today 3-31-13

Saturday, conditions for fishing were good, with most of the activity coming from the jetties and surf. Overall, catches were down compared to the past several days; however, for anglers willing to be patient, there were fish to be caught.
Night fishing was the best bet for taking home some fish, and anglers willing to wait it out until 3 a.m. Saturday morning found a flurry of activity in the canals of Tiki Island and along Highland Bayou.

today 3-30-13 fishing report

Reports of excellent catches of fish are drawing a lot of anglers to Galveston this weekend to get in on the action. Many will be focusing on the black drum run as it is in its prime right now, and anglers fishing the Galveston Channel, jetties, Texas City Dike and the beach front are reporting lots of large fish.
A survey of several bait camps on the island indicated spotty supplies of live shrimp and the same goes for one of the top baits for big drum — crab.

Looking Good this Weekend for Fishing...

The weather forecast for Easter weekend looks great for fishing! As a result, I’ve received numerous calls and emails asking what will be biting and where will the action take place.
With the forecast calling for a sustained southeast breeze, warmer water should make its way in and with it, more fish should be arriving.

Today 3-28-13

No fishing Report in yet..... Check back later.

Today 3-27-13

The big Turning Point Drum Tournament for the physically disadvantaged is April 5-6, and Dutch Kueteman, one of the tournament officials, is asking for a few more boats and captains for the event.
There are 70 boats and captains signed up, and he would like to have a total of 90. Should there be a surplus of boats, there will be a separate tournament for boats without guest participants. The same rules will apply, and awards will be given for first through third place.

No good fishing today

Yesterday Charter Trip was hard to get some fish in the Box.... but by the end of the day we got some in there.

Small craft advisories were in effect Monday, as another of a long series of cold fronts crossed the Upper Texas coast.
The good news is that a wind shift to the southeast is in the forecast for Wednesday.

Today 3-25-13

Saturday, there were a lot of catches reported throughout the day and well into the night.
Once the cold front hit early Sunday, action shut down and we now are back in the wait-and-see mode hoping that fishing will rebound once the wind drops.

Galveston Fishing 3-24-13

Today offers both good and bad news. First, the bad news, and this applies to the upcoming red snapper season.
While the news is certainly no surprise, a notice of an emergency rule is being published in the Federal Register that allows National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries to calculate the recreational red snapper season separately for each state. The rule is designed to punish states like Texas that held their own and did not march to the beat of the drummer who was killing the recreational red snapper fishery.

The emergency rule will allow the feds to discriminate against Texas, Louisiana and Florida by setting the days allowed at far less than the stingy 28 days for states that parrot their red snapper regulations to those of the federal government.

The expected number of days allowed for the maverick states are 12 days for Texas, nine days for Louisiana and 21 days for Florida.

The federal regulatory bodies boast that as a result of their regulations, the stocks are rebounding. I would think that would be a no-brainer with this recreational fishery being virtually shut down for a number of years.

Think about it, beginning June 1, the first day of the season, how many recreational red snapper fishing trips will take place in the nine to 28 days allowed? 

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has my full support for having the backbone to not go along with the federal regulatory bodies. If they had given in to the pressures to change their regulations, we would have 16 more days to fish for red snapper this year. Not worth it in my mind.

Now let’s look at some good news in our fishing world.

Saturday, lots of fish were being caught around Galveston. The surf near Eight Mile Road and caught some nice black drum using dead shrimp for bait.The surf is full of big drum. 

The Gulf Coast Fishing Pier on Saturday and filled a 48-quart ice chest full of gaff top to 4 pounds. Other anglers were catching sheepshead, lots of slot drum and some slot reds. 

Strong run of black drum at the 61st Street Fishing Pier. Other fish caught were sharks, whiting, bull reds and gaff top.

Report 3/23/13

No report in yet on the Fishing for today here in Galveston. Here some info for the Fishing-man & Boaters

Rest Of Today

East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Areas of dense fog.

Tonight

West winds around 5 knots increasing to 10 to 15 knots with gusts to around 30 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Isolated thunderstorms in the evening. A slight chance of showers.

Today's report from Galveston

We have Fishing Trip Opening Tomorrow
Give us a call 713-305-2453

Gusty winds continue to plague fishermen; however, today and Saturday, there should be a window of light to moderate breezes.
Note that I mention only two days, as the weather forecast calls for another frontal system to cross the Upper Texas Coast on Sunday. Welcome to springtime in Texas.

