On Galveston: July 2007

Let's start out with Trinity Bay

Everything is going real well at this time if your focus is redfish. By now most everybody has heard that Wayne Webb, my tournament partner, and I did very well in the Kemah-Redfish Cup two weeks ago. We did not win but we were right there all three days and we felt good about it. Lifelong friend and fellow guide from right here in Baytown, Blaien Friermood, along with another good friend, Robert Scherer of American Rodsmiths, weighed the heaviest fish all three days. We got second and there was only 1.58 pounds difference between our weights if you add all three days together. We had a ball fishing that tournament and want to congratulate Blaien and Robert on their win.

So anyway, back to Trinity Bay, the water is still real muddy and fresh in lots of places. The redfish are there despite the conditions; it never seems to bother them as much as it does the trout. We have had a few trout over here however the redfishing is by far the better option. We are catching a lot of redfish working the deepwater structure in about 7 or 8 feet. We have been using a lot of Berkley Gulp Shrimp, the 4-inch in size with a 3/8oz jig head. The fish have been close to the bottom so we are fishing deep. Once you get them going you can occasionally get them to come up a little bit but most of the time you have to grind on the bottom. This is not my favorite way to fish but it is productive. Upstream, above Trinity Bay, in all of the small back bays, there are a few redfish holding on a structure like rocks and tow heads and along the drop-offs in San Jacinto Bay, Burnett Bay and Crystal Bay. They are in the rock groins all along the ship channel going up north. Basically the bonus right now is our reds.

East Bay

I do not think you can get another trout in there. It is just stacked full of trout. They have been hanging out there due to all the freshwater in Trinity Bay. I would say that the best areas are from Smith Point to Marker 54 in the ship channel and all the way over to East Bay, make a big circle. That is where your trout are. Mid-bay reefs, any type of structure, in anywhere from 4 8 feet of water, is real hot right now. Anything is working; live baiters are doing real well in the ship channel, especially the guys using croaker. You can still catch them real good out there on lures, though. I had limits out there yesterday. We worked around the croaker boats, just working slicks and the deep shell. All the reefs are stocked full of trout right now, from the north shoreline to the south shoreline and also down the middle. When the winds are down it's a no brainer. The shorelines are holding a few redfish in knee deep water. The majority of the reds are in the back area towards the tide gate. Just work the slicks and the mud boils in about 6 feet of water. The south shoreline is holding a few limits of trout, the majority of them are out deep, therefore no one is really wade fishing, they are just catching them by boat. This is pretty much the norm for this area. All the guides I know, plus myself, if we go here we normally limit out by 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning. It is better than working birds. We are seeing lots of 2022 inch trout and we're hearing of occasional 6-7 pounders. On a good day someone will pop an 8 pounder.

West Bay

There has been some good wade fishing behind the San Louis Pass; it's the right time of year for it. There all also good reports of reds and trout in the jetties, and it is the right time of year for that too.

Overall - The hot ticket right now is going to be Hannah's Reef and Deep Reef and all of the shell reefs in East Galveston Bay. This pattern should continue through the 4^th of July weekend and on into the middle of the month. Soft plastics, soft plastics and more soft plastics, that is pretty much what everyone is catching them on, unless you like live bait. There is not much topwater fishing going on right now. If I had to rate the Galveston Bays on a scale of 1-10, East Bay is running at a 15 right now.