The weekend outlook is great, if the weather forecasts hold. Trout, reds, flounder and other fish should be waiting for you to toss them their favorite baits.
If the number of large blue crabs attacking my bait Wednesday is any indication of crabbing, it should be fantastic as well.
We still are not receiving reports on any semblance of a golden croaker run this year.
There have been some isolated reports of a few of the big croaker being caught, but not in the quantities that were associated with the croaker runs of years past.
Flounder are taking the attention of anglers fishing along the Galveston Ship Channel and all along Pelican Island, including Seawolf Park.
The barge graveyard near the Bolivar Ferry Landing recently has turned on with some nice catches of flounder.
I fished the abandoned barges recently and saw how the area had changed following Hurricane Ike.
The barges remain and continue to attract flounder; however, the land access that existed prior to September 2008 appears to have been eliminated.
One of the attractions to fishing that area was the accessibility by bank fishermen. Anglers using waders still can reach the fishing grounds.
Trout are feeding in the bays and more reports of slicks and birds working the schools are being received.
Based on conversations with several fishing guides, we are experiencing some of the best bay fishing of the year and most feel it will get even better before winter sets in.
Capt. Steve Hillman, Hillman Guide Service, has been finding full limits of trout and nice catches of reds for his customers.
Wednesday, Clint Shirley, Mike Huddleston and Tim Kelly were his guests and ended up with 30 trout to 4 pounds and six reds to 7 pounds.
The fish were caught in 5 to 7 feet of water while fishing slicks and birds.
Dark Saltwater Assassin Sea Shads and Skitterwalks were the baits that worked.
Thursday, Hillman hosted Darren Hughes, Dwayne Hughes, Trey Young and Ed Young to a productive drift fishing trip over scattered shell in 6 to 9 feet of water. Forty trout to 3 pounds and four reds to 8 pounds were their catch.
Dark-colored soft plastics, especially Brown Lure Devil Eyes and Texas Roach Bass Assassins were the baits that caught the fish.
Galveston Bait and Tackle reported a customer named Sammy, from Missouri City, limiting out on flounder at Seawolf Park.
The 18- and 21-inch flatfish were caught quickly and then catch and release followed with another three flounder being landed.
Vicki Pike has been helping us keep up with fishing in Moses Lake. The bait lady at the Fish Spot, as she calls herself, reported three nice catches from Moses.
Bruce Fanning caught two reds and a sheepshead using live shrimp for bait.
Larry Rochelle and Brian Gropp caught an ice chest full of Gulf trout, along with seven drum, two reds and a flounder using cut bait.
Julius Briley and Fletcher Wells used a combination of live and dead shrimp to catch 12 sand trout, eight drum and a gafftop.
Don’t forget Lute’s Marine’s Flounder Round-up Fishing Tournament at Liverpool on Chocolate Bayou on Saturday.
Flounder entered into the tournament must be alive and in good shape for transport to Sea Center Texas.
