On Galveston: March 2010

Howdy folks, Mickey here again and we're back on the roller coaster. Like it or not, when it comes to winter fishing, the weatherman deals the cards and they haven't been all that good of late. Pretty much all of January and early February was on the slow side, some decent days here and there but in general I'd call it fair at best.

Fishing success is being controlled by water temperature and as I write this we're back down to 49 and we have another front forecast for later this week that could drop it even lower. Following the January 8-9-10 blast we caught some decent sunshine and got up close to the 60 mark which got things moving but it didn't hold for long and we have been steadily going up and down ever since.

There are lots of trout being caught in West Galveston Bay, lots of small fish, and for sheer number of bites this bay would have to get the nod right now. Lots of folks are drifting shell just west of North and South Deer Islands, working the streaks and bait lines and things like that. There are a lot of throw-back pencils hanging on that shell. I haven't bothered with it as sifting ten or twenty to find a legal-sized fish among that crowd of boats just isn't my thing. The plus side is that they're getting them on plastics and with the cold water temp I believe the survival rate on the throwbacks will be very high. There are reports of some decent catches of reds from Meacom's Cut down towards Carancahua Reef all down that north side of the Intracoastal banks. Surprisingly the West Bay coves haven't really kicked off like they normally do. A few days of pumping south wind might change that though, steady north and east winds just don't fit the pattern in those coves.

There's been some action in Christmas Bay when the tides get up. Waders have been catching some decent trout on the north shoreline of Christmas Bay and drifters working deeper guts behind San Luis Pass toward Christmas and Chocolate have been doing fairly well on two to four pounders, not much mention of anything heavier. Confederate Reef has been fair to good for waders throwing Corkys.

Moving back up my way, Trinity Bay has just been ice cold all winter. We really need about two weeks of warm weather and some south winds. The only thing consistent bite has been up in the northern end near the Trinity River and over by the HL&P spillway; there's been some goods schools of reds in there, trout action has been slim. Burnet Bay, being protected from cold wind, has fared better than the larger bays; that mud bottom holds more heat and naturally more fish so this should come as no surprise.

Reports from Seabrook Flats and the Sylvan Beach area indicate fair trout action, nothing great weight-wise or quantity but you can certainly catch a few if you get in there and work out the pattern.

East Bay has been real hit or miss but I know this area can light up like a Christmas tree when you get the right conditions. In my opinion this bay is like a ticking time bomb. The Anahuac Refuge shoreline should just explode for waders and kayakers working the sloughs and guts once the water temperature stabilizes in the mid-to-upper 50's. I am predicting East Bay will light up and be the hot spot in March for quality as well as numbers of trout. We've seen it happen many times so have your favorite Corkys and MirrOlures ready.

All we need right now is a break from winter weather. We have lots of fish and the water is in great shape. Barring anything like an early spring flood, we should see some solid results real soon.

Se sure to mark your calendar for the Houston Fishing Show March 3 through 7 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. I will be there doing the emcee thing again and look forward to seeing everybody.