September 25-26, 2012

Location: Galveston North Jetty and Pelican Island Bridge
Air Temp: 75-88
Water Clarity: Good
Winds: 10-15+ mph
Bait: live shrimp and live caught bait fish
No large fish were harmed on this trip

My mom made the trip from Virginia to visit in September to see some cheerleading and do some fishing in Galveston instead of making the usual Thanksgiving visit.

 

We made the drive from Austin to Galveston and spent two fun days on the water.  The fishing was good.  It was windy so some of our options were limited but we still found some calmer waters with good water clarity.  On day one, my mom had fun catching two 3-4 foot blacktip sharks and a 14 pound 32 inch redfish at the North Jetty.  We tried one of my favorite locations on the channel side of the jetty but it was a little too rough, so we fished the calmer side of the jetty out near the end.

 

On day two, my mom caught several croakers and sand trout fishing with light spinning gear close to the rocks.  She also caught a nice 28 inch red on the light gear which was good fun to watch as she did the dance around the boat. We also caught a bunch of mangrove snapper in the ship channel near some structure.  They were fun on light tackle and we could have filled a cooler, but we decided to see if we could find something bigger.  

Before calling it a day, we decided to try the Pelican Island bridge and I'm glad we did.  We still had a few huge live shrimp left, so I put the largest two in the live well on a couple of my smaller bait casting reels.  After only a few minutes, one of the rods at the back of the boat had some serious bending action going on and Mom was on it like a pro.  I could tell this was going to be a big fish.  The fish circled the boat at least 3-4 times and pulled out about 50 yards of line a few times during the 20-25 minute fight.  I pitched in a couple of times to help wear out whatever we had and we were both hoping we would get to see what was putting up such a fight.  Finally, we saw a yellow tale swirl just under the water near the boat and I confirmed we had a Crevalle Jack also known as a Jackfish.  This big fish pulled the boga scale down to 30 pounds, but anyone that has ever caught one of these will know the scale doesn't do justice to such a great fighting fish.  Great way to end the day and the trip.

 

 

September 1-3, 2012

My daughter and I made a trip to Port O'Connor for the long weekend.  The trip down was an adventure and took longer than normal, so we decided to stay an extra night and fish on Sunday and Monday morning too.  On the trip down to POC, we had a blown tire on the trailer and made it to a Walmart using our spare tire, but decided not to chance not having a spare so it took a little while to get another tire and mount the spare back on the trailer.  Oh well, just part of the adventure.  

I usually fish the waters in Galveston and have only been to POC two other times with limited success on both trips.  Well, this trip was like the other two - limited fishing success.  The winds were stiff each day which reduced some of the fishing options especially since I don't know the bays around POC at all and didn't want to lose a lower unit in some shallow spot.  We primarily fished the big jetties and mostly the back side in the bay near Bird Island.  We saw a few bull reds landed but none for us.  We caught sharks, whiting, a few small gafftops and of course, the elusive hardhead catfish (moved to get away from them).  We did have a few UFOs that peeled line and either slipped the hook or broke the line.  One of the unidentified fish was in the intercoastal waterway in a large barge slip in about 20 feet of water and was likely a black drum or sheepshead based on the surrounding structure.  The fish hit my daughter's line hard and went for a fast run into some pilings and the short steel leader was not enough to keep the fish from cutting the line.

Even though the fishing was slow, we still had a great time being out on the water.  I do not take for granted that my time fishing with my daughter could be limited, so any time we spend on the water is always a bonus.  I hope she fishes with me until I'm 90, but you never know.

A few of the sharks (sharpnose and bonnetheads) were very active and some of the largest we have ever caught, so I released them on the side of the boat.  We did catch one shark small enough for a photo op.

We netted one struggling bull red (about 20 pounds) that had been caught in about 30 feet of water by someone that failed to "vent" the fish.  The distended air bladder prevented the fish from going back down, so it was floating on its side.  We vented the fish and it revived rather quickily and swam away hopefully to live another day and help make lots of little redfish.

July 9 -13, 2012

We had a great time on our annual family vacation in Galveston last week. We rented a small home on one of the main canals in Sea Isle, and I fished almost every night and made two trips in the boat to the jetties.

I registered my daughter and myself for the CCA tournament this year for the first time.  We were excited whenever we got a redfish near the net because it could be the fish that wins a 2012 F150 and a 23 foot boat.  We plan to make another trip before the tournament ends in early September to try our luck again.  You never know!!