During the window of favorable conditions, look for some outstanding catches of black drum to take place. Sheepshead action has been consistent in several areas, and that should continue.

During the last several days, most of the catches reported have come from protected areas. One spot that has been the source of several unconfirmed reports has been the upper reaches of Chocolate Bayou close to Liverpool. Red fish have been the prime catch reported, although a number of smaller-sized flounder have been finding their way to baited hooks.

The Galveston Ship Channel along Pelican Island has been the scene of spotty action this week with a few nice catches reported by the yacht basin, while others have been skunked in their efforts to find fish. Most of the anglers have been focusing on black drum; however, some good-quality sand trout have been reported coming from near the Pelican Island Bridge.

Strong winds have hampered efforts to fish the jetties; however, if the winds drop as predicted, that area should open up with action on a variety of fish. Pompano have been caught in unusually good numbers for this time of year. This delicacy for table fare is normally a warm water fish found around the jetties during the summer.

More shark reports have been received for this time of year than usual, with the surf and jetties both producing some good-sized fish, and that, too, is not normal for March.

So, what is happening? The water temperature, which has ranged from the low to mid-60s recently, certainly is not the reason. If global warming is the problem, it is not reflected in the current water readings. One theory cited by a longtime angler is that there is more food supply in the shallower waters lately and that is attracting the fish early. If you have a good idea on the reason for the early arrivals, let us hear from you.

Todays Fishing Report from Galveston

Large black drum are being reported from all around the Lower Galveston Bay Complex and especially from around the jetties, Galveston Ship Channel, Texas City Dike and San Luis Pass.

 Last week, a 44-inch black drum was caught beneath the state Highway 146 Kemah/Seabrook bridge. Similar reports have been received from as far as Sylvan Beach; however, most of the activity has been from Dollar Bay to the jetties.

Anglers interested in getting in on this year’s big black drum run should make plans to do so as soon as possible. While action at this time is hot and heavy, it will be winding down soon.

Travis Tucker, Tucker’s Bait and Seafood, reported customers named Eldridge and Arthur had a productive fishing trip to the West End on Tuesday. Their catch near Jamaica Beach included whiting, gaff-top, stingrays, black drum and bull sharks.

Hank Lopez landed a 31-inch black drum and several sheepshead fishing a canal at Harbor walk. Fresh and dead shrimp packed three on a hook was the bait.

Winter is officially behind us, and anglers can focus on springtime fishing. While overall it might not be the best time of the year for fishing, the water will get warmer, and more fish will be cropping up in the bays and running the surf.

Recent water temperatures have been in the low-to-mid 60-degree range and once the magic 70-degree number is reached, catches should become more consistent, especially in the bays. Wind normally is the biggest obstacle to fishing this time of year.

Today Report 3-20-13

Monday morning, Gilbert Santos fished Moses Lake where he caught a Texas Grand Slam consisting of a 21-inch red, 20-inch speck and 16-inch flounder. The fish were caught in 8 feet of water.

Reports from the 61st Street Fishing Pier indicate catches of whiting, large gafftop, stingrays, black drum and bull sharks.

The following note was received from Paul Williams, describing his adventure on Bolivar Peninsula last week.

“Last Friday, I was fishing off the bank on one of the canals in Bolivar with live shrimp and was a little frustrated with the bite. It seemed like I was just feeding the fish until I had a light nibble and then the line began to swim away.

“I took the slack out and set the hook, then the fight was on. It seemed that I had a redfish because the fish never surfaced. As I got it closer, I decided to get the net and lay it down next to me.

“The fish decided it did not like the bulkhead and made another hard run, which involved some drag adjustment and the moving of my feet which resulted in the net getting kicked into the water.

“In the chaos, I laid down on the bulkhead and barely got my hand on the end of the net. During the process I also got our native grass stickers stuck in me from my shoes to my waist.

“During this process, I was able to keep a tight line and from my knees, with the net laying close to me, I was able to finally see the rewards of my struggle, a big trout!

“The fish finally made it to the net, resulting in the largest trout in my 54 years of fishing. The fish measured 26 inches and weighed slightly over 5 pounds.”

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