October 8-9, 2013

Date: 10/8 and 10/9/2013
Location:  Galveston Jetties
Air Temp: 75-82
Water Temp: 77
Water Clarity:  clear
Winds: 5-10 mph
Seas: calm
Bait: dead shad and live shrimp

Had a great time hosting my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and his wife to their first saltwater fishing trip.  The weather was great and the fishing was good on both days.  We targeted redfish and ended up catching a nice variety of fish on both days.

 

On the first day, I took my sister and her husband and we ended the day with 5 big redfish going from about 17 to 22 pounds and all were about 34 to 36 inches.  We also caught whiting, sand trout, flounder, hard head catfish and numerous large gafftop catfish.  We lost several fish which cut the line on the small reels and was likely Spanish mackerel.  It was a great to watch my family fighting the big bull redfish.

 

On day two, I took out my nephew and his wife and we caught one big redfish, about 18 pounds, several Spanish mackerel, some sheepshead, black tip sharks, and of course, catfish. The fishing was a little slower on day two, but it was still great to be out on the water.

 

I am already looking forward to them coming back the next time they get a chance so we can head back down to the saltwater for some fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 6, 2013

Date: 7/6/2013
Location: Pelican Island Bridge
Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 84
Water Clarity: stained
Winds: 15-20 mph
Seas: choppy with white caps
Bait: squid, dead shad and live caught croakers and shad

Made the trek from Austin to Galveston this past weekend for a little family time. We knew the winds would be pumping, but it was our only open weekend for several weeks so we decided to give it a shot anyway.

We made the turn near the Coast Guard Station and decided it was way too rough to try the jetties and played it safe by heading to the Pelican Island bridge. There were several boats there already likely for the same reason - to find some protected water.

We started out with some dead shad soaking on the larger reels and tried squid on a few bait reels. It wasn't long before my wife caught some perfect bait size croakers and we put two of them on the big reels. We noticed that shad were surrounding us and the Pelicans were having a field day, so my daughter tossed the cast net and caught about 20 small shad and on the next cast she caught about 6 large shad. The small shad were good for catching a few sand trout and we saved the larger shad for a little later.

Whatever attacked the first large croaker threw the hook in deep water after a good 2-3 minute fight. It wasn't long before we had another Okuma reel singing and this time my daughter caught what was likely her 30th bull red. As always, it was good fun to watch her fight the red. After a few quick pictures and venting, the red was released to fight another day.

We then decided to free line one of the large live shad. It didn't take long for a shark to bite the shad in half and never touch the hook, so I put another live shad on the 8/0 circle hook. This shad was pretty active for several minutes, but then the line really started to move and I knew he was likely trying to avoid something and then it was Fish On. I started clearing rods and my daughter got on the rod and gave it a nice steady pull to hopefully set the circle hook. While clearing rods, I barely got a glance of what appeared to be about 3-4 foot fish jump about 20 yards behind the boat. My daughter saw the fish jump and confirmed it was definitely not a spinner shark and was too large for a ladyfish and says it had to be a tarpon. Based on the noise and splash, I bet she was right. He tossed the hook, but it was still fun to be hooked up for only a minute or two.

Had a little illness in the family on Sunday, so we decided to stay off the water and just enjoy a little time on the island. Good fun with the family and already looking forward to another trip this summer once we all have a chance.

 

 

May 11-12, 2013

Location: Galveston Jetties
Air Temp: 70-84
Water Temp: 74
Water Clarity: 6 out of 10
Winds: 5-15 mph
Seas: calm, choppy and rollers to 3-4 feet depending on location
Bait: live shrimp and cut mullet

It was fun to get back on the water with two of my good fishing buddies:  Allan and Alan.  My daughter says I'm not good with names, so I pick friends with the same name, but that's not completely true (ha, ha).  These guys have been fishing with me since I started saltwater fishing about 7 years ago, and we always have a good time.

 

After driving about 3 hours on Saturday morning, I heard a noise coming from the boat trailer and that is never a good sign.  We exited the loop around Houston and sure enough, one of tires was just about ready to come apart.  We found a safe place in a parking lot to change the tire and were on our way after dealing with some rusty lugs and studs on the wheel and a rusty mounting bolt that made removing the spare a little tricky.  Oh, well, I guess I will put the WD-40 back in the plastic bin that goes with me on every trip next time I use it at home.  We used the parking lot of a brake place and one of my buddies borrowed a little WD-40 which made the job easier.

 

We got on the water around 11:00 AM on Saturday and had good fun catching and releasing some bull reds at the North Jetty along with several sharks and of course, we managed to catch a few elusive hard head and gafftop catfish.

 

On Sunday, we decided to hit the South jetty and try for some trout or sheepshead based on some intel provided by guide:

Capt.Chris Hayes
Reel Safaris Charters
reelsafarischarters.com
832-425-1482

that was in the slip next to us at the Yacht Basin.  The info he provided was good, because we almost filled the cooler with sheepshead from that location along with a 25" slot red from the day before caught in an area where I typically catch sand trout, sand trout, whiting, a croaker and two large, slimy gafftops.  We released 5 bull reds that ranged from about 20-25 pounds.  The sharks were trolling both jetties and we probably released about 8-10 sharks (mostly sharpnose and one bonnethead).

 

Great to be back on the water with good friends.

 

Which one would you use? I knew the pink one would be cleaner.  I made the right choice even if it did cost me some ribbing.

