October 13-14, 2010

Location: Galveston Jetties
Air Temp: 65-83
Water Temp: 78
Depth: 20-27 feet
Wind: calm to 20 mph
Bait: cut mullet and live shrimp

This was my fourth annual fall fishing trip with my buddy Alan. We were hoping for some action with some big redfish and this trip was not great, but we did land 5 and lost a few. The winds were about 10-15 mph on Wednesday when we dropped the anchor about 10:30 AM near the boat cut on the channel side of the North jetty in about 27 feet of water. It didn't take long for a bull red to find our bait in a strong outgoing tide, but the action was slow compared to that same location a few weeks ago.

The winds were around 17 mph out of the North on Thursday morning which made for a bumpy and wet ride out to the South Jetty. We anchored with a few other boats on the Gulf side of the jetty in about 27 feet of water and managed one bull red and a few small sharks before we decided to try the North Jetty. Things were really slow with no tidal movement at the North Jetty, so we headed into the ship channel and had some fun with sand trout for about two hours. We must have caught and released 30+ sand trout.

Another great time on the water in Galveston.

September 25-26, 2010

Location: Galveston Jetties

Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 85
Depth: 27 feet
Wind: calm to 15 mph
Bait: cut mullet

I had planned to make the trip from Austin with a buddy and his brother, but plans changed due to the iffy weather conditions and one person prone to sea sickness. I took advantage of the open weekend and fished with my best fishing buddy - my daughter.

We made the long trip from Austin early Saturday morning and finally dropped the anchor about 11:00 AM just past the boat cut on the channel side of the North jetty in about 27 feet of water. It was a bumpy ride out to the jetty from the Yacht Basin, and choppy the entire day with stained water conditions but that did not discourage the big reds. My daughter caught her first of nine bull reds within about 15 minutes and it was good steady action until about 4:30 PM. We thought about trying another spot around 5:00 PM, but decided to call it a day, and have some Casey's for dinner.

We didn't get our usual early start on Sunday morning and missed the early super calm conditions. As we drove down the seawall, the Gulf looked great with only small rolling waves. Within about 15 minutes, the wind started from the north, but it was still not as bumpy or choppy on Sunday. We started at the North Jetty again and added number 10 and 11 bull reds to the 4-digit fish counter that my daughter bought me for my birthday. Not sure I'll need more than two digits on the counter but it's nice to dream. Anyway, the action slowed at the North Jetty and it turned into hardhead and gafftop action so we decided to move to the South Jetty. We anchored on the Gulf side near the end of the jetty in about 25 feet of water and it was slow for about an hour. Then number 12 bull red took a huge mullet head and had the Okuma singing (Z Z Z Z Z Z Z) and once again I enjoyed seeing my daughter take care of business. It was slower, but she did catch two more big reds to end the trip with 14 bull reds and one agressive Atlantic Sharpnose shark.

What a fun weekend!

June 22-25, 2010

We had a great time on our annual family vacation in Galveston. The weather was perfect - hot with mostly calm seas. We spent several days on the beach and also made 3 boat fishing trips to the bay and north jetty. We rented a nice canal home in Sea Isle, and I had great fun catching and releasing trout at night. I threw the cast net in the canal and tried piggies and live shrimp, but only managed small trout with live bait. The larger trout came with plastics and a small top water silver Rapala. It was really cool to cast just outside the two halogen spots with a few twitches on the Rapala, hear the blow up and then feel the tug of a nice trout. The largest trout was right at 24".

Our trips to the North Jetty consisted of numerous Spanish mackerel, a few small sharks, several large whiting and one lone flounder. My mom and daughter were having a ball on our second trip to the jetties with the Smacks. They were using live shrimp under a popping cork and it was usually only a few seconds after the bait would hit the water when the cork would go screaming underwater. It was constant for about two hours and we could have filled a cooler with Smacks, but all were released.

I have only been saltwater fishing for a little over four years, but I learned quickly to keep a good distance from other boats when they are "on" the fish and I especially keep a good distance when I see a fishing guide with clients. I did not receive that same treatment from a local Galveston guide that was trying to "Get Hooked" by anchoring far to close to my boat when my mom and daughter were catching nice Spanish mackerel on almost every cast. The guide did half-way apologize and said something about not being able to control the wind. After running over the exact spot where most of our action was coming from, our action died for about 30 minutes and then we started catching again but not at the same pace. Oh well, nothing to get too excited about but it did help me if I ever decide to hire a guide in Galveston.

June 12-13, 2010

Date: Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13, 2010
Location: Galveston Ship Channel
Air Temp: 85-90
Water Temp: 85
Wind: 15-20+ mph
Bait: live shrimp and live croakers

Even though the winds were predicted to be tough, my buddy Allan and I made the trip to Galveston and still had a great time. I was hoping for a trip out to the jetties for some Spanish mackerel, trout, sheepshead and sharks, but the seas were too rough and we had to stay close to the ship channel.

