Galveston Fishing Blog

Sunday morning the wind was dead calm and the water flat as a pancake.

Although we had just returned from a Christmas trip to South Carolina, it was just too much to pass up.

Polly and I quickly loaded up the boat and by 9:30 a.m., we were heading past the jetties to test the action at some platforms 40 miles out.

Recently, I told my better half the first really calm day with no threatening weather in the forecast I wanted to make a winter offshore trip.

While we expected to run into lots of red snapper that had to be released, there exist many varieties of other fish around the steel reefs offshore.

Large Gulf and sand trout, grouper, vermilion snapper and all sorts of other reef fish hang around the wells and platforms.

It had been a while since I had given my offshore boat a good workout so, with all of that to gain, off we headed to one of our favorite spots approximately 40 miles east/southeast of the jetties.

Running at between 4,000 and 4,500 rpms in the open Gulf, we made the trip in an hour and a half.

Only one other recreational boat was observed during the run, and it was tied up to a rig approximately 15 miles out.

Perfect conditions greeted us upon arrival and that was about it for positive comments.

Using large squid and Spanish sardines for bait, not one decent fish was caught.

To my surprise, no red snapper was to be found.

It is the first trip I have made offshore that not a single fish was landed.

At least the boat’s engines got a good workout and lots of old gasoline was used to make room for a fresh batch.

Upon returning through the Galveston Ship Channel, Polly looked over at one of our favorite flounder holes and said we should have stopped there this morning instead of making the long haul.

We certainly would not have done any worse, and I had to agree with her.

There were no fishing reports in by Sunday afternoon, and I have to wonder if there was an epidemic of lockjaw going around.

Galveston Fishing Blog

What is it with the flounder this year? Here it is late December and flounder still are being caught both along the Galveston Ship Channel and in West Bay. It certainly is not the lack of cold water or strong northers that are keeping them home.

There is no doubt that the big female flounder are heading to their purported winter home in the Gulf of Mexico; however, when will they all make it there?

On Christmas Day, Caitlin Smith from Austin landed a huge 26-inch flounder fishing near the yacht basin.

In West Bay, we have two reports of flatfish being caught by anglers fishing for trout.

Trout are the prime targets this time of the year in West Bay, and it usually is not long after the beginning of the new year that the big sows start showing up on stringers.

Obviously, the big girls have begun to arrive. Jerry Tucker of Bayou Vista was fishing in one of his subdivision’s canals Thursday and landed a 28-inch speckled trout that hit a red and yellow soft plastic.

Jetty Joe at Galveston Bait and Tackle reported a customer from Pearland caught five trout and two flounder last Thursday fishing around Confederate Reef. Live shrimp was his choice of bait.

North Deer Island was productive for two anglers from Houston. Their catch included 15 trout and three reds. Again, live shrimp was the bait.

Capt. Michael LaRue, LaRue’s Guide Service, fished West Bay with three guests and ended up with 21 trout and a flounder using soft plastics for bait.

We definitely are in our wintertime pattern with trout making their way into Upper West Bay. While it will be cold on the water, fishing should be good, and don’t overlook flounder. All indications are that they still are around.

Galveston Fishinf Blog

Now that most of the Christmas celebrations are winding down, let’s once again turn our attention to fishing.

The cold weather helped keep anglers at home enjoying holiday activities, and those of us that have been off of the water for a while are yearning to get back in the saddle, or better, rod and reel in hand.

Prior to the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day lull, flounder were continuing their journey to the Gulf and hitting baits along the way. The average size of the flatfish was larger than those taken earlier in the month indicating that the larger females are on the road.

Jimbo Van Ness and his nephew Jeff Smith made a nice haul of flounder from 17 to 23 inches in length from the Galveston Ship Channel on Monday.

Jackie Hart and his father-in-law Mel Greenburg fished the Intracoastal Canal near the entrance to Bolivar and landed four large flounder last Sunday. Gulps were the baits that worked.

While flounder might be a possibility for post-Christmas anglers, sand trout, and large ones at that, have been hitting all around the area.

The Pelican Island Bridge is often a hot spot for the popular pan fish and during the weekend Tony Hampton and Mike Bellows proved that the sand trout are stacking up in the area.  While targeting flounder with Curly Tail Gulps, the anglers from Dickinson landed 18 sand trout to 14 inches.  One 19-inch flounder was the lone flatfish added to their stringer.

