Galveston Fishing

Friday, the long awaited announcement came regarding a special recreational red snapper season this fall.

NOAA announced a quota increase for Gulf of Mexico red snapper and a 14-day supplemental recreational season beginning Oct. 1.

Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico will open for red snapper recreational fishing beginning on October 1, 2013, at 12:01 a.m. local time. The season will close at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 15.

This is good news for all recreational anglers and especially Galveston’s party and charter boat operations. There has been no change in the bag and size limits, with a two fish per person bag limit and 16-inch minimum length still applicable.

On the fishing scene Friday, the early morning calm conditions, the first in a while, were too much to pass up, so my fishing partner and I loaded up with live bait and headed to our favorite fishing grounds this time of year.

The water in most spots, including the Galveston Ship Channel and North Jetty, was not as clear as desired. This was surprising with the continuous east wind that has prevailed lately. Friday morning, however, we were dealing with a northeast breeze that continually increased throughout the morning.

The trip was productive, just not the quantity of fish we expected. Lots of mangrove snapper were caught, especially around Pelican Island. Reds, sand trout and ribbonfish rounded out the catch for the day. Polly’s slot red was the best of our catch.

At the North Jetty Boat cut (channel side) several other boats were anchored and landing bull reds and sharks. It appeared that shad and other small finfish were the baits working best for the big fish.