Night Fishing

I brought my own halogen light and that seemed to work the best even though there were two underwater green lights within casting distance. The trout in the underwater lights spooked very easily and would not strike a live bait or artificial very hard. I tried casting several feet outside of the light with various retrieves and nothing seemed to work. I finally did catch two barely keeper sized trout using a small top water silver Rapala near the underwater lights.  I also used 10# Berkley fluorocarbon as a leader and it also helped produce strikes.  Berkley says it "has a similar refractive index to water, so fish can't see it" and I have to agree.  My hookup ratio definitely increased when I added about 3 feet of fluorocarbon leader. 

The fish feeding in the halogen light were very agressive and would hit very hard. On one of the best nights, I landed and released about 8-10 keeper sized trout and a few small dinks along with 4-5 redfish (all about 16-18") just under the slot.  I also caught a fat 18" flounder using a live piggy perch that was intended for some reds that were cruising. On the one night I decided to keep a few fish, I had a tough time keeping the fish hooked since I was using a very small hook.  After losing 2-3 nice fish, I finally did catch an 18" and 20" speck that hit the frying pan back in Austin.

Day Fishing

We ventured out to the North and South jetty twice during the week and considered a third trip but decided to play it safe and headed back to Sea Isle after seeing lightening in several directions. We did get caught in one thunderstorm and got soaked coming from the North Jetty back to the Yacht Basin. My daughter was a good sport and agreed we stayed about 10 minutes too long on the water. The storms had been running over toward Texas City, but this one turned and dumped a bunch of rain on us. We caught and released about 40 fish which included sand trout, croakers, large gafftops, several sharks (sharpnose and a few blacktips - I think) and one UFO.

Good fun with the family.

May 28-29, 2012

Location: Galveston North Jetty
Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 82
Depth: 10-28 feet
Water Clarity: stained
Winds: 15+ mph
Bait: live shrimp and live caught bait fish
My daughter and I made a trip to Galveston for what used to be an annual Daddy/Daughter trip that has now turned into a 2-3 times per year trip. My daughter really loves to fish and she's not picky, so we usually target one or two species based on the time of year and then we hit it hard for two days and just have fun. She thinks it's about the fishing and I just take advantage of spending some good, quality time with her. Well, the weatherman had predicted some lighter winds later in the Memorial Day weekend but that's not exactly what we found when we made the trip from Austin and made it to the island on Sunday and Monday. When we left the Yacht Basin and turned the corner near the Coast Guard station on Sunday around 10:00 am, I could tell that the jetty fishing would likely be limited. We first tried the South Jetty and the Gulf side was not fishable and the channel side was almost as rough with poor water clarity too. We then moved to the North Jetty and it was too rough to go around the end, so I moved back down to the boat cut and made our way out to the end on the Gulf side. The water was in decent shape and we caught small sharks and croakers. I must have anchored too close to the rocks near the end of the North Jetty and lost my fairly new anchor and chain ($$). I pulled out the back up anchor/chain and we backed off of the rocks and proceeded to have fun with small sharks. Since it looked like the sharks would be biting on day 2, we ventured into the ship channel to catch some bait and ended up catching several perch, sand trout and 1 speckled trout (released) so we were all set for bait on day two.

We headed out early on Memorial Day to find the winds calmer early in the day, but the water conditions had not improved much. The winds also picked up at the jetty around 9:00 AM and we had a tough time staying anchored with my back up anchor and shorter chain. We moved back down the jetty near the sunken barge on the Gulf side and anchored about 200 yards back from the rocks since the boats were already lining the rocks. After putting some chum in the water, the small sharks started to move in and we caught 5 small sharpnose and 1 blacktip (I think). We decided to try the concrete ship, but the current/winds were too strong and I was not able to anchor there. We then tried the Pelican Island Bridge without any luck. I anchored on the bay side and at least 150 yards from the bridge and lost anchor number 2. We decided to call it a day and enjoyed the ride back to Austin. Not one of our best trips when it comes to fishing, but still a great time and lots of fun. 

  

March 31 and April 1, 2012

Location: Galveston North Jetty
Air Temp: 70-82
Water Temp: 74
Depth: 10-35 feet
Water Clarity: very clear
Winds: 10 -15 mph
Bait: live shrimp, live caught bait fish and cracked blue crabs

We had two beautiful days on the water and winds were calmer than expected early in the day on Sunday, so we were able to make it out to the North Jetty on both days.  Both sides of the jetty were fishable on Saturday, but Sunday was too rough for us on the channel side out near the end of the jetty.  With the rough seas and huge wakes from some of the ships, I was hoping the few boats on the channel side would not have an anchor slip because they would have been on the rocks in no time flat since the tide and current was pulling them directly to the jetty.

