Galveston Fishing

While most anglers do not consider this to have been an unusual year for coastal fishing, we have seen some fish appear in the Galveston area that normally are found around reefs and offshore structures.

Another example of this occurred Tuesday when Tony Keill caught a smooth puffer, or rabbit fish, from the Galveston Fishing Pier. Smooth puffers are basically offshore fish; however, they do make occasional appearances along the beach front.

Puffers need to be properly cleaned before consuming the meat because their entrails and skin contain a deadly poison. For most anglers, it is best to release or discard the fish rather than try it for a meal.

The warmer waters and higher salinity levels have contributed to a large variety of fish being reported in shallower waters this year. We discussed in a previous report the large numbers of mangrove snapper that made their way into the bays and isolated reports of lizard fish, gag grouper, Bermuda chub, red snapper, triggerfish, pilot fish, small amberjack and others caught around the jetties and Galveston Ship Channel.

Serious flounder fishermen are hitting the water, with many looking ahead to November, as that traditionally is the best month for flounder fishing. Reports continue to indicate that the majority of large females remain in the bays and marshes.

Lori, the Salt Water Hooker, was out Monday and reported finding large flounder at her flatfish hole in West Bay. Saturday, she landed three up to 21 inches and Monday, four to 16 inches. All were caught on her favorite flounder bait, the Flounder Pounders.

Most of the flounder pros feel we will have a repeat of last year and it will be mid-November before action breaks open on the big girls.

Along the beach front, sand trout, whiting, croaker and bull reds continue to dominate the catches, according to Richard Belleau’s report from the 61st Street Fishing Pier.

Galveston Fishing

Monday was overall a disappointment for anglers fishing the Galveston area.

Double tide changes returned and water conditions were excellent. Unfortunately, the fish did not cooperate like they should have.

While the morning was slow, the tide change around noon helped start what little action there was and the afternoon hours saw a few catches come in.

I spent most of the morning through early afternoon fishing the Galveston Ship Channel area targeting flounder. There were several boats out; however, it appeared that they were having the same slow day as I experienced.

Ironically, it was the first time this year that a mangrove snapper did not hit one of my lines while fishing off of Pelican Island. 

A good number of medium-sized croaker and sand trout in the 11- to 13-inch range were caught, along with a couple of undersized male flounder. Not the day I expected on the water.

Before heading out, I visited with Glenn Goff at Galveston Bait and Tackle asking if he had seen many specks at his cleaning table recently.

Goff said that specks were being caught around the causeway and railroad bridges; however, with the water temperature remaining above 70 degrees, a cold front or two will be needed to really get things going.

Galveston Fishing

Poor tidal movement Saturday likely was the reason so few anglers were out fishing. At press time, no fishing reports were in and that is unusual for a fishable Saturday this time of year.

Late Friday, we did have a call from Edith Holmes who, along with her children, Michael, 5, and Jeanette, who turned 10 last Thursday, fished from a friend’s lighted dock at Harborwalk.

Close to 10 p.m., trout started hitting and the kids had almost non-stop action, using live shrimp for bait.

Unfortunately, most of the fish were undersized and had to be released. Besides the fishing report, Holmes wanted to know if there is any exception to the rules for fish that are unable to survive when released. Several of the throwback trout had hook damage and were going belly up when released.

Holmes said it bothers her to toss back a nice trout just under the 15-inch minimum and see it die when it could make a great meal and not be wasted.

Unfortunately, there are no exceptions for mortally wounded fish. Any undersized fish must be released, whether it survives or not.

The sparse fishing reports allow me to discuss a topic that has been on the agenda for the Reel Report for a number of days and that is the increasing presence of E85 Fuel at gas stations in this area.

I’ve read several articles about the harmful effects of this fuel when used in outboard and other marine engines. With its availability becoming more widespread, I felt we needed to get input from marine dealers and, in particular, marine engine repair shops.

A small sampling of local dealers indicated a consensus on the fact that E85 fuel should not be used in any outboard or other marine engine.

