I am by no means an expert on salt water fishing having just taken it up with a fervor. I also fish with a flyrod and have been doing so since about 1975 but Freshwater almost exclusively my whole life. the closest I came to sea run anytyhing was steelhead and salmon in lake Michigan. That was great stuff btw.
Houston Complex....some ideas. If you want to see some patterns I have tied for the area, you can reach me at
daipdq@juno.com.
To catch fish, take a shrimp immitation and fish off the pier at Galveston at night The large pier south of 61st st. You will catch fish. Use a Squid immitation and try that(But you will need to use spinning tackle. Live bait
use strips of squid cut lengthwise, baited on the hook and retrieve jerkbait style.
The water is warming and clearing. You should begin to catch sea trout in the surf as well as reds and other specie. Problem is beach side, there is no real structure to fish except for oyster bars(there is one next to the Galveston pier by the way, fish that say 20 or 30 yards back toward the seawall from the "T". move up and down according to the tied).
I fished the Jetty on the Bolivar side Sunday. Long day standing and only caught croaker.
The bay itself. There are many waters that hold redfish and trout. East bay
north of San Luis Pass is where you fished. There is confederate reef there a reel tangle of coral. If the reds are on it, you will catch fish. Two weeks ago I cast to Spec's off the small Island to the south on the east side at Confederate reef. I spooked them but they are showing up. There is a current flow between that little island and the salt grass...fish that cut, drifting a Shrimp pattern. try sliders or Clausers deep. If you see the mullett, toss one...it should have a blue gray back and tied on a #1 or #1/0 hook right now but will get bigger soon. (check the bait shop: The croakers are getting into the 3-5 inch category and the Piggy's are small, with a purplish
gray back. I have tied them...they are in a average 3 inch long category).
You don't have to fish with bait to talk to bait shop and see what bait the boats are bringing in. Tie your flies accordingly.
Christmas Bay: Harder to fish due to the mud up close on the east side. You can definitely wade fish it though and cast to tailing redfish.
San Luis Pass: This is a very productive cut between the gulf and the bay.
I have successfully caught fish west of the bridge on the north side back into a hard right turn. There is a small island there with extreme shallows. You can usually wade across that cut...walk 100 yards up stream and cross over...
but as you go fish the north side into that small cut...there is a sand bar that runs quite a ways out. after crossing, you can walk for nearly half a mile til you get to the first deep channel. Fish for trout as the water drops quickly
from waste depth to deep water. You will find it easy as the water temp will drop quickly and be at least a 5 degree change.
Back north on the Bolivar bay side, just north of the ferry dock is a small community. If you drive in there and find a small curved bay you will be looking at the ferry to the south in front of you. Fish that who shallow bay.
North of there you can find at least two places to wade a bit and then on up to Anhuac... Get a map and start keeping track. Fish the strong incoming and outgoing tides. Christmas Bay is good for this. Back at san luis pass, use heavy weighted flies to get deep on the south side of San Luis Pass. You can catch trout there at night near the campground, wade out as deep as you can and find a light and cast to it.
bottom line: The fish are there...they move and migrate and theproblem for wade fisherman is to find where they are and fish that. A boat is really necessary for the Bay complex for this reason. A kayak is a good choice if motorized is out of range. A combo of all 3 methods is perfect with a boat large enough to fish out to some of the rigs in the gulf and able to handle skinny water... and move from locale to locale. I am told but have not fished Chocolate Bay. North side is muddy with entrance to lakes. Fish the lakes for flounder, Reds grubbing crabs etc on the north side. The south side is deeper, clearer and that is where you will catch trout. From San Luis Pass across to where Chocolate bay is located is a good 5 miles. A boat is necessary.
I too have struggled with fly rod. Last Sunday with all the wind, as I noted, we gave up on San Luis, Christmas Bay and Confederate Reef and went across to the Bolivar Jetty. Nothing at all. small croaker, etc. Fished with lures, weights, fly, bait. BUT: one young man caught a hug red in the 30-40 inch category while I was there. Go figure. No one caught fish, but this one guy. If they did, I didn't see them walking in and out with them. Just the one large Drum.
regards,
dai
Galveston Area Flats
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