March 28-29, 2015

Date:  March 28 & 29, 2015
Location:  Galveston – North Jetty
Air Temp:  65-73
Water Temp: 66
Depth:  10-34 feet
Water Clarity:  Range of Clear to Muddy
Winds:  10-15+ mph
Seas: calm to choppy
Bait:  live shrimp, dead shrimp and fresh blue crabs

Made the trip from Austin to Galveston for some more action on the big uglies (black drum) and also wanted to have some fun on light tackle with sheepshead since it is also that time of year where they are all over the rocks at the jetty.

My long time friend and fishing buddy, Alan, joined me for the trip.  We were hoping to make it a father/son trip, but our sons had other stuff going on and did not make it this time so we will have to shoot for it again in the future.  It had been a while since the two of us made a trip and it was good to catch up on politics, rocket science, global warming and the lack of traffic around Austin.  Ok, not really, but we did catch up on the usual stuff:  fishing, family and faith.

I usually stay on Galveston island and launch from the Yacht Basin, but decided to mix it up this time and launch for the first time from the Texas City Dike to see how the ramps, parking, fee, trip to jetties and knuckleheads at the boat ramp compared.  The ramps, dock area, parking and fee was as good or better ($15 less per day on the TCD) than the Yacht Basin and the run to the North Jetty only seemed a little longer from the Dike.  Knuckleheads are everywhere and I somehow found a few at the Dike that thought is was appropriate to sit at the bottom of the ramp and block anyone else from launching for far longer than it should take.  Even by myself, I can probably back the truck down, hop on the boat, move the boat to a dock out of the way, tie up the boat, then move the truck from the ramp in about 5 minutes.  While waiting in line, and after putting my boat back on trailer and getting out of the way on Sunday afternoon, I saw one boat that took up the ramp area for at least 20-30 minutes.  “Here’s your sign.”  The only negative I found was the shallow channel leaving the ramp area at low tide.  The channel is not very wide and I may have somehow missed the deeper part, but there was a short stretch that was 1.5 to 2 feet deep which is little shallow for my deeper V hull boat, but no worries other than likely pulling some sediment into the water cooling system of the engine which hopefully did not cause damage.

The weather was nice both days, but the winds did create a steady chop at certain points during the weekend.  We found protected water on the Gulf side of the North Jetty once we had bounced around enough on the channel side.  It also gave us the opportunity to use the light tackle and have fun catching sheepshead.  We landed 9 black drum ranging from about 20-30 pounds using fresh blue crabs cracked into two pieces of bait per crab.  The action was much slower on the black drum than my trip a few weeks ago, but still fun since these fish were very active and pulled more drag than normal for a bull black drum.  On Saturday, we purchased the last quart of shrimp from a small bait shop beside Boyd’s (they were out) and those worked great for the sheepshead since we landed and released about 12-15.  On Sunday, no live shrimp so we only caught and released about 5-6 sheepies using dead shrimp.  A few of the sheepshead were in the 7+ pound range and put up a great fight on the light tackle.

When we stay on the island, we usually have Nick’s/Gaidos for dinner, but tried the Reef Seafood House in Texas City and the food was good, but not great.  The service was great, so no complaints at all about the service or the atmosphere of the restaurant.  May try another place next time just to keep mixing it up.  Always fun to make it out on the saltwater and already look forward to another trip.

Tight lines!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Reef Seafood House in Texas City

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

October 23-24, 2014

Location:  Port O’Connor
Air Temp:  65-82
Water Temp:  77
Depth:  20-36 feet
Water Clarity:  murky to clear green
Winds:  calm to 12 mph
Seas:  calm to choppy
Bait:  live shrimp, squid, and cut whiting

My wife made her first trip to POC with me.  We enjoyed the time together and I am thankful that she also loves being on the saltwater and likes fishing.  With both kiddos in college and doing their own thing, I think there will be more time to enjoy the saltwater together going forward and that’s a good thing for us.
 

I almost always fish on the weekend, so it was great to venture down to POC during the week, especially on Thursday since there was very little boat traffic.  Friday was almost like a weekend day with plenty of others fishing the jetties.  We stayed at Clark’s which was not crowded at all and probably only about 30% full on Thursday night.  It was nice to wake up on Friday morning and have the boat sitting in a slip right outside the room and it allowed us to get started early and be headed out to the open ocean and see the sunrise.  There is just something about the smell of the saltwater, the sound of the boat cutting through the water, the sea gulls, the dolphins and seeing the sun rise above the water that calms the spirit and makes me appreciate the many blessings in my life from God.
 

It had been a while since my wife had battled a 20 pound red, and we knew late October near the jetties would likely give her an opportunity and POC did not disappoint.  I am still learning some spots and gaining experience about POC since most of my saltwater experience has been in Galveston.  For my last trip, I knew fresh mullet was usually not available at the bait shops in POC, so I made a Fiesta stop in Austin and they actually had fresh mullet.  Well, this trip I decided to save the time and skip Fiesta hoping to catch more ladyfish like the last trip, but that plan did not work.  We tried several spots along the rocks to catch some bait, but none produced, so we finally headed to the end of the south jetty with live shrimp and squid and it took a while before my wife finally caught a nice whiting that we could use as cut bait.  It didn’t take long at all to entice a big redfish once the cut bait was in the water.  We lost the first red due to a pulled hook, but then my wife caught two and she insisted that I pull one in too near the end of the day.  It was fun to battle the reds near the rocks and since we were not planning on keeping any reds, the bigger the better.  The reds we caught were about 18-22 pounds and about 34-38 inches.
 

