) along with a 24 pound black drum. Crab for the drum and shrimp for the other fish. The wind was gusting until around noon and then things calmed down to normal. The water temp had warmed to 72 degrees which in my opinion is part of the reason the black drum bite was very slow. But, I also have learned that once the water temp starts to hover around 70, the fish start to return from offshore to the beachfront and jetties.

I decided to leave the larger gear in the truck on Sunday and used smaller spinning reels and a baitcaster. Wow, what a great morning at the South Jetty. Using live shrimp, I landed and kept 5 Sheepshead up to 5 pounds, 1 Black Drum at 5 pounds and 9 Spanish Mackerel up to 24 inches. I released another 5 Spanish Mackerel that were in the 16-18 inch range using a silver spoon and one bonnethead shark that would not give up. The Spanish Mackerel liked shrimp under a popping cork or free-lined and the Sheepshead were caught bottom bumping live shrimp in about 16 feet of water very close to the rocks on the Gulf side of the South Jetty. Most of the boats around me seemed to also be catching plenty of fish.

This was my first solo trip to Galveston. Of course, I promised Dawn that I'd wear the life jacket the entire time and I kept my promise. Even though my boat and battery is only two years old, I had a completely dead battery when I tried to fire up the motor after about 4 hours of fishing. I had the GPS on the entire time and I also had the aerator on the entire time. Not sure if the battery was weak or just too much use. Anyway, I was fairly close to the rocks and the tide was pulling me toward the rocks. I signaled to a nearby boat that was pulling anchor to see if they would mind pulling me away from the rocks a little more just in case my anchor slipped while I attempted to rig and then pull start my motor. I also had a pair of emergency oars on board, but that could be tough on an 18 foot boat and a strong current. The owner of the 24 foot Wellcraft also launched from the Yacht Basin and volunteered to tow me and I accepted the offer. I could barely get the young man to accept any money when we made it to the Yacht Basin. He finally accepted a very small token of my appreciation and asked me just to pass along a kind gesture to someone else next time I'm on the water. I will certainly pass it on. I sure did appreciate the tow after a great day on the water.

View While Being Towed