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!

November 14-15, 2009

Location: Galveston North Jetty and Pelican Island Bridge
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.

October 8-9, 2009

Location: Galveston Concrete Ship and Ship Channel
Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 83
Depth: 30-35 feet
Winds: Sustained at 20 mph and gusting to 25 mph
Seas: Very choppy
Bait: Shad

My father-in-law, Jim, from Ohio joined me and my fishing buddy Alan for a trip in some tough winds. The winds were too much for a trip out to the jetties (we tried despite the rough seas), so we stayed in the bay and the ship channel for some calmer water. I've always had better success this early in the bull red run at the jetties, but we still found some in the bay. We landed 4 bull reds ranging from 18-22 pounds, about 20 gafftop catfish, a few small croakers and a whiting. We lost 2 large fish (likely reds) due to break offs. We had a great time fishing and enjoyed some good food at Casey's.

September 26-27, 2009

Location: Galveston North & South Jetty
Air Temp: 85-90
Water Temp: 81
Depth: 20-34 feet
Winds: Light and Variable
Seas: Smooth to slightly choppy

It was a great 2nd Annual Daddy/Daughter fishing trip. We had a great time fishing and had an excellent dinner at Gaido's! It was fun watching the girls battle 20+ pound bull reds and small sharks. We tagged two bull reds and kept 3 slot reds, a shark and several gafftops. We are already looking forward to the next trip with the girls.