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.