Galveston Fishing

Friday, a strong gusty northeast wind was pushing smoke across lower Galveston Bay creating quite a nuisance and reducing visibility on the water. 

The awful conditions did not slow fishing for waders nor boaters fishing protected areas.

Flounder and large croaker were the main catch by those enduring the weather.

Johah Tijerina reported flounder activity is starting to pick up in the Galveston area. Friday morning he caught a sow flounder more than 23 inches long in Highlands Bayou using a Chickenboy Flounder King Lure.

Joey Dean, assistant pastor at Lazybrook Baptist Church, gave this report from his fishing trip to Seawolf Park:

“Went wade fishing around Seawolf Park Friday morning with a good friend. Fished both sides of the park, but only caught fish on the Galveston Ship Channel side.”

Dean said they saw several people catching flounder between Seawolf and the Selma; however, they did not get any bites on that side. They ended up catching about 10 flounder, retaining two legal keepers of 16 and 17 inches.  

“We also caught several nice-sized croakers,” Dean said. “All of our flounder were caught between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. We didn’t see any larger females being caught, nor did we see very many people limiting out on keepers. However, most everyone was able to get a couple legal fish.”  

Galveston top catches Reds, Flounder, Bull Reds

Chamber of Commerce weather continued in Galveston on Thursday, with some of the most beautiful surf conditions seen in a while. 

While the beach front was in spectacular shape, no reports were in from that area by press time Thursday.

There was a good report, however, from Tuesday sent in by Henry Homrighaus Jr., who along with four other guests fished the South Jetty with Capt. Mike Eden. 

 Using live shrimp and mullet for bait, the anglers caught and released five bull reds and retained a 29-inch bull red that was tagged.  

Slot reds, sheepshead, mangrove snapper, black drum and Spanish mackerel rounded out their morning catch. 

Flounder Pounder inventor and well-known flounder fishermen Phil Ortiz was on the water Thursday morning. 

He and his friend Randy Williams were in hot pursuit of Ortiz’s favorite fish.

Fishing mid-bay spots and around the causeway area, they found lots of nice-sized flounder moving with the outgoing tide.  

Fishing report Galveston

The beach water temperature was in the low 70s on Tuesday morning and is expected to drop more by today. A cold front blew through Tuesday, and once tolerable conditions for fishing return, look for even more flounder to be moving.

The surf was on the leeward side of the norther, and fish were being caught all along the beach front. The 61st Street Fishing Pier reported croaker, Spanish mackerel, sand trout, gafftop, pompano and bull reds being caught Tuesday morning.

Mark McDavid fished the surf along west beach and landed a 40-inch bull red that provided a 90-minute battle on the angler’s light tackle.

While the wind was blowing Tuesday morning, Gerald Stanford and Mark Mize fished the outer canals at Harborwalk and landed a Texas Grand Slam that included four specks, two keepers and two throwbacks, along with an undersized red and three flounder to 19 inches.

Rick Henderson fished Highland Bayou near the Highway 6 bridge at Bayou Vista and landed two keeper flounder using Texas Chicken soft plastics.

Ed Morris sent a note asking about the old barge graveyard mentioned often as a hot spot for flounder. Morris wants to know where it is, how to get there and if it can be accessed by wade fishermen.

The spot Morris refers to is located near the Bolivar Ferry Landing and is close to where the Intracoastal Waterway intersects Galveston Bay.

This time of year it is particularly easy to find as many boats and bank fishermen will be concentrated in the area.

Galveston Flounder Run.....On

The beach water temperature was in the low 70s on Tuesday morning and is expected to drop more by today. A cold front blew through Tuesday, and once tolerable conditions for fishing return, look for even more flounder to be moving.

The surf was on the leeward side of the norther, and fish were being caught all along the beach front. The 61st Street Fishing Pier reported croaker, Spanish mackerel, sand trout, gafftop, pompano and bull reds being caught Tuesday morning.

Mark McDavid fished the surf along west beach and landed a 40-inch bull red that provided a 90-minute battle on the angler’s light tackle.

