Trout stacking up along surf

Friday morning a light to moderate west wind was trying to stir up the surf. Anglers hitting the beach front early found trout stacked up, and hopefully fishable conditions will remain throughout the weekend.

Charles Patrice was in the water at daybreak and had a limit of trout by 7:30 a.m. The angler used live shrimp fished under a popping cork. The action took place in the surf across from the Rusty Hook Bait Camp on the West End of the island.

Phil Nickelson had his kayak in the surf early as well. Fishing around the pilings of the Flagship and ruins of the Balinese Room, he landed eight trout and three sheepshead using live shrimp under a mauler.

Friday morning my houseguests, Judy and Ed Dickmann, of Weimar, along with their grandson, Matthew, from Pflugerville, joined me for a morning of fishing around the jetties and beach front.

A light west wind had the Gulf side of the South Jetty in marginal shape; however, that did not slow the action on ladyfish. After deciding there were too many of that species around, we moved to the Gulf side of the North Jetty where we anchored just west of the sunken vessel along the rocks.

That is where most of our fish came from. The water was in excellent shape and was somewhat protected from the wind. Using live shrimp bottom bumped, we caught a nice variety of fish including six trout, two 20-inch sheepshead, an oversized black drum, a red and several whiting.

We tested the surf off Bolivar and the water was so-so and no action. My favorite spot, the channel side of the North Jetty, east of the boat cut, had an outgoing tide and good water clarity, but no action. Boats were stacked up on both sides of the boat cut, and we observed several bent rods on boats fishing the Gulf side.

Capt. Mike Williams, Tarpon Express Guide Service, has been fishing Tarpon Alley lately and has observed dramatically improved conditions during the past two days. On Thursday, Williams’ party landed kings to 30 pounds, blacktips to 110 pounds and bull sharks to 150 pounds. All of the fish were caught on natural baits. Williams thinks we are set for the best fishing of the year.

Glenn at Louis’ Bait Camp on Highland Bayou called to say the camp rents boats and has several sizes available. Louis’ carries a variety of live baits and also is known for its hamburgers. For information about the boat rentals and other items, call 409-935-9050.

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.