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SpexnReds · #1 12-04-2005, 09:15 PM

Okay guys, so i'm coming back home to houston on december 12th.....does anyone think there will be any good surf fishing from then to jan 9th? I don't have a boat and am lookin for a good place to walk up to or wade. I havent gotten my fly out in a month and i'm dyin...any input or tips would be much appreciated

tightline · #2 12-05-2005, 01:23 PM

There's no telling what the surf will be like during that time. Your best bet is to just keep an eye on the freeport surf cam:

http://66.132.136.171/surfcam/index_octa.shtml

Also, don't limit yourself to surf fishing. You can wade fish the bays. When you get to Houston, go to any Academy and buy a Top Spot map for the area you intend to fish. I think they even sell a Top Spot map geared toward wade fishing the Galveston Area complex. They're cheap, waterproof, and they'll show you alot of good places to wade fish.

Bear · #3 12-06-2005, 12:51 AM

I am in the process of putting together a 9wt saltwater setup that I might have some time to use in January and am wondering if anything will actually be moving in the galveston bays. I have thought about going surfside, too, but am a bit leary after watching a guy pull a 6 ft long black tip shark into on of the piers. I live up on the NE side of Houston, so the Baytown area is much closer to me, but I don't know anywhere to go there. I have tried Texas city, the Bay complex, and the jetty's in Galveston but did not have enough line wt with my 6wt rod and a 1 over 7wt bonefish line to get out to the fish (I also need to purchase/make a stripping basket so I don't get caught in the rocks anymore, too). I guess what I am saying is that I have been told that the fishing is pretty dead here in the winter months. I just want to get some R&R if possible, and I still (after almost 4 years in Texas) have not caught a fish on a fly. I did pick up a couple mackeral last summer on a McD's straw jerk rig, but that's it!

Thanks!

Bear

bones · #4 12-07-2005, 08:59 AM

I am a Houston expatriot but still have buddies down there who fish the bays.

Run over to Seabrook to a great sporting goods shop, Marburger's , and talk to Todd Heophner, he owns the place. Take Nasa 1 into Seabrook, as it T's in Seabrook the store will be seen at that intersection. Might buy a Hot Spot map and some other stuff and let him mark a few wade accessible spots for you. (He's got a good line of sporting goods, hunting and fishing, no basketball stuff, no bicycle stuff, no soccer stuff, just hunting and fishing stuff) He is a Seabrook-Kemah native so knows the bay very wel......and a flyfishin' addict........fishes every Wednesday and Sunday, rain or shine, so he'll know the pulse of the bay, where to fish, and what the fish are taking, not to mention one of the nicest folk you could ever meet. Ask him for a few wade accessible places in the bay system and he might be able to tell ya. He used to guide and might be willing to do that for you.

I just e-mailed him to maybe expect you. Mention Reel-Time and my name, Steve Smith.

Good luck.

Bear · #5 12-08-2005, 11:30 PM

Hey Steve,

Thanks for getting me this info. i am definitely going to try and get in touch with him, though it may be by phone at this point. My schedule is still pretty hairy for the next semester but I might have a couple of weekends when I get back from Christmas in Minnesota (no flyfishing there, too much ice, lol). I will definitely look him up, though, and I hope I can get down that way soon.

Thanks again for another (as usual, I have found) splendid response.

Bear

SpexnReds · #6 12-09-2005, 02:13 AM

Just to let you guys know, as soon as I get back from USC I'm hittin West Bay-not fly fishing though, its just too damn windy. Probably just toss some plastics or see if the specks will tear up the corkys like they usually do in the winter-I'll keep you guys updated, I'm back in Houston on the 12th and will be on the bay the morning of the 13th. I'm probably going to go a couple more times until I have to go back to Los Angeles for school (and the rose bowl hehehe), and hopefully we Trojans have a 3rd Championship to brag about, although I'm probably transfering to UT business school next year-weird aint it?

Bear · #7 12-09-2005, 12:22 PM

Please keep us updated. I will get back into town on the 29th after heading north and hope to get into west bay or the surfside somtime in early January before my next semester starts again.

So let us know and good luck with those reds. I have yet to catch anything, and I'd like to start!

Bear

SpexnReds · #8 12-12-2005, 09:24 AM

I'm hittin the bay by boat tomorrow morning at 10. From what I have heard, the fishing has been fantastic the past week. Apparently, morning fishing has slowed down quite a bit because of the temperatures and lack of sun that time of day, so you don't have to get up early to go fishiing, which I can assure you, is a GOOD thing. I don't think I will need to do any wading, case from what I understand, the fish are easy to fool. I will post an update tomorrrow night to let you guys know how it went, and hopefully the wind doesnt pick up.

bones · #9 12-12-2005, 09:29 AM

Lucky dog! You get to go fishin'!

Please give us a report.

Don't forget the flyrod! Never leave home without it!

