Bolivar: GOOD. 74 degrees. Water levels are normalizing, except for a few big tide changes. The best bite conditions this week will be on edges of the deeper spots holding saltier water. Not to sound like a broken record, people are catching plenty of redfish of varying sizes everywhere! Sand trout, sheepshead, black drum, speckled trout, and crabs caught along the jetty with more stingrays and sharks. The surf is producing black drum, gafftop, stingrays, and bigger sharks along the whole peninsula. People were using all kinds of different things for bait this past week with good results. We did sell out of live shrimp this past week with plenty in stock. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.
Trinity Bay: SLOW. 80 degrees. The bay is fresh and off-colored. A few fish are being caught near Bayport, and inside Clear Lake. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Redfish being caught on WACky Shad XL are starting to show back up slowly but surely by the ship channel. Good weather ahead, we are in for a great season. Trout will follow as soon as the salinity level returns as for the sheepshead and flounder. Drum are in abundance around rocks off the ship channel. Be prepared and always wear your kill switch when under way. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
East Galveston Bay: GOOD. 83 degrees. South shoreline and reefs right off the shoreline holding fair numbers of speckled trout, a few black drum, and the occasional redfish. Open bay off colored and muddy. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. The freshwater is not affecting the trout bite! Caught a couple limits and many undersized trout on top waters, Fish Smack popping cork with Marker 54 Glide Shrimp, and Deadly Dudley lures paired with a Yellow Mouth Baits jig head all caught fish. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temperature 78 degrees in East Galveston Bay. Water clarity stirred up more than usual with all the freshwater entering the bay system from the heavy rains up above us. The further we ventured east, the more muddied up the water became. This week we had a few days with lighter than normal winds and we found fish in our typical springtime spots. We are still finding good numbers of solid trout on the Shorelines over shell pockets, where we have good tide movement, as well as Redfish along the grass lines and over shells with the higher tides. If you see bait flipping on the surface the fish are close by, if not, you are best to move on to another spot, after making a few casts. The lighter the jig head the better, 1/16 to 1/4, determined by the wind and current, and tails without paddles, are still performing the best, as we were utilizing Anahuac based, Wac Assassin’s and top performing colors varied, depending upon water clarity and light conditions. Our clients are still finding good success using Fish Smack Popping corks with a 1-2 feet leader above a Marker 54 Glide Shrimp, with a hard pop and a 5-10 second pause gathering the most strikes. The new 1/8 ounce Shrimplets are coming on strong as well, enticing some nice catches this week, but not as durable as the Glide Shrimp. The Topwater bite has also been good when utilized on our early morning and late afternoon trips. So if you like throwing walking baits, now is the perfect time to get on the water and make it happen. We did have one day where we ventured out to an open water reef and it did produce some trout action for us, so that bite should get better as we progress into more of a summertime pattern. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Services, LLC.
Galveston Bay: SLOW. 84 degrees. Lots of freshwater are still in the bay. A few black drum and trout being caught near Moses Lake. Some black drum in the wells, using live shrimp fished on the bottom. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
West Galveston Bay: GOOD. 83 degrees. Birds are working over schools of speckled trout, sand trout, and gafftop. Waders still catching the better fish, especially those throwing live croaker. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
Houston: GOOD. Water stained; 66 degrees; 1.11 feet above pool. Water is stained and current is back to moderate. With good weather in the forecast, we should have a fantastic season ahead of us due to several factors including less pressure on the fish. Great time to get safety gear in order and be prepared for boat checks. A lot of debris is floating, so take your time and be safe while navigating. Largemouth bass are hitting in the back lakes off the main channel on frogs and dark worms. White bass are around bulkheads and docks early in the morning hitting on small spins and small jigs. Catfish are in abundance on live shad. Crappie are north in 8-14 feet of water being caught around structure with small hand tied jigs. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
Texas City: FAIR. 82 degrees. Rocks near Swan Lake holding a few speckled trout and redfish, best on live shrimp. Gulf side of the north and south jetty . Good for black drum, slot redfish, a few bulls and speckled trout. Beachfront shark action picking up. Reported catches of redfish, black drum, sharks, and jackfish at the Galveston Piers. Some speckled trout showing up under the lights at night. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. The wade anglers are still catching plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and flounder with some occasional black drum, sheepshead, sand trout, and gafftop. People caught limits along the levee, Mosquito Island and the Moses Lake Tidal Gate. Along the dike has been successful in some spots and sporadic at others. Live shrimp and finger mullet have been the best baits. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.
Freeport: GOOD. 82 degrees. Fishing has been steady with trout, redfish, sheepshead, drum, and flounder around the San Luis Pass. Bastrop Bay, Christmas Bay, Chocolate Bay and the West end of Galveston Bay have been good for trout, gafftop and redfish fishing under the birds using shrimp under a four horseman pop n cork or gulp shrimp. The Freeport harbor has been steady with sheepsheads, drum, redfish and mangrove snapper free lining shrimp with a split shot. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures.
East Matagorda Bay: SLOW. 72 degrees. Trout are good with fewer catches of redfish drifting and wading with artificials. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
West Matagorda Bay: SLOW. 72 degrees. Trout are good with fewer catches of redfish drifting and wading with artificials. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