Hampton said that they ran through three packages of Gulps as the trout tend to like to pull the curly tail off.

Jose Aceves and his brother Mike fished near the mouth of Dickinson Bayou on Sunday afternoon and caught 14 sand trout to 18 inches, a 25-inch red and an 18-inch flounder using Gulps and dead shrimp for bait.

Gaveston Fishing Blog

Many of you recall my predecessor, Vince Stigligh Jr.

One of his classic columns included a local rendition of a popular Christmas poem, and for those who have never seen it, here it is.

’Twas the night before Christmas on the island you know; Way out on West Bay where there is no snow,

Asleep in their bunks were Billy and Lou, a dreamin’ of limits like me and like you.

Not stockings but waders hung close to their bed, for those were two anglers, what more need be said?

Then all of a sudden from out of the night come such a ruckus it gave them a fright!

They saw ‘cross the water like a shot from a gun, a highly-decorated outboard comin’ on the run;
The driver was casting and reeling at will, and horsepower not reindeer he drove with such skill.

Come on there, Johnson, and you, too, Mercury, there’s going to be plenty of action for you and for me.

The driver in old levis and a shirt that was red, had a cap filled with lures on top of his head.

As he stepped from the outboard, he was truly a sight, with rod and reel ready and raring to fight.

As he burst into the cabin, the anglers awoke. And both so astonished that no one spoke.

He filled their ice chest with goodies galore, so much that neither could think of anything more.

When Billy recovered the use of his jaws, he asked in a whisper, “Are you Santa Claus?”

“Am I the real Santa? Well, what do you think?” And he smiled as he gave both anglers a wink.

Then he leapt into his outboard and called back in a drawl, “To all Texas anglers — tight lines and full limits Y’all”

In closing, I want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas Day.

Galveston Fishing

A combination of unfavorable conditions and the Christmas lull had anglers looking at holiday activities other than fishing on Saturday.

While there were no fishing reports, we did receive a note from Maurice Higgins, who asked why live shrimp are so expensive and what is necessary to catch shrimp on your own.

Higgins said that he pays anywhere from $16 to $20 a quart for live shrimp and is interested in catching his own bait.

He owns a 19-foot boat and was told that it would be suitable for dragging a shrimp trawl.

The price referenced above is in line with the prices charged by bait camps all around Galveston and, in my opinion, is a bargain.

I do not recall the last time we had a price increase for live shrimp; however, it has been many years.

Shrimpers are on the water just about every day trying to keep up with the demand for their product and many days the boats come up with empty nets.

High fuel prices and tighter regulations have taken their toll on a large portion of our shrimping fleet, including both bay and offshore boats.

From first-hand experience, I can say that shrimping is no easy task. In my early years, I owned a 20-foot bait trawl and would go after my own live shrimp and experienced the frustrations of feast or famine.

For those of you not familiar with recreational bait shrimping, here are some of the basic regulations. Required is a shrimp trawl tag, costing $37.

The trawls are limited to a 20-foot maximum length and the daily limit on shrimp you may retain is two quarts per person or four quarts total for the boat.

Successful shrimping is not as easy as it might appear. Skill and experience are the two keys, and it is physically challenging.

One consideration should be in the time it takes away from fishing. Let’s say that you are going after your own bait shrimp, launch your boat and soon start dragging your net. If you are successful in pulling in a quart or more of shrimp, it is likely you have taken a couple of valuable hours away from fishing.

Galveston Fishing

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries Division issued a news release Thursday announcing that it would be conducting public scoping meetings to discuss possible changes to Texas Saltwater Fishing Regulations, especially for flounder and speckled trout.

While neither species is being overfished in our area and the stocks appear to be good, TPWD is looking to the future to preserve both fisheries.

The meetings will be held statewide in early January. The Galveston area meeting will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 9 at the TPWD Dickinson Marine Lab, at 1502 FM 517, in Dickinson.

Luis Decker, Aunt Margie’s Bait Camp, reported five flounder to 24 inches caught by Michael Aguilar and Gilbert Gonzales near the Texas A&M University at Galveston boat docks. Fingerling mullet was the bait of choice.

Joe Moughon has been sending in some good reports of his flounder fishing lately and Thursday, he sent a note saying this has been his best flounder season ever.