SpexnReds · #10 12-14-2005, 12:33 PM

So I went fishing yesterday. We had heard bad news from West Bay as the fish had shut off over the weekend, so Capt. Plaag of Silver King Adventures decided to take us to Trinity Bay, right around the Ship Channel bridge. We got out there at about 10, and got totally goose-egged until about 1. We ended up with about 5-6 keepers in total, using purple assassins with chartreuse tails-it was much too windy to get a fly out. Even though we didn't end up with much, the fish were out there. When you found them, they were hitting, but they hit on the drop and so softly that it was very hard to sense. We had about 6 more keepers on, but one again the soft hits cause a shallow set in their paper-thin mouths, and they spit the hook easily after you though you had em. The bait schools were also a bit misleading. The fish would terrorise the mullet in pairs of 2 about, and there were no signs of school action so you pretty much had to go by a hunch to find them. While we were cleaning the fish, we found out why they were shut off. We cut some of the stomachs open, and they were full of shad and fingermullet; we missed the primary feeding. So, if you do want luck, the fish ARE there and in large numbers, you just have to find the right time. Go out sometime during the high tide, cause thats when they seem to be rippin, and work oyster reefs and shallow banks. Saturday the fishing in Trinity was absolutely amazing, we just missed our shot yesterday. Ya'll should go out there and give it a shot, it's worth it, but it will be a challenge. Tight Lines.

Bear · #11 01-02-2006, 11:16 PM

SO I went down to Galveston this morning and got on the water around 10:30-10:45. I walked the edge of Galveston island Sate park, coming on the South side and walking all the way to the far side of Dana Cove. Nothing was moving at all during the first couple of hours, so I kept on blind casting without any luck. I know now that I should have saved my energy and not fought the wind so much because around 1pm the wind died down, the sun really began to warm the water, and the baitfish moved up into the flats. I was trailing at least one fish (a speck, I believe) when I thought I was going to drown by sinking knee deep in a silt hole (both feet). I was seeking another when I fell backwards into knee-deep water as well (making quite a ruckus as I did it). However, I did get one nice bite and a near-hook that pulled, wiggled, and let go. It was a very strange afternoon when the fish were in they were feeding but "soft on the take" is a substantial understatement. They were also hanging around 65-70 feet away, so my 9 wt was a necessity. I suppose next time I will use a slightly finer leader that is tied a little shorter to help with my hook-set.

Well, I got a sunburn, had one near miss, nearly drowned, tanked once, and had a wonderful afternoon.

Cheers!

Bear

SpexnReds · #12 01-03-2006, 12:34 AM

Bear, I hope you are like me in the sense that alot of time it doesn't matter how many fish you caught, just that you got to go out there and throw. After all, catching the fish is only part of it, to me, the hunt is the most thrilling.

Bear · #13 01-03-2006, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpexnReds

Bear, I hope you are like me in the sense that alot of time it doesn't matter how many fish you caught, just that you got to go out there and throw. After all, catching the fish is only part of it, to me, the hunt is the most thrilling.

Oh, I agree, for the msot part. I was just really hoping to break my 3.5 year drought on the fly... I have yet to catch anything on a fly since we moved to Texas. The whole saltwater fly idea is a bit overwhelming for me, since I grew up fishing small pocket water lakes in NW Minnesota. But yes, it was a great day on the water, and I ALMOST had a fish. Close enough for me, for now.

Bear

word-doctor · #14 01-06-2006, 11:54 PM

Bear, I've been fishing several years down here and still don't have the formulae. But my kids are now older so either they can go with me or at least I don't get the stink-eye from mom. If you can apply the stuff you learned on Mille Lacs, that's about the closest you'll get to what's down here: lots of sand, reefs, and relatively shallow water. The structure in the bays and on the beaches is there, just not as pronounced as one is used to in freshwater... Keep posting (I say as if I didn't just find this place myself). Oh, and I have a tandem kayak!

Drew

Bear · #15 01-27-2006, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by word-doctor

Bear, I've been fishing several years down here and still don't have the formulae. But my kids are now older so either they can go with me or at least I don't get the stink-eye from mom. If you can apply the stuff you learned on Mille Lacs, that's about the closest you'll get to what's down here: lots of sand, reefs, and relatively shallow water. The structure in the bays and on the beaches is there, just not as pronounced as one is used to in freshwater... Keep posting (I say as if I didn't just find this place myself). Oh, and I have a tandem kayak!

Drew

Hey Drew,

Welcome to the site. Sorry for the delay, but I have been swamped between work and night classes...

I have never had the opportunity to fish MIlle Lacs, but I have friends who did, so I may touch base with them. Primarily I was on the Walker/Kabekona bay side of Leech lake ouside Walker, MN and on much smaller pocket water outside the Hawley/Detroit Lakes area since I grew up in Moorhead, that was the closest water I could get into. Since I didn't have a boat I was limited to shallow wading, but will definitely try to tube float the next time I am up there to fish (July, I hope).

I will definitely keep posting and keep trying when I can (maybe once this spring at this point), but I will definitely keep reading up to do better everytime. Like I said, this was the most successful fishing excursion yet, so I am happy.

I think I'm going to try to tie a couple Gurgler patterns in red/white for my next trip, too. WHo knows, maybe the noise will bring some fun for me.

I plan on going sometime during the second full week of march (my spring break) to get a day on the water, but who knows what the conditions will be like, but it's still better than working!

Cheers,

Bear