On Galveston: October 2007

This past month has certainly been a wild one. In last month's fishing report I did not have many positive things to say and painted a pretty gloomy picture. Over the past month much has changed, and I am very happy to be bringing better news this month.

Trinity Bay

After an incredible year of heavy rain and flooding, Trinity Bay is finally shaping up. The water is greening up and the salinity is not fully recovered but it is improving with each incoming tide from the gulf. The hottest thing in this bay system right now is the redfish action and we are catching some very good numbers. On a slow day we are catching eight or ten but on a good day we are catching fifty. They are all nice fat slot reds with a few being oversized. We have found some of them by working the birds and others by working slicks and mud boils. We have even caught some in knee-deep water. That tells you that they are just everywhere, from ten and twelve feet of water to knee deep.

Trout fishing in Trinity is a little bit spotty. The gas wells down the middle are starting to pay off and probably the best bet for trout in this area at present. For the most part any type of bird action we have investigated is small juvenile fish. The trout are just not over here yet but with the bay looking better every day and plenty of bait around they should be on their way. October has historically been a great month for trout in Trinity so keep an eye on it.

East Bay

East Bay has been producing some pretty good trout action. At present you can find them all the way from Smith Point to the Refuge. Birds have been working their way down the shoreline and the reefs are still holding fish so you have options. Working the birds with topwaters has been the ticket to catching the bigger fish and this is a good way to go after them but you'll need a good crew on your boat that know how to cast and also dodge a topwater full of hooks whenever somebody makes a mistake. Soft plastics are working also; it is just whatever you prefer right now.

Galveston Bay

The Houston Ship Channel is still holding a lot of fish from Marker 68 72. When the wind lays and the bay is calm enough everyone is just lighting them up out there. It is not as good as it was but still decent. A lot of the lower and middle channel has started to slow down because all of the fish are moving into upper bays. They are just getting ready for the fall run. October will look promising if we can start getting in our cool fronts and water temperatures down. We will have a heck of a run over here, especially with all the fresh water. It hurts us now but helps us in the long run.

Wrap up

The hot ticket for now is Trinity for reds and East Bay for trout. There has been some scattered action in West Bay. If you had to fish there every day you may be able to get a pattern on the fish and do well. Campbell Bay has been reported to be giving some decent trout action. With all the fresh water there has been a pretty good stack of fish there this summer. Area surf fishing should be good for bull reds throughout the month of October. Overall fishing has improved all across the Galveston system which is much better picture than I painted for you last month.