We fished a top secret location (ok, not really as you can see from the background) near Seawolf Park known as the concrete ship or the S.S. Selma: http://www.crystalbeach.com/selma.htm
I also donated my favorite anchor to the Selma.

We caught and released 6 bull reds (redfish) on Saturday and all were about 20 pounds. We were catching small croakers on the light reels and then baiting the larger reels with the live 4-6 inch croakers. The redfish were pounding the live croakers and we even lost a few circle hooks deep inside the redfish. We also landed and released a few small sharks and had about a 5 minute fight with what had to be a 100+ pound shark that eventually ran around the end of the Selma and cut my line. It was good fun while it lasted.

The winds were still howling on Sunday morning, so we decided to try for some sand trout in the ship channel. We caught about 15 and kept a few that were large enough to eat. Allan also caught a 3-4 pound gafftop catfish that hit the cooler for his neighbors.

As always, we enjoyed some Casey's for dinner on Saturday night. It was a great weekend on the water with a great friend.

May 8-9, 2010

Date: Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9, 2010
Location: Galveston Ship Channel
Air Temp: 75-80
Water Temp: 76
Wind: 15-20 mph
Bait: live shrimp, cut shad and Mirror Image Darting Shad

Made a daddy/daughter trip to Galveston since the wife and son could not make it. Saturday was slow with only about 10 fish caught, but Sunday was "fish on" most of the day. Kat caught and released 60 fish (33 sand trout and 27 gafftop up to 6 pounds). I was too busy baiting and releasing, so I had to stick with a soft plastic and caught 7 sand trout verses 33 with live shrimp.

It was a great way to spend the weekend with my daughter and I look forward to another trip in the future.

April 10-11, 2010

Date: Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11, 2010
Location: Galveston North Jetty and Ship Channel
Air Temp: 65-75
Water Temp: 75
Wind: 15-20 mph on Saturday afternoon
Wind: 5-15 mph on Sunday
Seas: Very choppy
Bait: live crab and live shrimp

My doubles racquetball partner for the last 6 years, Tom, was able to join me for his first saltwater trip this past weekend. We left Austin around 6:00 AM and arrived on the island around 9:30 AM on Saturday morning. I knew the tournament would be taking place at the Yacht Basin, so I was in no hurry but I sure didn't want to wait until 2:30 PM to get on the water. There was only a predicted 10% chance of rain for Saturday, but we watched a huge cloud approaching and decided to wait it out and give the tournament guys a chance to get out of the storm before adding to the congestion at the ramp. The rain storm finally passed and we made it to the North Jetty at about 2:45 PM. We dropped the live blue crabs in 35 feet of water with an incoming tide and a current of about 1.0 kts near the north jetty boat cut. It was "fish on" in about 10 minutes with steady action for about 3 hours. We released 9 black drum ranging from 18 to 36 pounds.

Sunday morning started out with clear skies and much calmer winds, so we headed out to the north jetty to be greeted with 3-4 foot waves in the ship channel with calmer conditions once we got close to the jetty. The fishing was slow with only one 20 pound drum during the hour we stayed at the jetty. We decided to head back in the Yacht Basin and picked up some live shrimp to see if the the sand trout were still around.

We went into one of the large empty barge slips in the channel and started catching sand trout right away along with one redfish just under 20". We kept 24 sand trout from about 12"-16" and tossed back about 15 more. It was fun tossing a shrimp Carolina rigged into about 20 feet and catching one fish after another. Sometimes the sand trout would bite as soon as the bait hit the water during the fall and other times a few jigs would create the strike.

As usual, enjoyed some great food at Casey's!

March 13-14, 2010

Date: Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, 2010
Location: Galveston North Jetty, South Jetty and Ship Channel
Air Temp: 60-70
Water Temp: 60-64
Wind: 10-20 mph on Saturday and calm to 10 mph on Sunday
Seas: Range of flat to choppy
Bait: live crab for the black drum and live shrimp for sheepshead

Caught and released 6 black drum ranging from 20 to 50 pounds on Saturday using live blue crabs near the boat cut in about 35 feet of water at the North Jetty. The action started around 9:30 AM and shut off completely at around 12:30 PM when the tide started to change and the current in the channel stopped moving. The winds also picked up considerably around 1:00 PM, so we ventured into the ship channel and caught some sand trout in one of the barge slips. Tried another slip for some flounder but nada!

Sunday morning was flat calm, so we picked up some live shrimp hoping for some sheepshead action at the South Jetty. It wasn't fast and furious, but we did manage to box 4 nice sized sheepshead and lost a few. We fished close to rocks near the end of the jetty on the Gulf side close to the foundation where the lighthouse (I think) used to be. We either free lined shrimp or used a small egg Texas rigged. Lost some tackle, but it was necessary to stay in the rocks to get the bites. Moved over to the North Jetty after noon and tried crabs again near the boat cut with no luck for about an hour.

As always, enjoyed some good laughs and great food at Casey's!