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On Galveston: July 2009
The way fishing has been over the past month makes my job pretty easy. Fishing is good folks. Here's my rundown of the action and conditions in the Galveston area bays. If Mother Nature will continue to bring us the kind of weather we have been enjoying, July could make the fishing record book.
Trinity Bay - We took a lot of freshwater from local runoff and a bunch of inflow from the Trinity River. Redfish are getting the top billing right now and we are catching tons of them. I mean it is not uncommon to get two or three boats anchored up on the same school of reds in open water and each boat might catch fifty or sixty. These fish are running six to nine pounds and most of them are in the slot. These are awesome fish without a doubt and that is pretty much the norm over here right now. The water is still kind of fresh in Trinity Bay but along the east shoreline there are a few waders working over there catching a few good trout. There are occasional limits for the guys that stick to wading the shallow sand/shell mixed bottoms using soft plastics and a few topwaters. Topwater action for trout is not steady though; I think this may have more to do with prevailing water temps and feeding patterns than anything else. The ship channel is holding a lot of fish and as always you need calm days along the reefs and shell pads for best results. Fishermen throwing live croaker are taking lots of fish, the same as they do every year. Lure fishing along the channel spoils is decent; 3/8-oz gumball jigheads with any soft plastic that you want to throw will catch trout on calm days. We are working slicks over reefs and shell pads up and down the ship channel, some of the trout are in the four to five pound class and there have been occasional seven pounders.
East Bay - The freshwater pushed a lot of fish around Smith Point and over into East Bay. Hannah Reef, Deep Reef, Pepper Grove Reef, Elm Grove Reef - all those deeper shell reefs are holding a lot of fish. Some of the reports I have received indicate there have been a few up to eight pounds over there. Most of the fish are running two to five pounds and there are just lots of them. There is some bird action down the middle of East Bay and, while the fish are generally smaller, you can get a ton of bites and some decent keepers if you stay with it. When we get a calm day and green tide through the middle of East Bay, the birds work it all day long from Hannah Reef all the way to Frenchie's Reef.
San Luis Pass - We have reports of pretty steady action; fishing has been real good there. Wade fisherman on those bars behind the pass have been catching some really nice trout. Actually all of lower West Bay is offering good fishing at this time; it's pretty much good all over down there at this time.
Campbell Bay - The little bay between West Bay and lower Galveston Bay has been pretty hot. Working slicks and deep water over scattered shell has been paying off real good with easy limits using soft plastics out of the boat.
Galveston Bay - Fishing along the entire shoreline from Sylvan down to Texas City flats has been pretty good for waders. Parts of Dickenson Bay and along the outside of Moses Lake fishing is just. When the winds are down, and we just experienced about a week of excellent calm weather, it can get absolutely stupidly easy, it's just that good.
Surf and Jetties - The surf action along Bolivar and along Galveston beachfront has been good. When they catch it calm and green they are spanking them pretty hard. They are catching a lot of trout and a few reds on spoons, M51 and M52 MirrOlures and topwaters. I can't say enough about the Jetties, area anglers have been having a banner year. There are plenty of redfish and trout and a few Spanish mackerel are starting to show up. We had a lot of tournaments here lately and the slot reds from the Jetties have been leading the pack on weights. A good plan for jetty redfish is one of the deep-diving crankbaits in red or shad pattern and working them along the rocks, just barely skipping that bill down over rocks and then stopping to let it float back up. The redfish have been bumping them hard.
Wrapping it up - Live baiters are doing their thing and having fun but if there is anything better than lures right now I would be afraid to throw it, it's just that good. We are having our bad days when the wind gets up making it hard to get on deeper fish and stay on them with a trolling motor, but overall I have to give the whole Galveston Bay region an A+ rating. We have excellent fishing and Average Joe all the way up to the top pros are scoring great catches.
Trinity Bay - We took a lot of freshwater from local runoff and a bunch of inflow from the Trinity River. Redfish are getting the top billing right now and we are catching tons of them. I mean it is not uncommon to get two or three boats anchored up on the same school of reds in open water and each boat might catch fifty or sixty. These fish are running six to nine pounds and most of them are in the slot. These are awesome fish without a doubt and that is pretty much the norm over here right now. The water is still kind of fresh in Trinity Bay but along the east shoreline there are a few waders working over there catching a few good trout. There are occasional limits for the guys that stick to wading the shallow sand/shell mixed bottoms using soft plastics and a few topwaters. Topwater action for trout is not steady though; I think this may have more to do with prevailing water temps and feeding patterns than anything else. The ship channel is holding a lot of fish and as always you need calm days along the reefs and shell pads for best results. Fishermen throwing live croaker are taking lots of fish, the same as they do every year. Lure fishing along the channel spoils is decent; 3/8-oz gumball jigheads with any soft plastic that you want to throw will catch trout on calm days. We are working slicks over reefs and shell pads up and down the ship channel, some of the trout are in the four to five pound class and there have been occasional seven pounders.
East Bay - The freshwater pushed a lot of fish around Smith Point and over into East Bay. Hannah Reef, Deep Reef, Pepper Grove Reef, Elm Grove Reef - all those deeper shell reefs are holding a lot of fish. Some of the reports I have received indicate there have been a few up to eight pounds over there. Most of the fish are running two to five pounds and there are just lots of them. There is some bird action down the middle of East Bay and, while the fish are generally smaller, you can get a ton of bites and some decent keepers if you stay with it. When we get a calm day and green tide through the middle of East Bay, the birds work it all day long from Hannah Reef all the way to Frenchie's Reef.
San Luis Pass - We have reports of pretty steady action; fishing has been real good there. Wade fisherman on those bars behind the pass have been catching some really nice trout. Actually all of lower West Bay is offering good fishing at this time; it's pretty much good all over down there at this time.
Campbell Bay - The little bay between West Bay and lower Galveston Bay has been pretty hot. Working slicks and deep water over scattered shell has been paying off real good with easy limits using soft plastics out of the boat.
Galveston Bay - Fishing along the entire shoreline from Sylvan down to Texas City flats has been pretty good for waders. Parts of Dickenson Bay and along the outside of Moses Lake fishing is just. When the winds are down, and we just experienced about a week of excellent calm weather, it can get absolutely stupidly easy, it's just that good.
Surf and Jetties - The surf action along Bolivar and along Galveston beachfront has been good. When they catch it calm and green they are spanking them pretty hard. They are catching a lot of trout and a few reds on spoons, M51 and M52 MirrOlures and topwaters. I can't say enough about the Jetties, area anglers have been having a banner year. There are plenty of redfish and trout and a few Spanish mackerel are starting to show up. We had a lot of tournaments here lately and the slot reds from the Jetties have been leading the pack on weights. A good plan for jetty redfish is one of the deep-diving crankbaits in red or shad pattern and working them along the rocks, just barely skipping that bill down over rocks and then stopping to let it float back up. The redfish have been bumping them hard.
Wrapping it up - Live baiters are doing their thing and having fun but if there is anything better than lures right now I would be afraid to throw it, it's just that good. We are having our bad days when the wind gets up making it hard to get on deeper fish and stay on them with a trolling motor, but overall I have to give the whole Galveston Bay region an A+ rating. We have excellent fishing and Average Joe all the way up to the top pros are scoring great catches.