Moughon was back on the water fishing around docks along the Galveston Channel and limited out on flatfish to 21 inches. All of the fish were caught on Chicken Boy soft plastics in psycho red with white tails.

Wade Wallace of Uncle Buck’s Bait Shop has been hammering the flounder as well. Wednesday, he fished near the Texas A&M campus for two hours and caught two nice flounder. Thursday, he returned to his favorite spot and limited out.

Earlier in the week, Wallace and his friend Mark limited out on Monday and on Tuesday, he and his buddy Curly landed seven. All of this action is here a week before Christmas. There’s no doubt we had a later flounder run in 2013.

Galveston Fishing

The last three days have been so calm and perfect for heading offshore, it has been difficult driving down the seawall and seeing such inviting conditions knowing it was virtually impossible to take off and head out.

Not all anglers were so confined. Capt. Kenny Bleakney of Laser Marine and three friends took advantage of the window of excellent weather and made an overnight trip to the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It turned out to be a great decision.

Bleakney said it was one of his best trips, and the highlight was his landing a near-state record black grouper. The fish was weighed in at the Galveston Yacht Basin and hit the scales at more than 116 pounds, less than 8 pounds shy of the Texas State Record.

The fish was caught at the Flower Garden Reef more than 100 miles out of Galveston and hit a Purple Mauler being trolled. Bleakney said initially they thought it was a large amberjack as there was plenty of action on those; however, as the fish got closer, everyone was surprised to see that it was a black grouper. Normally, those fish are caught deep and rarely on trolled lures.

In other fishing news, the best catches lately have come at night while the full moon was overhead.
Max Henning from Edmonton, Alberta, was in town visiting friends and Tuesday night, they all fished off a private dock on Offatts Bayou. Using free-lined live shrimp, Henning landed a 5-pound trout, the largest of the evening. His hosts added six more trout in the 15- to 18-inch range before they called it quits about 11 p.m.

Harold Armour of Crystal Beach fished along the Intracoastal Waterway on Tuesday night and caught two slot reds and five trout, three keepers and two throwbacks. Live shrimp was the bait.

Galveston Fishing Blog

The last several days were interesting, as we had a lot of feedback from flounder fishermen, and the majority feel that the run still is on with the prime fish now making their move.

A note from Mike Krnavek pretty well represents the view of most anglers that responded.

Krnavek said he keeps reading reports that the flounder run is over and people think it’s over.

“Well, I can tell you that it is not,” Krnavek said. “People tend to call it over when they are not able to pull up to a spot and catch five flounder in 20 minutes. The thing that’s good about people like that is they give up for the year. Then you end up with fewer crowds.”

He said when this happens, that’s when the fishing gets good. The December fish are so much bigger and are the last to head for the Gulf.

“Don’t get me wrong, there will be slow days that you will have to grind it out, but the size of the big females is well worth it,” Krnavek said.

Krnavek and George Potchkhoua fished the Galveston Ship Channel on Saturday and caught 12 flounder, keeping nine of the fish. Most all the flounder were larger than 21 inches. Potchkhoua also caught a 25-inch red that was kept. Two fish were caught on mullet, but the bigger solid fish were caught on Chickenboys and Gulps. Krnavek said he thinks anglers will be catching flounder into January.

Practically all of the reports lend optimism that fresh flounder might be an option for Christmas dinner.

The frontal passage Saturday afternoon took away prospects for good trout fishing for a few days. Today, conditions should begin to improve for fishing and, by Tuesday, action on both specks and flounder should pop open again. Don’t forget the reds; they are there, just not getting the notoriety of the other two of the big three.

Galveston Fishing Blog

There is an old adage that says “It ain’t over until it’s over,” and that is exactly what we are experiencing with this year’s flounder run.

One day everyone is convinced that most of the fish have moved out and the next, a new crop of flounder appear along their highway to the Gulf.

You may recall that I wanted to wait until we heard from the weekend group before saying that it is over for this year.

Well, Friday and Saturday there were a lot of big flounder caught, and it appears that we still are in business with this year’s migration.

Trout action also is picking up, especially in East and West bays.

Bobby Ballard fished with his friend Kyle Canada on Friday and both limited out on flatfish to 25 inches. The limits were taken within two hours while fishing the Galveston Channel.

Wade Wallace, Uncle Buck’s Bait and Tackle, called in to say that the flounder run is not over.

