Thursday, the wind started increasing; however, that did not slow down fishing.
Reports from all around the Galveston area indicate the fish are there, hungry and aggressively seeking bait.
This is one of those few times of the year when anglers have an excellent chance of landing a Texas Slam, also called a Texas Grand Slam, which includes all of the big three — trout, reds and flounder.
Thursday, a trio of fishing pros hit West Bay to test the waters for big trout and did not come away disappointed. Capts. Greg Francis and John Havens, along with Capt. Steve Soule, went wade fishing in waters 2 to 3 feet deep and landed 15 solid trout while casting topwaters over shell and mud.
The wind kicked up mid-morning and ended their day of fishing.
Before returning for military duty in Iraq, Eric Onishi, along with his friends Jamie Martinez and Nathan Watkins, went fishing with Capt. Steve Hillman, Hillman Guide Service.
Fishing slicks and birds over shell in 4 to 6 feet of water, Onishi landed a Texas Slam, which included some impressive fish. His trout measured 21 inches, while the red and flounder were taped at 26 and 20 inches respectively.
Their total catch included 30 trout, three reds and a flounder. Texas Roach Sea Shad Assassins and Black Cat Brown Lure Devil Eyes were the baits that worked.
Shirley Pike at Fatboy’s Bait Camp had a couple of good reports to offer. Don Holan and Craig Chumann fished Greens Lake on Thursday and caught a 21-inch sheepshead, lots of rat reds, a few specks and a number of sand trout.
The rat reds were released and live shrimp was the bait.
Also returning to Fatboys with fish was Kenneth Soledad who used dead shrimp to catch a 16-inch flounder at Seawolf Park.
Others around him were landing lots of flounder using live fingerling mullet for bait.
Henry Atnoy and his party fished the area near the yacht basin Thursday and caught 12 flounder while retaining their limit of four. Atnoy was disturbed when he returned home and while cleaning the fish noticed several had small hooks embedded in their throats. This indicated the fish likely had been culled by anglers cutting the line. This is not a sportsman-like practice.
It is one thing to remove a hook and set free an unharmed fish; however, cutting the line and leaving the hook in the fish’s mouth likely will end up taking its toll.
Bull reds were hitting along the rocks between the U.S. Coast Guard Station and the bend. Tony Salinas and Fred Turner took a limit of two reds between 30 and 35 inches using their red drum tags. Live fingerling mullet was the bait of choice.
To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Capt. Joe Kent at 409-683-5273, or send an e-mail to reel.report(at)galvnews.com. There’s no charge for this service.
