Wednesday, a pleasant surprise took place. A meeting that was to occupy my time that morning was canceled, and I quickly shifted gears and went fishing.
Although it was not an early start, Polly and I left dock later in the morning and headed for all of the action around Pelican Island.
After stocking up on live shrimp and fingerling mullet, we made it to the spot that has been outstanding all season, the cedars of Pelican Island, just across the channel from the yacht basin.
It did not take long to place four nice-sized flounder away. After taking our limit, we switched from mullet to shrimp in hopes of landing some reds or trout. Flounder kept hitting and, fortunately, we were able to release all of them unharmed. No trout or reds, just hordes of flounder.
Capt. Steve Hillman, Hillman Guide Service, was in the area limiting out on flounder and this came after taking his guest, Wayne Greier, from Ohio, on a red fish expedition. Greier wanted to catch a big redfish while he was here so he could have a replica made.
He also wanted to try his luck on flounder. He landed eight bull reds from 32 to 40 inches by 9 a.m. before they headed to the Galveston Channel for flounder. All of the reds were vented and released in great shape and were caught in 35 feet of water. Fresh shad caught the reds, while 3-inch white Gulp Shrimp took the flat fish.
Moses Lake continued to produce fish on Wednesday, according to Vicki Pike’s report. Charles Huckaby, John Nelson and Berry Terrell caught six flounder (a full limit) and a red while Joey Bayer and Ed Willis landed 16 trout, a red and Gulf trout using soft plastics for bait.
Speaking of Gulf trout, several readers sent notes commenting on my article about the differences between sand trout and Gulf trout in this past Tuesday’s Reel Report. Practically all of the responses questioned whether sand trout were generally the larger of the two.
There remains some confusion on this issue, as there appears to be some conflicting information circulating in several fish identification books and pamphlets. First, let me say that until I read “Sport Fish of the Gulf of Mexico” by Vic Dunaway and “Angler’s Guide to Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico” by Jerald Horst and Mike Lane, I thought Gulf trout were generally larger.
The two books are well-respected sources used by many outdoor writers and others. Both compare the two and say that silver sea trout, also called Gulf trout, are the smaller of the two. Refer to Tuesday’s Reel Report for some of the differences they note between the fish.
Jim Sitreauves sent a segment from “Saltwater Fishes of Texas,” which states the silver sea trout grow to a much larger size than sand sea trout. Also pointed out were the state records for the two fish that show both to be close, with the silver sea trout record listed as 6.91 pounds and the sand sea trout listed at 6.21 pounds.
Interesting information.
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.