While the wind was blowing Tuesday morning, Gerald Stanford and Mark Mize fished the outer canals at Harborwalk and landed a Texas Grand Slam that included four specks, two keepers and two throwbacks, along with an undersized red and three flounder to 19 inches.

Rick Henderson fished Highland Bayou near the Highway 6 bridge at Bayou Vista and landed two keeper flounder using Texas Chicken soft plastics.

Ed Morris sent a note asking about the old barge graveyard mentioned often as a hot spot for flounder. Morris wants to know where it is, how to get there and if it can be accessed by wade fishermen.

The spot Morris refers to is located near the Bolivar Ferry Landing and is close to where the Intracoastal Waterway intersects Galveston Bay.

This time of year it is particularly easy to find as many boats and bank fishermen will be concentrated in the area.

Galveston Fishing

Sunday night, one of the more prolific bull red runs of the season took place along the beachfront. Fishermen from Crystal Beach to San Luis Pass were reporting lots of bull reds being caught and released.

John Wiley of Gilchrist experienced one of the best runs of reds in the surf Sunday evening that he has experienced. 

Wiley, who has been fishing the Galveston Bay complex for 40 years, said that Sunday’s action was the best yet.

Using whole mullet with the heads cut off, Wiley hooked up with at least two dozen of the big fish, losing about half and landing and safely releasing the remainder. “What a way to end the weekend,” he said.

Richard Belleau, who reports for the 61st Street Fishing Pier, said that his customers landed more than 72 bull reds Sunday evening along with lots of croaker and Spanish mackerel.

Paul Henderson found lots of bull reds in the surf off Terramar Beach on Sunday. 

Using live piggy perch for bait fished under a cork, he landed nine, along with several sharks. All of the fish were released.

While bull reds dominated the fishing reports for Monday, flounder continue to make the news. 

James Johnston and his friend, Ronnie Joe, took Johnston’s boat, Fear No Fish, to the Texas City Dike on Sunday and landed three large flounder and a 24-inch red. 

Galveston Fishing Report

While not many fishermen were on the water Thursday, all indications are that fish are beginning to make their fall season move.

Flounder action is about to bust wide open, and while there will be a lot of throwbacks in the early group to begin their move, the sizes will increase as we get farther into October and November.

November has been the month when the flounder run reaches its peak and the most fish move through the limited pathways to the Gulf.

For that reason, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department set some stringent regulations applicable only to that month.

The objective of the tighter rules which include a bag-limit reduction to two per day from five and the elimination of flounder gigging, is to allow a free passage for the spawning fish.

The November special rules have been in effect for several years now and have helped to rebuild the once-dwindling stocks of flounder.

Today, most experienced flounder fishermen will tell you that the numbers and quality of flounder are much better than they were 10 years ago.

Before moving to Galveston permanently, most of the flounder I caught were incidental to fishing for trout and reds.

Galveston Fishing This Week.

The back-to-back frontal systems predicted to hit the Galveston Bay Complex during the coming week should be the key to starting some fantastic fall fishing.  Rain and cooler weather are in the forecast and once conditions settle after their passage, get ready for some hot action.

Lots of small male flounder are being caught around Seawolf Park, according to a report from Bulldog’s Bait Shop, and that is the first sign that the flounder run is beginning.  The timely run likely was triggered by the change in atmospheric pressure preceding Wednesday’s cool front.

Bulldog’s also reported that big croaker are being caught along the beach front along with Spanish mackerel, trout and a few flounder.  The annual golden croaker run usually starts about the same time as flounder start moving toward the Gulf.

The past several years have not resulted in a major croaker run, although lots of bull croaker in the size range of rat reds were caught during the late fall.  Not too long ago, the passes into the Gulf were filled with big croaker following flounder to the deeper Gulf waters.

At the time, Rollover Pass was noted for hot action on the big croaker, and during the run, anglers would be shoulder to shoulder fishing both sides of the pass and all catching fish.

I would love to see a return of those great croaker runs and, since we have seen our flounder stocks bounce back, there is no reason we cannot find a way to increase the stocks of golden croaker.