Friday, while fishing with two friends, Curly and Alan, they landed three limits of flounder from the Galveston Channel using live mullet for bait.

Wednesday and Thursday, Wallace had two friends report back with limits of flounder both days.

Friday, Tony Calapan and his dad Al fished the Galveston Channel near the yacht basin and found the action sporadic. Al did manage a 24-inch flatfish using his favorite red and white jig.

Now, we will look at what is taking place with speckled trout. East Bay produced some nice stringers of specks for wade fishermen using slow-sinking baits such as Corkies.

Henry Miller used the popular wintertime bait to land eight specks to 20 inches along the edge of the channel at Sievers Cut.

Miller said that a bunch of specks and reds were being cleaned at the bait camp when he returned and all were caught by wade fishermen early Saturday.

Dean Silvers, while he and his son were still fishing in West Bay on Saturday morning, reported they had 10 keeper specks and tossed back six undersized trout.

Three nice sheepshead also were on their stringer at the time.

Friday Night Lights were producing a lot of trout for anglers in canal subdivisions and along Sportsmen’s Road. There was a mix of throwbacks and keepers. Live shrimp was the preferred bait.

Galveston Fishing Blog

A lot of hard-core flounder fishermen are now switching their attention to the spring run that usually begins in mid- to late February. Not much is published about the annual return migration back into the bays. It lasts during the spring months and there usually are not a lot of fish stacked up in any given area.

This will be a good topic to discuss closer to the spring equinox.

One seasoned flounder angler, Lori LaBorde, who goes by the alias The Saltwater Hooker, said Thursday was her last flounder trip of this year as she feels the run is over. LaBorde had to work for a limit of flounder and observed very few other anglers catching flat fish.

The professional angler also noted that her catches, along with that of several of her fishing friends, were way down this year.

Her theory is that the flounder moved out mostly at night during the stronger outgoing tides. She added that time will tell and now she can start focusing on trout in West Bay.

Personally, I am not ready to call the run over until a number of reports are received and, hopefully, we will see a good number of anglers on the water today and Saturday. Late Saturday through Sunday does not look good for fishing as a strong north wind is in the forecast.

In other fishing news, Bulldog’s Bait Shop called in, saying the fishing has been slow the last few days; however, on Thursday, a customer who had been fishing the 61st Street Fishing Pier returned for more mullet. The report indicated that bull reds were hitting on the incoming tide and large cut mullet was the only bait they were hitting.

Galveston Fishing Blog

Not much in the way of fishing activity Tuesday; however, we continue to get reports from the few anglers on the water last weekend.

Sam James and Danny Brady fished the Galveston Channel area Sunday where they landed a 22-inch flounder. James did not mention the bait used; however, I am somewhat certain it was Flounder Pounders knowing his close friendship with Phil Ortiz, the manufacturer.

Sunday night, trout action turned on around the Crash Basin off of Offatts Bayou. Gerald Moorhead used live shrimp to take seven specks from under the lights of a friend’s boat dock along that harbor.

An interesting question was asked by Johnny Helstrom several weeks ago that took some research on my part. Helstrom asked if I knew when the center console boat was introduced and who was the first manufacturer. He and a friend were in a friendly argument over who designed it and when the first of the popular fishing boats was built. His friend swears that Boston Whaler was the first and Helstrom had read somewhere that another company introduced the design.

Thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet, I came up with the following: In 1952, the Scopinich Family of Long Island, N.Y., built what was likely the first center console boat, a wooden skiff called the Scop Cruiser.

It is likely that Boston Whaler introduced the first of that design in this area and their model was advertised as unsinkable with all of the foam insulation inside.

You might recall from a few years ago I answered a similar question about who introduced the fiberglass boat.

The answer is that it likely was Ray Greene, an employee of Owens Corning Fiberglass. Greene also was a boat builder and wanted to experiment with new fibers invented by Dow Chemical.
The first manufacturer of fiberglass boats was Glastron Boats in 1956.

It has been said that before entering the boat business, Bob Hammond, the owner, was manufacturing fiberglass caskets that did not go over well in the market place.

Galveston Fishing Blog

There was not much in the way of fishing activity Sunday.

Conditions were somewhat improved compared to Saturday with lighter winds and slightly warmer temperatures.

Sunday’s only fishing reports centered around flounder fishing as the fall migration continues.