The winds really started to drop at the end of the first day and the bay was like glass around 5:30 PM.  The end of both jetties was still a little rough, so even though I had some luck at the end of the north jetty on the last trip and saw a few other boats do really well, we opted to fish the calmer water on the Gulf side of the south jetty on both days and landed one red on the back side of the jetties near Bird Island.  We started day two early and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise.  The fishing was good again with four bull reds, several small sharks, a huge sting ray, a few sheepshead, and several elusive hardheads and some large gafftop slimers.
 

We enjoyed some Cathy’s seafood on both days and may take a day trip in a few months just to look around POC again and have Cathy’s again.  My wife enjoyed POC and wants to go back, but said she also misses Galveston, so maybe that will be our next fishing trip together.

End of the first day. No wind and the bay was flat.

 

Sunrise on day 2.

The end of the south jetty on Friday.

 

 

Using a small J hook and squid on a light spinning reel to catch a bait fish and landed the 20 pound red below.

 

 

October 11-12, 2014

Location:  Port O'Connor
Air Temp:  70-85
Water Temp: 82
Depth:  15-32 feet
Water Clarity: average to clear green
Winds:  calm to 15 mph
Seas:  calm to choppy
Bait:  live shrimp and cut whiting and ladyfish

Redfish number 116 was landed this past weekend.  These are bull reds 28 inches or longer with about 95% being released to fight another day.

I usually fish Galveston this time of year for redfish, but we decided to make the easier drive to Port O’Connor to see if we could find some reds and other swimming species.  We fished several areas along the rocks and on the back side of the jetties in the bay near bird island and did find some reds, ladyfish, sheepshead, whiting, a 4 foot nurse shark and elusive hardhead and gafftop catfish.  I feel like I learn a little more about POC each time I make a trip there. 

My friends Alan and Ed joined me for this trip and we had a fun trip and caught some fish too.  We landed 5 reds, kept and tagged two just over the upper slot size of 28 inches, and likely lost two reds.  It wasn’t on fire, but it was still good fishing.  Ed claims to have the largest red (his personal best) just because it taped at about 40 inches and weighed about 24 pounds, but the pictures below tell a different story.  The 20 pound reds that Alan and I caught just look bigger, so we are calling for a rematch.

 

September 20-21, 2014

Location:  Port O'Connor
Air Temp:  70-88
Water Temp: 84
Depth:  9-32 feet
Water Clarity: very clear
Winds:  calm to 15 mph
Seas:  calm to choppy
Bait:  squid, live shrimp and cut ladyfish

I made the trip from Austin to POC with my favorite fisher girl.  She was ready for a break from school and I am always ready to get on the salt water.  The live shrimp was hard to come by on Saturday when we arrived around 10:30 AM, so we opted for some squid and then caught some ladyfish to use later as cut bait.  The ladyfish were mixed in with sheepshead, so we had fun catching both along the jetties.  Later in the day when the winds calmed, we used cut ladyfish on the back side of the jetties and my daughter caught 6 sharks and a huge sting ray.

On the second day, we used live shrimp along the rocks and had more fun catching about 35 ladyfish and sheepshead.  Several of the sheepshead were keeper size, but we rarely keep fish and decided not to this trip either.  We tried some spots for redfish, but did not find any on this trip.  It was two fun days on the water and we look forward to another break in our schedules to make another trip.

August 9-10, 2014

Location:  Port O'Connor
Air Temp:  70-98
Water Temp: 87
Depth:  15-32 feet
Water Clarity: clear
Winds:  calm to 15 mph
Seas:  calm to choppy
Bait:  live perch, live shrimp and cut ladyfish

I had the opportunity to fish with my best fishing buddy one last time before she started college this week, so I jumped at the opportunity.  My daughter started saltwater fishing with me in 2006, and she has really learned a lot over the last 8+ years.  The best part about going fishing with her is the chance to spend time together on the water without any of the usual distractions.  She is also great about waking me up at 5:00 AM to let me know the fish are waiting for us.  I am excited for her as she moves into this next chapter in her life, and her school is lucky to have such a great young lady on their campus.  I look forward to seeing her cheer at games and I hope we can still squeeze in a few fishing trips each year.

We left the Austin area early on Saturday morning headed for Port O’Connor instead of our usual Galveston destination.  I am glad to see Galveston doing so well since hurricane Ike messed things up a few years ago, but the prices for just about everything have also rebounded.  My usual hotel room for this time of year runs about $120, and it was over $200, and the boat launch fee increased from $10 to $20.  Plus, this time of year is really crowded in Galveston, so we made the trip to POC.  Even though there was a fishing tournament taking place, we still didn’t feel crowded on the water or off the water driving around the small town.