My daughter has learned to catch small bait fish when the action is slow to increase our odds of catching something big and her plan worked well.  She asked to be rigged up with a single drop, small hook and small piece of cut bait.  She pulled about an 8 inch croaker from the rocks and we tossed him out behind the boat with a small egg sinker to give him plenty of opportunity to swim.  I would toss him directly behind the boat and away from the rocks and he would slowly make his way back to the rocks for saftey from predator fish.  Well, it didn't take long for the croaker to attract a nice Cobia (45 inches and 32 pounds) caught by my friend Alan.  It was a good fight to watch and ended with the fish landed in a few minutes.  We were only planning to catch and release, so the boat next to us had also caught a Cobia, so we added to their catch. 

The fishing was good, but no big black drum again. We tried near the boat cut for about 30-45 minutes without a single bite, but did donate an anchor to one of ship wrecks (I guess) marked on my GPS about 75 yards off the rocks. We caught croakers, whiting, sand trout, sheepshead, a few small sharks, Spanish mackerel, a stingray on an artifical (my first) and had two small reels start singing with whatever was hooked headed to the open Gulf. We tried to pull the anchor and chase one down before my daughter's small spinning reel was spooled, but the line broke just as we started the chase. My guess would be shark or jack fish on one and possibly a large sting ray on the other. That's the stuff that keeps you coming back.

March 24-25, 2012

Location: Galveston Jetties
Air Temp: 70-82
Water Temp: 72
Depth: 10-35 feet
Water Clarity: clear
Winds: 10 mph on day 1 and calm to 5 mph on day 2
Bait: live shrimp and cracked blue crabs

I hosted a friend and his father to a typical late March trip to Galveston this past weekend. We had two beautiful days on the water with very little wind and very calm seas both days. Sunday reminded me of a summer day on the water except it wasn't 95 degrees - it was perfect.

It was too tempting for many fishermen, so the end of the jetty was packed especially on the Gulf side.The fishing was good but not great and the big black drum had lockjaw for the second weekend in a row - at least in the areas where I've had success in the past near the boat cut.

We tossed live shrimp on the rocks Carolina rigged and free lined and both worked about the same for the variety we caught. We released about 8-10 sheepshead and two rat reds and boxed two slot black drum, one slot red, a few sand trout and a few Spanish mackerel.As usual, we enjoyed some Casey's for dinner on Saturday night and had a good trip back to Austin on Sunday night.

March 17-18, 2012

Location: Galveston North Jetty
Air Temp: 70-76
Water Temp: 70

Depth: 20-35 feet

Water Clarity: stained

Winds: 10-15 on day 1 and 15+ mph on day 2

Bait: live shrimp and cracked blue crabs

We had another fun family trip to Galveston.  The fish were not biting like usual, but it was still great to be out on the water.  We caught one large 38 pound black drum, a slot black drum, an upper slot red and lost a couple of nice fish (likely reds) in the rocks, about 15 piggy perch and one huge sand trout.  Our targeted species was the black drum, but we just could not find a bite.  We tried the boat cut at the North Jetty and tried in the ship channel near the Pelican Island bridge on Sunday to get out of the wind, but nada.  I was tempted and should have tried the Gulf side of the North Jetty for sheepshead action on Sunday and understand from other reports that they were biting.  It was nice to be back on the water and look forward to a few more trips while the big black drum are still plentiful around the rocks.

December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2012

Location: Galveston Ship Channel
Air Temp: 65-72
Water Temp: 57

Depth: 18 feet

Water Clarity: clear on day 1 and stained on day 2

Winds: calm to 15 mph

Bait: live shrimp and Gulp 3" and 4" shrimp (color:  new penny)

My daughter gave me a fish counter as a gag gift a few years ago, and I never thought it would make it to 185 for a two day fishing trip.

What a fun way to start the new year.  Our family made a trip to Galveston and had a great time on the water. We arrived at the Yacht Basin on Saturday around 11:30 AM to slightly foggy conditions and decided to stay close and not try the jetties due to the fog. We first tried the concrete ship and only caught 1 whiting, so after about 30 minutes we moved into the Galveston Ship Channel near the cruise ship terminal. We had a blast there on Saturday and caught 98 sand trout and finally left about 5:00 PM with dense fog rolling in around 4:30 PM. The cold front pushed the fog out on Sunday, but made some windy conditions so we decided to stay in the ship channel again on Sunday and caught another 87 sand trout for a total of 185 sand trout and 1 whiting.
 