On Dec. 1, the limits for flounder returned to the 5-fish-per-person threshold and flounder gigging was allowed to resume after being shut down for the month of November.

Luis Decker, Aunt Margie’s Bait Camper, reported two limits of flounder being taken by Texas A&M University at Galveston students Cody Klindt and Chris Blackburn. The aggies took their limits by gigging near the university. I suppose you could say that this would be a good example of Gig-um Aggies.

The Chorizo Flounder Tournament produced some good results by the 36 anglers who were registered.

A total of 129 flounder weighing more than 463 pounds were weighed in.

The winners were Kevin Pete, first place; Mike Price, second place; and Nathan Chain, third place.

The flounder side pot winners were Kevin Pate, first place, and Janzen Miller, second place.

The tournament offered a side pot for redfish and the winners of that category were Kody Graves, first place, and Warren Burhman, second place.

The lingering northerly winds are creating very low tide levels and the forecast is for that trend to continue most of this week.

Another cold front early this week will just add to the problem by generating incrementally lower water levels.

Fishing in Galveston

Saturday was an unfortunate time to plan any outdoor activities, especially fishing trips.

While two local tournaments continued with their plans, the number of participants appeared to be down from what it would have been under more normal weather for early December.

I stopped by Serious Tackle just after the 1 p.m. weigh-in started and visited with Chris Gonzales and Lee Garcia, two of the tournament officials. They appeared to be pleased with the turnout in spite of the bitter cold conditions.

At that point, two participants had weighed-in. Results from that event will be forthcoming.

An angler scheduled to participate in the West End Anglers’ December Winter Trout Tournament called in to say that he was delighted to see the bad, cold weather hit as it would reduce competition in the tournament. The participant, who did not want to give his name, said that conditions like this weed out the serious participants from the fair-weather guys.

I suppose he is correct, as I am one of the fair-weather guys, and I certainly did not want to be out on the water Saturday.

While labeling myself as a fair-weather fisherman, hot weather — even readings around the century mark — do not bother me; however, a cold, biting wind quickly takes its toll on my enjoyment and endurance.

That is a product of having been born and raised on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Monte Wisdom sent a note in response to Saturday’s Reel Report asking that I add another category to the list of items to avoid buying for the angler on your Christmas list.

Wisdom said that all of his life, friends and family have tried to pick out lures for him at Christmas and almost all of them are stashed away in a box in his garage.

Wisdom said, “In my case, I prefer using live bait, and while I do use artificials at times, my choice is very limited and centered around a few brands and colors of soft plastics.”

Galveston Fishing Report

Thursday, I pulled up the long-range forecast for the next two weeks with the idea of planning some fishing trips with friends. If the predictions hold, we are in for some cold, rainy conditions with moderate to strong winds adding to the misery.

The good news so far is that the forecasts do not include a freeze for the Galveston area. Sounds like some excellent duck hunting weather for the start of the second part of duck season later this month.

For sure, flounder are going to have to fish or cut bait (yes, pun intended) and decide if they are going to leave for the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or stay behind for the winter. My prediction is that the majority of the flatfish still in the bays will make the move.

Some of the best trout fishing of this fall season has been taking place and a steady north wind likely will turn that around. Consistent ambient temperatures in the upper 30s to low 50s should drive trout and other fish to their deep water refuges.

Offatts Bayou and, in particular, the famous Blue Hole are worthy to keep an eye on as the cold spell lingers. We will have more on winter fishing patterns later.

Before the arrival of this latest frontal system, the Galveston Channel was yielding some nice flounder catches with many anglers limiting out with the return of the five-fish per day bag limit.
Still, most fishermen feel that this year’s flounder run has been disappointing compared to the last several.

Marty Fluke sent in Thursday’s only fishing report stating that he, Jon Lewis and Randy Estep of Dallas had quite a trip with Capt. Michael Larue of Larue’s Guide Service. The three anglers limited out on trout to 5 pounds and added a 25-inch flounder and 27.5-inch red to the catch.

Galveston fishing

Early morning fog delayed the departure of boats Wednesday morning; however, once the thick soup lifted, fishing was good to outstanding.

Trout are making the news in both East and West bays, with nice catches being reported from both areas. Waders using Corkies or Paul Brown Originals mopped up on specks along the north shoreline of East Bay.