 

We were on the water on Saturday around 10:30 AM and live bait was hard to come by when we got there due to the tournament.  We opted for some live piggy perch and caught a few small sharks, a huge sting ray and some catfish.  The fishing was slow, but we still had fun.  We ended the day with a great dinner at Cathy’s, checked out the scenery and water at the local beach and turned in early so we could get an early start on Sunday.

 

Sunday started about 5:00 AM and since we were so close to the dock, we were launching about 45 minutes sooner than normal and way before sunrise.  We were able to get some live shrimp, almost bought a great looking Lab puppy at the bait shop, and then headed out to the big jetties in the dark at a slow speed with our navigation lights on.  We dropped the anchor before sunrise and began to test our patience.  After about 30 minutes of no action, we moved to the back side of the jetties into the bay in about 15 feet of water where we observed plenty of action by the diving birds on bait fish.  My daughter had fun catching plenty of cut bait (ladyfish) for us to use later in the day.  We then anchored along the rocks again and caught the one and only 32 inch redfish which was released (we rarely keep even the slot fish).  We chummed and caught several small sharks during the day, but nothing large.  The highlight of the day was seeing a 4-5 foot, 40 pound king fish explode out of the water about 100 yards behind our boat and in the general area where I was freelining a ladyfish.  The king went about 4-5 feet in the air and had the bait fish going crazy.  We also saw a small sting ray do the same thing, but his hang time was much less.

 

Always fun to get on the water and already look forward to doing it again.

 

At the dock checking out the moon.

 

 

 

 

July 11 & 13, 2014

Location:  Galveston
Air Temp:  78-92
Water Temp: 87
Depth:  10-32 feet
Water Clarity: clear
Winds:  calm to 10 mph
Seas:  calm
Bait:  live shrimp, cut mullet and squid

My daughter and I hosted Emily from Virginia to some Texas saltwater fishing. It was good to see childhood friends catching fish and having a good time on the water.  I enjoyed being bait boy and deckhand on the boat and fished the surf and caught some large whiting and released two slot black drum.  I fished the canal in Sea Isle at night, but could not entice the trout swimming in the lights with natural or artificial baits.

 

The conditions were great on both days with very calm seas and the temps were good for this time of year, but the fishing was a little slow, at least for anything big.  We fished the North Jetty, South Jetty, and the concrete ship with similar results at all three spots.  Both girls caught numerous croakers (about 60 total), a few small sharks, a lone sand trout and a few hardhead catfish.  I also missed a few Spanish mackerel using a popping cork rigged with a live shrimp.   

 

It was fun to get back on the water and I'm already looking forward to it again.

 

 

June 5-6, 2014

Location:  POC
Air Temp:  78-85
Water Temp: 84
Depth:  10-32 feet
Water Clarity: clear
Winds:  10-15 mph
Seas:  choppy
Bait:  live shrimp, cut whiting and squid
Rigging:  Carolina rig using 80# nylon coated wire, 7/0 circle hook and 1 to 5 oz. egg sinker above the swivel and Texas rig with small J hook for smaller fish

It sure was fun fishing with my Mom and my son in Port O'Connor on Thursday and Friday.  The wind made the fishing a little tough, but we adjusted and found some protected water both days.  We basically fished an incoming tide on both days and the fishing was better on Friday than it was on Thursday. 

We decided to make the trip to POC instead of Galveston to avoid the traffic around Houston since we would be hitting rush hour going down on Thursday and coming home on Friday.  It was a good choice because the traffic was a breeze going to POC.  We got on the water around 11:00 AM on Thursday and fished until about 5:30 PM, then enjoyed seafood at Cathy's.  On Friday morning, we got on the water around 7:00 AM and enjoyed the sunrise in the first picture below.

We landed a variety of fish which included a few bait fish and a large whiting that was kept, and we released a slot black drum, several sharks, several jack fish, a 25 pound redfish and of course, several, elusive, slimy, gafftop catfish.  We fished the big jetties and the bay on the  back side of the big jetties.  We found a school of jacks in about 10-15 feet of water close to the rocks at the jetty and they were really fun on light tackle.  We snagged a few that were too much for the light tackle, but landed the ones that were about 4-7 pounds.  Once the jacks moved on, we did too. 

We relocated to the back side of the big jetties and fished in about 32 feet of water and had fun catching sharks, another jack, slimy gafftops and finally a nice redfish.  We were about ready to call it day, so I kept one rod out while we cleaned up and broke down the tackle on most of the reels.  We had used squid to catch some bait fish, but I decided to toss out a whole squid on one of the medium reels.  It was a good call, because the reel started screaming in about 5 minutes.  My Mom fought the fish for about 5-10 minutes and we were playing the guessing game trying to figure out what it was.  It ran like a shark several times, but ended up being a nice, 25 pound redfish.  My Mom handled it like a pro and this fish became her personal best redfish.

It was fun to watch my son catch sharks and see my Mom catch the redfish.  We are already looking forward to another future trip.

 

 

 

 

These jacks were fun, but we are still talking about my Mom's first jack fish that she caught in the fall of 2012 that went 30 pounds and put up a heck of a fight.