Wouldn’t it be nice to return to the glory years of plentiful numbers of croaker in the 2- to 4-pound range being caught during their big migration to the Gulf.  Our future generations of fishermen would like to see that as well.

Bonnie Farmer sent a report of her grandson, 5-year-old JD Farmer, landing a Texas Grand Slam on a fishing trip in West Bay with his dad Jason and brother Carter.

Galveston Best flounder action starts this Week

We have a Spacial on Our Charters from Oct. 21 to Dec. 20. For 4 People 4Hrs for $400 Monday to Friday.(Weekend is $450) Give us a call to Book your Date. 832-917-FISH (3474)


The full moon of October is upon us and for many senior flounder fishermen that signals the beginning of the prime time for flounder around the Galveston area.

While that was a good criterion to use years ago, in recent times with warmer fall weather, the best flounder action has started closer to Nov. 1 and lasts well into December.

Richard Goodwin and his sister, Glenda Romano, fished the Texas City Dike recently and caught four flounder between 3.5 and 6.5 pounds. All of the flounder were males and Goodwin was puzzled by their size as the males generally are much smaller than females.

The pattern of catching the smaller males is traditional at the beginning of the flounder run; however, Goodwin’s larger fish are a bit unusual. The recent warm winters along with ample bait have definitely had positive effects on this year’s crop of flatfish. It will be interesting to see if that pattern continues. Perhaps all of those undersized flounder that were caught and released last year at this time have put on weight.

In other fishing news, Capt. James Plaag has been hammering speckled trout lately and hopefully that is a good sign for other fishermen, like me, who have had a sparse year on specks.

Plaag and his guests have been taking limits of specks to 25 inches while fishing slicks over mud in seven to nine feet of water. Bass Assassin Sea Shads in slammin’ chicken color have been working for the deeper fish while chrome and blue She Dogs have been the ticket for topwater.

Patrick Lemire, publicist for Williams Party Boats, pointed out that this year’s special red snapper season went through last Monday, not Sunday, as I mentioned in Tuesday’s Reel Report.

The Party Boat Capt. John made a trip on the last day fishing 70 miles south of the jetties with 80 anglers on board.

Galveston Fishing

Anglers able to get away from football and other activities and hit the water should find some excellent fishing.

The jetties, surf and bays are all producing some nice fish with only speckled trout dragging in numbers on the stringers. Bull reds are almost a given for fishermen geared up to catch the big fish and able to make it to the more productive spots.

Spanish mackerel seem to be everywhere in the surf and around the jetties while reds, both slot and over-sized, are hitting in the bays along with a variety of other fish.

Night fishing is where most of the speckled trout are being reported caught. All along offshoots of the Intracoastal Waterway and bay front lighted piers, trout along with reds and a variety of pan fish are feeding upon bait attracted to lighted areas late at night.

Best catches are being reported between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

We are in the last two days of the special red snapper season and all of the local party boats are reported to be planning season ending trips this weekend.

Thursday, the party boat New Buccaneer with Capt. Matt Smith at the helm took 58 guests approximately 60 miles offshore. Their catch included a full limit of red snapper, 168 vermilions, three amberjack to 75 pounds, five almaco jack to 15 pounds, six rockhinds, five scamp grouper, a 20-pound ling and a variety of reef fish.

Capt. Ron Woods hosted Sammy and Mercedes Zamora from Seminole to a bay trip Thursday where they found action at the old concrete ship Selma. Their catch included several bull reds, gafftop and sharks. Cut shad was the bait.

Nice Weekend for Galveston Fishing

Fishermen unable to take advantage of near-perfect conditions the last few days have missed out on some excellent fishing.

Wednesday evening, the water along the beach front was in excellent condition, and Brandon Rowan of League City headed straight for Galveston after work.

His first stop was the rock groins along the seawall where he found the water alive with Spanish mackerel.

Using mullet for bait, he landed two and lost several big ones to severed lines.

Two flounder, a keeper and a throwback, rounded out his catch from the surf.

After sunset, Rowan moved to his favorite gigging spot in West Bay; and while the tide level was high, he managed two more flounder, both 16 inches in length.

