On Galveston: June 2102

Hello fellow fishermen; Capt. Mickey here. I know it's hard to believe but another month has flown by and it is time for another Galveston Bays fishing report. You know, we talked about it on the radio the other day; Galveston Bay is just pretty darned resilient. I mean we have all kinds of dredging going on and freshwater coming in and all the little crises that affect water quality going on in so many places and this old bay just keeps on producing. Most of the bay system is pretty messed up from either wind and freshwater or dredge mud flowing everywhere but you get a calm day and the fishing bounces right back.

Anybody that's been fishing knows it has been kind of tough. It hasn't been a consistent thing we can rely on day in and day out. Boat fishing has been about the most productive method when the winds are down and you can get on the major open water reefs. We have a lot of fish, and I believe we are beginning to see a lot of tide/surf runners moving in through the passes early this year and when you congregate all of those with the local resident fish we have, man it makes for some really good fishing. The only thing lacking is stable conditions so we can get on them.

The overall average size of our trout this year, not only on my boat but many anglers you talk to, it seems 20 to 22 inch fish are real common with a decent number in the 24 to 26 class and a few 27s and 28s here and there. I heard of a 30 incher the other day that weighed a little over 9lb. Just some good fish showing up all over the bay system.

Redfish are a little spotty still. They are not schooling up yet over the major reefs in the bay or along the shorelines. You know we get pods of fish here and there but most of the redfish are at the jetties or the ICW and they are kind of hanging in that pattern right now. When it gets hotter, things will start changing.

Lower Galveston, Campbell Bay and East Bay are probably the three best areas to fish right now. We have had a lot of southerly flow but last week it was calmer, water was at least marginal in most places. I made a couple of big wades and caught three trout so I said boys we are going to get out deep and get over the reefs. The northeast was running at about 3mph, first pass over a reef and, all I really keyed on was some flipping mullet, no slicks, and bingo. We picked up 25 fish on the first pass and 15 on the second pass. We used soft plastics, MirrOlure's Lil John and the Tidal Surge split tail mullet.

That Lil John has turned out to be pretty good bait for me. My best color is purple with chartreuse tail. The plum and morning glory have also produced and I have been sticking with the darker colors. You can go to your lights, pearl and all that, and you can catch some fish, but it seems the bigger ones like the darks. So that is what I have confidence in and I am sticking to it. Whatever works - if it ain't broke don't try to fix it.

Looking ahead through summer I still think we are going to have a banner year. I am hearing this from Sabine Lake all the way to Matagorda. Basically all you have to do is find some marginal clarity over good structure. I use my trolling motor as a gauge. If I can see the lower unit and the prop when I drop it, I have a least one foot visibility. Next thing you know you start getting bites. You need at least one foot, a foot and a half is better when you can find it.

East Bay trout are biting better toward the end of an incoming tide. All the reefs along the south shore line like Pepper Grove, Elm Grove, Frenchy's and places like that are holding good fish. Some of the shallower towheads are good for a few fish early in the morning but you can pick it clean pretty quickly. There are a lot more fish holding in six feet over shell, that's the magic number at the moment.

I know it will eventually recover but Trinity Bay is in as bad shape as I have seen in years. The river flow has been down for weeks now and strong tides mixing all that fresh will be the key but it's not going to happen overnight. I am sure there are still lots of fish here but with the water all messed up and continued strong wind I'm telling everybody to head down to East Bay.

Lower Galveston Bay, Todd's Dump, Dollar Reef and Mosquito Island, all those areas of shell are holding nice trout. They are catching some big ones over there too. The wade fishermen over along Skyline Drive are having some limit mornings on plastics and topwaters when they hit it right.

Out on the beachfront, this is the time of year you can usually catch a really big one. What you need is for the wind to lay and that green water to move in, and bingo! You can really nuke 'em.

I talked to a guy this morning on my radio show who fished the beachfront yesterday with croakers in that dirty water and caught the most trout he has found in years around San Luis Pass and Freeport. Bill Watkins over in Sabine is giving me strong reports and word from Matagorda is also good. When we get the right conditions, and we will, everything is going to bust open. Too bad they couldn't open the CCA STAR a month early. With spawning under way, I think someone will bust a big fish on the next new moon.

I am real excited, as I have been for months. There are a lot of fish everywhere, and when the conditions come around everybody will be catching. If these strong winds continue it will remain tough, but that is part of the game this time of year. Hopefully things will settle out before the dog days arrive.

Good fishing to everybody and remember to call into my radio show and let us know how you are doing out there.