 

 

April 13-14, 2013

Location: Galveston - North Jetty and Pelican Island Bridge
Air Temp: 65-78
Water Temp: 69
Water Clarity: 1-2 feet
Winds: 5-25 mph
Seas: choppy to 3-4 feet
Bait: live shrimp and cracked crabs

Hosted two friends from church to their 2nd saltwater fishing trip with me.  One friend has been taking me hunting the past few years, so I like to repay the favor with some time on the saltwater.  He is an avid hunter, but is still working on getting used to the waves and movement on the boat and had to deal with some sea sickness on both days.  The first day was rough with very choppy seas at the jetty and large swells, so we were not able to stay at the jetty very long and had to retreat to calmer water near the bridge.  At least my buddy was able to land a big, ugly black drum at the bridge which seemed to make him feel a little better.

 

On day two, the seas were still rocking early in the day from the wind the day before, but the wind calmed down and the seas started to calm too by about 9:30 AM.  We spent some time at the jetty and caught one big redfish, and lost one big fish.  We were not able to make it to the end of the North Jetty due to rough seas.  We wanted to fish the end of the jetty based on some intel regarding big redfish provided by a guide the day before at the Yacht Basin, but it was just too rough early in the day.  Once again, we opted for calmer waters in the channel, but the fishing was likely much slower than it would have been at the jetty.  We were able to finally get back into a sand trout spot that has been blocked for several months due to a large oil rig being dismantled.  The sand trout were still there and we caught and released a few.

 

On Saturday, we had a neat experience.  On our way from rough waters at the North Jetty over to the same conditions at the South Jetty, we spotted a large school of jack fish.  They were in the 20-30 pound range and we managed to get one cast using a large shrimp right in front of them, but no taker.  It was still fun sight casting to such a large school of fish.  They disappeared from the surface after moving about 50-100 yards.

Slow fishing but still good fun on the water and some good seafood at Casey's.

March 29-30, 2013

Location:  Galveston - North Jetty
Air Temp:  65-75
Water Temp: 64
Water Clarity: 1-2 feet
Winds:  5-15 mph
Seas: choppy to 2-3 feet
Bait:  live shrimp and cracked crabs

Fished this past Friday and Saturday with one of my toughest fishing buddies - my daughter.  This was our first saltwater trip together this year and it was a blast.  My daughter is the one that sets the alarm for 5:00 AM to make sure we get an early start on day 2 and that's what happened since we were launching the boat in the dark.

The target on Good Friday was big, black drum and we were not disappointed at the end of the day after landing 6 fish ranging from 18 to 38 pounds.  We also tossed some live shrimp in the rocks and landed and released several sheepshead, but most of the fishing time was spent on the big drum.  Our odd catch of the day was a small sea turtle that liked the cracked crab.  He had the circle hook down pretty deep, so I had to cut the steel leader.  Hope he does ok.

On Saturday, we arrived at the Yacht Basin at 6:15 AM and launched the boat in the dark.  It was fun getting on the water so early and made for a neat boat ride out to the rocks in dim light.  The water was calmer on Saturday, so the ride out to the jetty went by fast and we were set up for our target of sheepshead in no time.  We usually catch-n-release, but decided to keep some fish this trip on day 2 so there was a little competition before the day even started to see who could help fill the cooler with fresh fish.

We caught and released one more big black drum bringing the total to 7, tagged two nice redfish at 29 and 30 inches, and kept 8 sheepshead.  One of the reds had a huge 16/0 circle hook in the corner of his mouth and he was caught on a small J hook.

It was great getting on the water early because we had several hundred yards on both sides of the boat for a while.  Then the "googans" woke up and showed up and started crowding us around 9:00 AM especially when they saw a rod bending and heard drag screaming.  Ok, it wasn't that bad and we were not catching $5,000 fish like one of my favorite shows, but it does amaze me how some choose a fishing spot.

 

March 2-3, 2013

Location: Galveston - Pelican Island Bridge and North Jetty
Air Temp: 50-64
Water Temp: 58
Water Clarity: Stained
Winds: 20+ on day 1 and  calm to 10+ on day 2
Bait: live shrimp, cracked crabs and crawfish

Hosted a father/son duo (Patrick and Joseph) from my church to a Galveston fishing trip this past weekend.  We knew Saturday was going to be tough conditions with cold weather and high winds, but decided to make the trip anyway since Sunday was forecasted to be much nicer with warmer temps and calmer winds and seas.

On Saturday, we played it safe and fished in the ship channel rather than going into the open bay or near the open Gulf by the jetties. Even with poor fishing conditions, we still managed to catch a few big black drum ranging from 24-36 pounds and some small sand trout.  Both black drum were caught during a slow outgoing tide when we arrived at the Pelican Island bridge.

On Sunday, we were greeted with very calm winds in the morning and the winds picked up during the day.  We started the day in about 27 feet of water on the channel side of the North Jetty with a double hook-up and landed two large black drum.  I was hoping this meant the bite was going to be on, but it was slow so we eventually decided to move to the gulf side of the North Jetty to try for some sheepshead with the option of more black drum.  While venturing out to the end of the North Jetty, I spotted "Capt. Dave", a fellow fisherman from a fishing forum, and stopped by to say hello to him and his dog, Klever.  It was nice to finally meet him and get a quick report of the fishing in that area.  He had his limit of redfish from the early morning and was going for sheepshead right against the rocks of the jetty.

 

We moved down the jetty about 50-75 yards away and also landed a few sheepshead.  They are really fun to catch on light tackle.  After seeing Capt. Dave catch a black drum from the back of his boat away from the rocks, I also decided we needed to get some crab out for some possible action and I'm glad we did.  We caught two more big, black drum ranging from about 20 pounds to 38 pounds.  It was good fun watching the father/son duo battle these big fish.  The fishing was good and we had a great time on the water.  

We enjoyed some great seafood from Casey's for dinner on Saturday night.

Here are a few pics from a fellow fisherman: Capt. Dave.