Perry Hancock and Larry Ennis battled poor visibility to cross East Bay from Bolivar and found trout in a feeding mode around Frozen Point. The two anglers came close to limiting out on trout with a total of 18 during their three hours of wading.

The surprise of the trip was a jack crevalle hitting a Mirrorlure and almost stripping the line off Hancock’s reel. The big brute was landed and released after a 20- to 30-minute battle. This is very unusual to catch a jack crevalle in water below 60 degrees. Corkies and slow sinking Mirrolures were the baits of choice.

Louis, Ron and Don Ciaccio made a trip to the Galveston Ship ChannelMonday and picked up a triple limit of flatfish, with Louis taking the largest measuring more than 21 inches.

Barbara Garabaldi, Louis’ Bait Camp, had customer Ken Menard and his friend return from a trip to Green’s Cut where they landed 16 nice-sized trout and three redfish. Reports back to her from the Diversionary Canal and Harborwalk also indicated good trout action in those areas.

Around Louis’ dock, flounder, reds, sheepshead and sand trout are being caught.

Reminder, Saturday is the Chorizo Flounder Tournament. You can register at Serious Tackle or at the captains meeting Friday at Taqueria El Nopalito.

For information contact: Lee Garcia at 281-216-3215 or email teamlalito2@gmail.com

Galveston Fishing Blog

Is this year’s flounder run about over? Several seasoned flounder fishermen are asking that question, reflecting on the sporadic and overall slow action on flatfish last weekend.

Lori, The Saltwater Hooker, is one that asked the question.

She fished the Texas Lady Anglers Tournament during the weekend where they managed only eight flounder with just seven keepers and none longer than 18 inches. Earlier in the week, she and Flounder Pounder manufacturer Phil Ortiz barely managed to catch three flatfish each day on their trips.

She asked if we still can expect another push after the next cold front.

Fortunately, we will not have to wait long for the next norther as a strong cold front is forecast to cross the Upper Texas Coast on Friday night.

Perhaps that will be the key to igniting a big run if the flounder are still around.

Sunday marked the return of the 5-fish bag limit on flounder, and the Stephenson family found the results along the Galveston Channel to their liking. Kevin Stephenson II, his brother Ben and their dad limited out on flatfish to 22 inches using live fingerling mullet for bait.

Jerry Jackson of Jamaica Beach treated his son Anthony from Mesquite to a fishing trip aboard the party boat Cavalier last Saturday where they caught, tagged and retained bull reds of 37 and 39 inches in length.

Large black drum seem to be arriving early as another lady angler reported her catch of an over sized drum. Wanda Wagner caught a 40-inch drum Sunday while fishing near Bayou Vista.

Mark McDavid found non-stop action on whiting between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday. He landed 24 along with two 19-inch black drum using dead shrimp for bait.

Richard Belleau reported catches of whiting, black drum, bull reds and stingrays from the 61st Street Fishing Pier.

Galveston Fishing

Here we are into December and my question is, what happened to November?

As we get older, time seems to pass at an accelerated rate. As we look back on November 2013, we saw fairly good catches come across the cleaning tables, but overall slower than normal.

November was warmer than usual and that likely was the culprit in slowing down fishing. The flounder run did not start in earnest until about a week or so before Thanksgiving, and speckled trout action has been disappointing for most anglers. Reds and other fish, on the other hand, filled in the gap.

As we start the first week of this final month of 2013, let’s take a look at what should be in store for fishermen.

Early to mid-December has historically been a great time to land good quantities of trout in West Bay. This is especially true for upper West Bay from Greens Cut to the causeway. This year, flounder still are in the bays and many will choose to remain there rather than make the journey to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter.

The number and severity of cold fronts will determine how long fishing will be good in the bays.

After several strong northers pass through with sustained winds lasting several days, fish will become jittery and will start stacking up in deeper waters.

December is an excellent time to make an overnight tuna trip; however, this time of year, more trips are canceled than completed. Weather, usually strong northers, is the main cause of cancellations.

Wade fishing tends to be one of the best methods of fishing this month; however, a good pair of insulated waders is needed if you decide to give it a try.

December is often when we receive our coldest days of the year and historically, it is usually the second half of the month when the really cold weather sets in, if at all. It is also a month when drastic changes in temperatures occur, meaning the thermometer pushing record highs one day and dropping more than 20 degrees the next.

So, keep an eye on the forecast and enjoy some of the best fishing of the year, especially early in the month.