Night fishing continues to be excellent with trout and reds feeding on bait attracted by fishing lights.

George Watkins caught a limit of reds and three trout fishing the lights of a canal off the Intracoastal Waterway between Bolivar and Crystal Beach. Free-lined live shrimp was the bait.

Galveston : Great conditions for fishing both inshore and offshore

Great conditions for fishing both inshore and offshore have settled on the Upper Texas Coast.The final four days of the bonus red snapper season are upon us and so far there have been a high percentage of fishable days in the Gulf of Mexico during this two-week period.

While the ability to retain red snapper has been the driving force behind most of the offshore trips, lot of other varieties of fish have been taken along with snapper.

Party boats making overnight trips are able to retain a double limit of red snapper representing two days of fishing, and that is exactly what took place on the 36-hour tuna trip made by Williams Party Boats’ Capt. John.

Monday, the party boat headed out to the Boom Vang Spar Platform, which is located in water depths of more than 3000 feet. From that spot and others along the way, the 36 anglers aboard caught full two-day limits of red snapper to 15 pounds, 126 vermilions, 186 blackfin tuna, three yellowfins and a variety of other fish. 
One of the frequent cus
tomers, Rob Richardson of Athens, landed four red snapper to 15 pounds, a 58-pound yellowfin tuna, two mangroves and a skipjack tuna.

At the jetties, Sarah Melcer fished Abby’s Hole at the end of the South Jetty where she caught 39 gafftop, two sharks, a bull red and whiting.

Tuesday, Henry Homrighaus Jr. and Capt. Mike Eden headed out into the Gulf and found the seas too much to tolerate and returned to the South Jetty where they found fish in a feeding frenzy. Their catch included five slot reds, a bull red, mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel and sheepshead.

Richard Belleau reported good catches from the surf by anglers fishing the 61st Street Fishing Pier. Early Tuesday, croaker, sand trout, black drum, bull reds and blacktip sharks all were being landed.

Galveston Fishing Report

The weather forecast played tricks on anglers expecting light winds and slight seas for their offshore trips Tuesday.

What was supposed to be wind velocities in the 5 to 10 mph range ended up being much higher and seas forecast to be in the 1- to 2-foot category also were higher.

My boat was one of those turning around after venturing about 5 miles past the jetties as the seas were just too much for comfort. Two red snapper per person were just not worth a 35-mile ride in those conditions.

The cool mornings triggered by last weekend’s cold front are causing anglers to think about fall fishing and particularly the upcoming flounder migration to the Gulf of Mexico, more commonly referred to as the fall flounder run. If Pam Garner’s report from 3-G Bait Camp at the Galveston Yacht Basin is any indication, big flounder are beginning to move.

Monday, Gino Asuncion Sr. weighed in a 26-inch, 9.2-pound flatfish at the bait camp.

While that flounder definitely would be considered a saddle blanket, the record southern flounder in Texas was caught in 1976 in Sabine Lake and weighed 13 pounds and measured 28 inches. With the successful efforts to replenish our flounder stocks, it would not surprise me to see that record broken and the Galveston Bay Complex could be holding that fish.

Garner also gave an update on their flounder fishing tournament. The event will take place each Saturday during October and November. Entry fee is $25, and participants must be signed in by 8 a.m. with weigh-in taking place at 4 p.m. Each week, first place wins 50 percent of the pot and second place receives 25 percent. The last Saturday of November, all of the first-place winners will fish.

Galveston Fishing

The weather buoy at the North Jetty was reporting wind gusts in excess of 30 mph Sunday and the offshore buoys were showing wave heights in the 6- to 9-foot range. Sunday was definitely not a fishable day.

This frontal system should pass through quickly and, by the middle of this week, light winds should return.

There likely will be a drop in water temperatures as a result; however they are not anticipated to be low enough to trigger a fall feeding frenzy with fish.

Saturday, The Galveston Parks Department held their its Fishin’ 4 Fun on Galveston Island fishing event. The kids fishing contest attracted more than 80 participants and was held on the fishing pier at Seawolf Park.

