Bolivar: GOOD. 60 degrees. The March winds have arrived and it is going to be a wild week for fishing in and around Galveston bay between the winds and scattered rains. The forecast shows some beautiful weather days that should help clear up the water and produce some feeding frenzy trips.
Trinity Bay: FAIR. 67 degrees. Best catches are still being reported from the upper northwest corner of the bay around the Fred Hartman bridge. Waders are beginning to see some activity for speckled trout along the east shoreline. Best bite on live shrimp and for those wading, hard plastic baits and soft plastics lures. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Water clarity bounces back quickly after winds and rain with the incoming tide. Trout are grouping up heavily in reefs being caught in 2-3 feet of water using popping corks and purple and chartreuse WAC assassins with a ¼ ounce jig heads. Redfish are easily caught in areas with better water clarity with moving tide and a partially protected shoreline from the wind using live shrimp under a popping cork and gulp shrimp in the penny color. Drums are mixed in with the redfish. Sheepshead are lined in the sides of the ship channel on riprap free lining shrimp with a ¼ ounce split shot. Flounder are starting to air back up in the bay and looking forward to their numbers soon. Be prepared, be safe and pay attention to the weather before your trip.Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
East Galveston Bay: GOOD. 67 degrees. Few reports coming from this area, but when conditions are right, catches of trout from the shorelines, along with some reds and black drum. Look for the reefs adjacent to the south shoreline for speckled trout once the weather stabilizes. Best bite on soft plastics and live shrimp. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Surface water temperature 68 degrees. Water clarity is decent for East Galveston Bay. Still catching trout, redfish, and a few flounder in the marsh and bayou areas, but the fish have started their transition out into the main bay system. We found good numbers of solid trout on the Shorelines over shell pockets and within close proximity to drains. Our experience has been that if you see bait flipping on the surface you will find some fish, if not, you are best to move on to another spot. The lighter the jig head the better, 1/16 to ¼ ounce, determined by the wind and current, and tails without paddles, performing the best, as we were utilizing Wac Assassin’s in Chartreuse & Monkey Milk, depending upon clarity and light conditions. This week Fish Smack Popping corks with a 2 feet leader above a Marker 54 Glide Shrimp has done equally well on our trips, with a hard pop and about a 5 second pause gathering the most strikes. Spring is here and fishing will continue to heat up as the water warms into the 70s and the days continue to get longer. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Services, LLC. Yates Bayou drain is holding redfish against grass line on popping cork and shrimp. Hanna’s Reef is great early in the day with twitching artificials or a popping cork with shrimp. Look for birds and slicks. small slicks could be just getting started. Watermelon smell in the air don’t pass on them. Look for bait moving. Pepper Grove Cove to Moody’s Pass holding fish. Smith Point to Moody National Wildlife. Redfish look for schools and birds. Report by Captain Raymond Wheatley, Tail Spotter Guide Service.
Galveston Bay: SLOW. 64 degrees. Open bay catches put on hold due to windy conditions. Those fishing protected areas finding a few speckled trout. Black drum numbers are increasing, along with sheepshead over structure. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. The South Jetty is holding trout, sheepshead and redfish near the rocks on free-lined shrimp, or Carolina rigged float with live shrimp or soft plastic. SWP Holding Redfish from Pier and from Rocks. Sheepshead are in front of the concrete Seawall. The drains out of Swan Lake Campbell Slough holding sheepshead with an occasional Redfish. Report by Captain Raymond Wheatley, Tail Spotter Guide Service.
West Galveston Bay: FAIR. 68 degrees. Scattered catches of speckled trout being reported from lower west bay. San Luis Pass is good for sheepshead, black drum, and a few catches of redfish on live shrimp. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Greens Lake holding redfish against grass lines and by sandy shores early. ICW holding fish through greens cut and Carancahua cut holding trout and redfish with the amount of wind wind we are getting. Mecom Reef will have fish on it early up by rocks with artificial or live bait free-line or under cork. You’ll need to find protected waters with bait moving around as the winds pick up. Report by Captain Raymond Wheatley, Tail Spotter Guide Service.
Houston: GOOD. Water slightly stained; 58 degrees; 0.12 feet above pool. Water stained on the north end due to the recent rains. Crappie are starting to show up in numbers and getting up on structure on 8-14 feet of water being caught on minnows and hand tied jigs in the silver and black and chartreuse color. Gar are incredibly abundant in the creeks and are easy and fun to catch using rattle traps and rooster tails. Largemouth bass are shallow on structure and scattered. Bass are being caught on worms, cranks and grubs. Riprap seems to be the key in the morning and evening. Catfish in the creeks are getting good seeing decent size blue, channel and flatheads being caught on cut bait using a 6-10 feet leader on a jug line and also in trout lines. Be safe, be prepared and be courteous to others. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
Texas City: FAIR. 65 degrees. Oversized drum catches are good off the rocks on the Texas City Dike and the Galveston jetties. Best bite on live halved crab. Those throwing shrimp tight to the jetty rocks are catching good numbers of sheepshead, slot redfish, and a few keeper drums. Trout to 7 pounds are also being caught along the jetty rocks. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. The Dike is holding bull redfish along the rocks with scattered catches of drum and flounder. Dickinson Bayou holding some redfish and drum on popping cork and shrimp or soft plastics. The rock shoals south of the dike holding fish on popping cork with live shrimp. Miller Point is holding a few trout and the occasional redfish. Look for slicks and birds this time of year. The smaller the slick, the fresher it could be. Report by Captain Raymond Wheatley, Tail Spotter Guide Service.
Freeport: SLOW. 70 degrees. Spring time conditions are here. Sheepshead and drum are at the jetties and pass on live and dead shrimp. Redfish have been good with shrimp under a popping cork. Trout have been good with down south lures and shrimp under a popping cork in the bays. Flounder are showing up at the pass and bays using mullet and live shrimp with a split shot and dragging them on the bottom. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures.