The fish were caught using live shrimp and 3" and 4" Gulp shrimp.  The GYB bait camp was closed on Sunday for the new year, so we left the dock with no live bait or dead bait (not something I usually do after driving 4+ hours to get on the saltwater). It didn't take long to catch some on the Gulp shrimp and provide cut bait for those wanting to fish with it.

Most of the 185 sand trout were between 12 and 15 inches, but we did catch several really nice 16-18"+ fish. All of the fish were released except for 4 or 5 due to being hooked too deep or the necessity for cut bait.

The boat traffic was very light on Sunday and when we left the Yacht Basin on Sunday around 5:00 PM, it looked like a ghost town.  We were the only truck/trailer in the parking lot.  I can't recall that ever being the case on past fishing trips.  It was like we rented out the place for the day. 

As usual, we enjoyed some Casey's for dinner on Saturday and left the island on Sunday hoping we can make another trip soon. My wife, son and daughter really enjoyed the trip and it was great family time.  Talk about some Reel Fun.



November 5-6, 2011

Location:  Galveston North Jetty
Air Temp:  70-76
Water Temp: 68
Depth: 20-30 feet
Water Clarity: stained
Tide: Outgoing
Winds: 15+ mph
Seas: 2-3 feet
Bait: shrimp and soft plastics

A buddy and I made the trip from Austin to Galveston this weekend and enjoyed two fun days on the water.  The winds were 15+ both days which is always a little bit of challenge at the jetties, but we gave it a shot both days.  The first day was slow with only hardheads at the jetty and one lone flounder at the flats behind the Yacht Basin.  The second day was better with a 25 inch trout and a middle slot red.  We had two good pulls on the big reels but lost both fish with one leaving the leader in the anchor rope.

 

We moved into the ship channel near an oil rig platform and had a blast catching a bunch of sand trout and two Spanish mackerel (smacks).  We released about 60-70 sand trout and kept about 8, kept two smacks along with one slot red and one trout.  The sand trout were very agressive and hit every lure I threw at them.  The only lure they would not hang onto was a bucktail jig that I typically only use in fresh water.

 

I am usually a catch-n-release guy, but I did enjoy the sand trout tacos that my buddy shared with me at work today.  Good stuff - may need to keep a few more in the future.

 

It was fun to be on the saltwater again and I look forward to possibly one more trip this year.

 

September 30 & October 1, 2011

Location: Galveston - North Jetty
Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 82
Depth: 20-30 feet
Winds: 5-20 mph

Seas: 1-3 feet and choppy

Bait: live shrimp

My buddy Alan and I made the trip from Austin early on Friday morning and knew that Friday would be our best weather day. We arrived at the Yacht Basin around 9:30 AM, picked up some live shrimp and headed to the boat cut at the North Jetty. The wind started out from the North which made for a bumpy ride to the jetty but created calm conditions once we made it to the leeward side of the rocks on the channel side.

We fished close to the rocks for about 30 minutes near the boat cut and only had one exciting bite. I was almost spooled by something (shark, jack??) on a small bait casting reel when suddenly the line went slack. I thought the fish cut me off but discovered the 5/0 circle hook had been straightened. I had used the same leader and hook back in the spring and must have weakend the hook when removing some sheepshead back in April. It was my last VMC hook because I typically use the much stronger Gamakatsu 7/0 and 8/0 circle hooks for black drum and redfish.

We then moved out to the rocks near the orange weather station on the channel side for the remaining outgoing tide. We had a blast catching 10 slot redfish, 2 bull reds and lost 4-5 in the rocks. We were in about 22 feet of water and Alan figured out the redfish were suspended above the rocks in about 10 feet of water. This was also evident on the fish finder which showed the fish suspended and not on the bottom. We used the typical Carolina rig with 12-24 inches of nylon coated wire and about 1/2 ounce sinker to get the live shrimp down to about 10 feet in the strong outgoing tide. We had several double hookups and considered making some room in the cooler for a few fish, but decided to release them.

The wind was too strong on Saturday to make it to the jetty. We made it about half way and I decided not to chance it in my small boat. We fished the Pelican Island bridge and the causeway bridge with only a few sand trout for our efforts which was still fun. It was great to be back on the water again and I'm hoping for at least one more saltwater trip in October or November.

September 24-25, 2011

Location: Galveston Jetties and Concrete Ship
Air Temp: 80-88
Water Temp: 83
Depth: 20-32 feet
Winds: 5-20 mph
Seas: 1-3 feet
Bait: live shrimp and whole shad

I hosted my friend and his son to a fall fishing trip and was hoping for more action, but the bite was slow this time. We tried a usual good spot at the North Jetty near the boat cut on Saturday and never had any luck then we tried the end of the South Jetty with no luck (0 for 2). We then moved in the Galveston ship channel and finally found some sand trout that were ready to feed and landed about 10-12 average size sand trout along with some large ribbon fish.

