Fishing improves with possible prize winners

There is a lot of news on the fishing scene, as catches are improving and anglers are landing some potentially prize-winning fish.

Kevin Trahan and his son, Colby, 15, made their first fishing trip of the year Wednesday. Before launching their canoe, they entered the CCA-Texas Star Fishing Tournament at Fat Boy’s Bait and Tackle.

It turned out to be an excellent decision, as Colby landed the leading flounder entry in his age division, a 5-pound, 12-ounce flat fish.

The other interesting thing about their fishing trip is the flounder was the only fish caught. What a trip to remember.

While most of the fishermen at the jetties Tuesday, including me, were finding the action slow, not so for three longtime jetty pros.

Charles Everett, Don Price and Doug Sefcik likely have logged more hours fishing the rocks than any threesome alive today.

Tuesday, they landed 28 trout and two reds and returned Wednesday to limit out on trout with a catch of 30. Live shrimp was their choice of bait.

Robert Boone and his wife, Phyllis, of Louisiana, fished with their Galveston hosts Bill and Becky Taylor.

Wednesday, the two couples fished the area between the old Quarantine Station (Seawolf Park) and the Texas City Dike and landed 20 trout and a 4-pound red, which was Robert’s first red.

Tuesday, the Taylor’s grandson, Levi, 7, caught a 3-pound red at the Pelican Island Bridge. Levi is registered in the CCA Star Tournament.

Capt. Josh Arscott, Non-Typical Outfitters, took his girlfriend, Leann Arndt, flounder gigging Tuesday night, and it did not take them long to have their 10-fish limit on ice.

Arscott said flounder gigging has been good lately and expects it to get even better during the fall.

Shirley Pike, Fat Boy’s Bait and Tackle, reported some excellent action from upper West Bay where Jason Sewwald and Vince Maida caught limits of trout around Deer Island Tuesday.

Live and dead shrimp were the baits.

Justin Cloar caught and released a number of reds while fishing the Tiki Island area.

Pike said the fishing around their pier has been slow due to the heat.

The party boat Capt. John, under the command of Capt. Johnny Williams and back-up Capt. Shawn Clark, made another overnight tuna trip Sunday.

This time, the destination was the Augur Platform 147 miles out of Galveston.

One of the highlights of the trip was a hook-up with two billfish.

Both were thought to be either small marlin or swordfish.

Other highlights included the landing of 78 blackfin tuna to 33 pounds, two yellowfins to 50 pounds, 63 king to 33 pounds, a 41-pound Warsaw and a variety of other fish, including grouper, sharks, tilefish and triggerfish.

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.