While the park was not shut down to others, families participating in the event were admitted at no charge and it turned out to be a fun morning for all. Among the volunteers helping with the tournament were the four judges of which I was one. The others were Capt. Lloyd Pepper, who is known by his peers on the West End of the island as the Mayor of West Bay; Dutch Kueteman, an official of several major fishing tournaments in Galveston; and Eric Minor with CCA-Texas Mainland Chapter.

One of the participants landed a fish that had to be some kind of rarity as none of the four judges had a clue as to what it was. The fish was released as it likely would have appeared on the list of offshore fish with a minimum size limit or was a protected species. My guess is that it was one of a variety of reef fish found in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Our only fishing report Sunday came from the Party Boat Capt. John which made a Friday trip to spots 40 miles out where they landed a variety of fish including full limits of red snapper to 14 pounds, 30 spadefish, sharks and Spanish mackerel.

Galveston Fishing

The big catch of the day came from Lake Madeline where a 6-foot, 100-pound alligator gar was caught by H.J. Stubbs and Dillon Langreder. Recently, there have been reports of several huge gar hanging around lights in the water, and apparently a large concentration of pin fish and shad are attracting the big fish.

October is starting off with good fishing both inshore and in the offshore Gulf Waters.  

The opening day of the two-week bonus season for red snapper was a success, as Galveston’s two major party boat operations, Williams Party Boats and Galveston Party Boats, had their flagships out and both returned with full limits of red snapper Tuesday.

The Capt. John made a 43-mile trip with 41 anglers aboard and ended up with sharks, sand trout, spadefish, blue runners, gafftop and stingrays in addition to their limit of red snapper. Undersized ling and blacktip shark were caught and released.

The New Buccaneer carried 59 anglers out and returned with their limit of red snapper along with sharks, trigger fish, vermilions and king mackerel.

On the inshore scene, Polly and I headed out Wednesday morning and found the flounder running.

The wind was more than we wanted to deal with at the jetties, so we chose the Bolivar Gas Wells and Galveston Ship Channel as the spots to fish.

Two flounder were taken at one of the Bolivar wells and, except for a huge stingray, nothing else was biting. Along the Galveston Ship Channel things were different as we managed a Texas Grand Slam in addition to other fish caught. At one spot near Seawolf Park, I caught and released an approximate 2-pound grouper. This was the first time I have caught a grouper outside of deep Gulf waters.

Our tally for the day was four flounder to 22 inches, three specks, a slot red, nine mangrove snapper, three retained and six released, and a bunch of sand trout that were released. The water was in excellent shape all around the area.  

Galveston Fishing

Fall fishing is on the way. This weekend a season-changing cold front is expected to cross the Upper Texas Coast and with it will come a big drop in temperatures.

Monday, it appeared that trout are ready for the change, as reflected in Capt. James Plaag’s report.

Hosting three guests, Plaag placed them into full limits of trout to more than five pounds using Slammin Chicken Sea Shads in glo with chartreuse tails. Mirrorlure She Dog topwater baits also brought in some fish.

The action came from fishing slicks over mud in six feet of water during the outgoing tide.

Tuesday, thunderstorms kept most anglers off of the water; however, Chris Foster and Donna Rowe took their tackle and rain parkas to the rocks near the Galveston Ferry Landing and fished most of the morning.

Using dead shrimp for bait, the couple from Hitchcock landed a variety of fish for a big fish fry. Included in their catch was mangrove snapper, sand trout, croaker and whiting. Two small flounder were landed and released.

Early Tuesday, customers fishing the 61st Street Fishing Pier were catching sand trout, croaker, bluefish and bull reds.

Josh Dorrell, executive director of Galveston Urban Ministries, sent a note about their upcoming fundraising event at the Galveston Fishing Pier that will run from 6 p.m. Nov. 8 to 6 p.m. Nov. 10.
It is the first annual Big Money Red Tourney with cash prizes of $1,000, $500 and $300 for first through third place. Online registration is at www.galvestonurbanministries.org., with “fishing tourney” typed in the memo line.