March 17 and 19, 2015

Date: March 17 and 19, 2015
Location: Galveston – North Jetty
Air Temp: 65-70
Water Temp: 65
Depth: 31 feet
Water Clarity: Good
Winds : Calm
Seas:  Calm
Bait:  Cracked Blue Crabs

We spent the week in Galveston and took a little spring break with the kiddos.  It was great to spend some family time together and I am always ready for an opportunity to get back on the saltwater.  We typically spend a week on the island during the summer and this was our first week long trip during March.  The weather was nice for this time of year even with some heavy fog and a little rain at some points during the week.  We spent some time on the beach, a little time on the boat, enjoyed the Houston rodeo and the Band Perry (they were excellent), and of course, had some great seafood.

My daughter and I fished the North Jetty on 3/17 and had a blast.  The fog was heavy in the morning, so we waited until around 10:30 AM to get on the water, which is a really late start for us, but it was worth the wait.  The fog lifted some, but remained for most of the day.  We were very careful in the fog and it was odd being on the water and not being able to see more than a few hundred yards during most of the day.  We both thought it was weird hearing the ships navigating the ship channel using their horns on a regular basis to make other boats aware of their presence, and never being able to see the ship even though it was passing by us within about a ½ mile.

The crabs I purchased on Sunday morning in Austin, were still alive and pinching (I have proof on my hand) on Tuesday morning and they were the perfect bait for the big, ugly, black drum hanging out around the jetty.  We fished a wreck marked on my GPS map and had a bite within about 15 minutes after anchoring and it was steady action for about 4-5 hours.  My daughter caught and released 11 black drum ranging in size from about 16-40 pounds, and we lost a few due to pulled hooks and one to a broken line.  Since the fish travel in schools, we had a few double hookups which is always fun with the extra challenge to keep the fish apart and prevent lines becoming tangled and breaking.

With the girls shopping and my son attending a wedding on Thursday, I decided to make a solo trip on Thursday, 3/19, out to the North Jetty again.  The seas were very calm, but the fog was thick again.  I only fished for about 4 hours and did manage to land three black drum with the largest one going about 40 pounds.  I also tried one of my favorite spots in the ship channel for sand trout to see if they were there and they were.  I landed 4 on dead shrimp in about 15 minutes and probably could have filled a cooler, but I was just doing some scouting for the future.