Bolivar: GOOD. 78 degrees. Water levels are fluctuating with tides and wind this week changing back to four tide days on Friday. Still lots of freshwater on the bay side dumping from up north. The best bite conditions this week will be on edges of the deeper spots holding saltier water. People are catching plenty of redfish of varying sizes everywhere! Small croakers showed up along with sand trout, sheepshead, black drum, speckled trout, and crabs caught along the jetty with more stingrays and sharks. Pompano and Jack Crevalle are running. The surf is producing reds and black drum, gafftop, lots of stingrays, and bigger sharks along the whole peninsula. The sargassum, or seaweed, is thick in spots. 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 again with plenty in stock so call ahead to your favorite bait shop. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.
Trinity Bay: SLOW. 85 degrees. Bay is still hampered by freshwater runoff. Dam release has dropped significantly. Few catches of fish coming from the edges and rocks of the Houston ship channel. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. The bay is stained like chocolate milk, but starting to bounce back near the ship channel. Drum are being caught on rocks and structures. Trinity River rate of release slowed down, so salinity level should start to return. Redfish are being caught by the ship channel deep. Be safe, be prepared and pay attention to the weather. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
East Galveston Bay: GOOD. 86 degrees. South shoreline reefs holding speckled trout, best on soft plastic. Those using shrimp catching a mix of trout, black drum, and gafftop. Waders on the south shoreline finding better action on speckled trout with soft plastics. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. East Bay and Intracoastal waterway are holding plenty of small speckled trout, black drum, sheepshead, and redfish caught on live shrimp, croakers, and top water lures. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temps 81 degrees, water clarity stained in most places for East Galveston Bay. Still a large amount of freshwater in the Bay system, however we have been able to locate trout without running too far from the launch spot. Winds have been less than 20 mph for the most part, allowing us to fish pretty much wherever we choose, which has increased our success rates over the past week. We have been able to find a good number of baitfish and shrimp over shell and grass lines, and the predators have been close by. We have been utilizing live shrimp, under a popping cork, as well as paddle tails and 1¼ ounce jig heads on our artificial-only charters. WacAttack Purple with Chartreuse worked well for us again this week. We have been able to catch trout, redfish, and flounder up and close to the shoreline, as well as open water reefs, with our larger fish coming off open water reefs. Tide movement as well as major feeding times have been where we have experienced the most success of late. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Services, LLC.
Galveston Bay: SLOW. 86 degrees. Wind and freshwater have the open bay stirred up. Few catches of black drum, redfish, and an occasional trout coming from protected, green pockets of water. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
West Galveston Bay: GOOD. 87 degrees. Wading with live croakers producing good numbers of solid fish, with many of them over the legal size limit. Those using live shrimp catch a mix of redfish, black drum, and trout. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
Houston: GOOD. Water stained; 66 degrees; 0.64 feet below pool. Water clearing up and lake level dropped 1 foot. White bass are starting to bounce back and will be schooling up very soon. Largemouth bass are really starting to pattern on docks and structure using worms and grubs. Crappie are tight to structure in Luces Bayou and East Fork using hand tied jigs in 8-14 feet. Catfish are in abundance on the bulk heads being caught on fresh shad. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
Texas City: FAIR. 85 degrees. Galveston Causeway Bridge fair for speckled trout and black drum on live shrimp. Galveston North jetty holding speckled trout, black drum, and redfish, up tight to the rocks at the end, best on live shrimp. Decent shark bite further away from both jetties. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Anglers continue to catch plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and flounder everyday 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. 85 degrees. Fishing been steady for trout, redfish, sheepshead, drum, and flounder around the San Luis Pass. Bastrop Bay, ChristmasBay, Chocolate Bay, and the west end of Galveston Bay have been good for trout, gafftop and redfish. Fishing under the birds with shrimp under a popping cork or gulp shrimp. The Freeport Harbor has been steady for 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. 82 degrees. Tides are high and the surf has been rough. Redfish can be grind with scattered schools on cut mullet. Bait camps holding fish. Trout are good drifting and wading with artificials. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
West Matagorda Bay: SLOW. 82 degrees. Tides are high and the surf has been rough. Redfish can be grind with scattered schools on cut mullet. Bait camps holding fish. Trout are good drifting and wading with artificials. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