The wind had picked up on Sunday morning and I knew it would be too rough at the jetties even though I knew the big bull reds were likely roaming the rocks. I opted for plan B and we fished near the concrete ship where we landed one upper slot red (27") and two bull reds (19 and 23 pounds). We also caught a small shark and about a 25 pound sting ray. We tried the Pelican Island bridge with no luck and then called it a day.

The fish were just not biting this trip in the places where I have found them before this time of year, but it was still a fun trip. As usual, we enjoyed some good Casey's seafood for dinner and brought home some redfish for dinner.

July 30 - 31, 2011

Location: Galveston Jetties and Concrete Ship
Air Temp: 82-92
Water Temp: 86
Depth: 6-32 feet
Winds: Calm to 15 mph
Seas: 1-3 feet
Bait: live shrimp and live croakers

I am very blessed to have a family and especially a daughter that enjoys saltwater fishing. The rest of the family had other commitments this weekend, so my daughter and I watched the weather closely at the end of the week as tropical storm Don approached the Texas coast. With mixed emotions knowing how much we need the rain in Texas, I was hoping the storm would at least stay south of Galveston to give us an opportunity for this fishing trip. Even though the conditions would not be ideal on our first day, we still decided to make the trip from Austin to Galveston early Saturday morning because the best time to fish is "when you can". We've had a busy spring and summer and have not been to the coast for several months.

After about 4.5 hours of driving, we arrived at the Galveston Yacht Basin around 9:30 AM on Saturday and made the short trek out to the North Jetty to check out the water conditions. The channel side was too rough and the Gulf side looked a little better so we went through the boat cut and anchored near the sunken barge. After about an hour with only two small croakers and bouncing around due to the 3-4 foot seas, we decided to make a move back into the ship channel near the concrete ship. That was a good move. My daughter had a blast catching croakers, whiting, several large sand trout, piggy perch, a large gafftop (7+ pounds) that took about an 8 inch croaker and two bull reds. I managed a few sand trout on artificials between baiting and releasing fish for my daughter. I baited two of the larger reels with the live croaker she caught and it wasn't long before we had an Okuma reel singing. A few minutes later she landed the first 20 pound bull red for the day. The 2nd and final bull red for the day was a 44" that came in at 28 pounds and beat my daughter's personal best by 3 pounds.

We started Sunday very early leaving the hotel at 5:00 AM and launched at the Yacht Basin in the dark about 6:00 AM. The wind was much calmer on Sunday with seas around 1-2 feet on the Gulf side of the North Jetty and a little rougher on the channel side for the first few hours until it really started to calm down. We first tried the North Jetty on the Gulf side with only a few whiting after about one hour. We also tried to attrack some sharks, but never had success. We then moved to the South Jetty and it was a good move. We anchored on the channel side of the South Jetty close to the lighthouse foundation within about 50 feet of the rocks to give plenty of room to cast in all directions along the rocks. After about 30 minutes we noticed the mullet that had been cruising around became nervous and that's when the action started. Using live shrimp freelined and fished under a popping cork, we landed and released 8 speckled trout that ranged from 16-22 and one puppy drum in about 45 minutes then the action shut off as fast as it started. We then made the move back to the concrete ship with more fun on croakers, whiting and healthy sized sand trout. My daughter caught 54 fish on Sunday for a total of 119 fish for the weekend. She likes catching fish and is not concerned about the kind or size which is great this time of year.

It was a great trip and one we will both remember for a long time.

Sunday morning headed to the jetty before sunrise.

March 26-27, 2011

Location: Galveston Jetties
Air Temp: 75
Water Temp: 71
Winds: 5-15 mph
Seas: 2-3 feet
Bait: live crabs and live shrimp

Made the trip from Austin to Galveston with two of my good fishing buddies this past weekend. We were hoping to entice some big uglies to bite but only managed two on this trip and lost one. Not sure if our timing was a little late for the black drum, or maybe they were just not biting. Another factor was the very strong current (2 kts) near the north jetty at one of my favorite spots. It was almost impossible to keep the bait on the bottom for the black drum. No live shrimp available on Saturday, but after touring the island on Sunday morning, we did manage to pick up some live shrimp at Smitty's. We caught a nice variety of fish which is typical for this time of year. Our catch included over sized and a keeper black drum, sheepshead, sand trout, Spanish mackerel, croakers and a redfish. It was great to be back on the saltwater after several months and I'm looking forward to more trips now that spring is here.