Air Temp: 70-78
Water Temp: 72
Depth: 12-24 feet
Winds: SE 10-15 mph
Seas: choppy
Bait: Shad
A great family trip to the coast. We all needed a break and it was fun to spend time together as a family. We fished the Gulf side of the North Jetty near the sunken barge on Saturday and fished the Pelican Island Bridge on Sunday. We landed and released 4 bull reds with each one around 20 pounds, a few whiting, one hardhead, one shark and about 30 sand trout with a few healthy ones around 16"-18". We missed 3 other reds that were only hooked for a few minutes.
I really enjoyed catching a 20 pound red on light tackle. At one point, we were catching sand trout on almost every cast with a slow retrieve and bottom bumping action. I was using a 3/4 ounce jig head due to the strong current tipped with a small piece of shad. After catching several 12-14 inch sand trout, I had a strong bite and knew this was no small fish. I missed the first bite and casted back into the same area in about 14 feet of water. I let the bait hit the bottom then slowly lifted the rod tip and felt a steady pull and this time it was fish on. It was a good fight and took about 10 minutes to land the red. Good fun on light tackle and good practice for my next bass fishing trip on Lake Travis.
Another opportunity to pay it forward! My wife and daughter were able to help a fellow fisherman retrieve his boat. We were both launching at the same time at the Yacht Basin when his rope broke. The "runaway" boat was slowly drifting out from the ramp, and my wife was able to position our boat so my daughter could grab the rope still tied to the front of the boat. My wife backed our boat into the slip next to the ramp and some nice folks at the bait shop helped secure the other boat until the owner was able to hop on board.
