61st Street pier finally reopens

Close to two years after Hurricane Ike, it appears we will see one of our beach-front fishing piers reopen. The 61st Street Fishing Pier is scheduled to open its doors at 6 p.m. today with a special entry fee of $5 per person. The regular admission price will be $12. Monday through Thursday, kids less than 40 inches tall and seniors will be admitted for $1.

Friday, I again visited with John Menna, the owner who has been battling the system to get the pier reopened, and now it looks like D-Day is upon us. Hurricane Ike destroyed all of our beach-front facilities, including the Flagship Fishing Pier, Galveston Fishing Pier (also known as the 91st Street Pier) and the San Luis Pass Fishing Pier.

The only other pier planning to rebuild is the Galveston Fishing Pier, and it will be a while before we see that facility back in operation.

The Seawolf Park Fishing Pier was the first of our public fishing piers to reopen, and it is in operation at Seawolf Park on Pelican Island.

I was hoping the beautiful trout-green water in the surf would continue through the opening days for Galveston’s new fishing pier; however, Friday, we had a switch in wind direction to the dastardly southwest wind. If the velocities are not too strong, the beach-front water might remain in good shape; however, Friday afternoon, the wind speed was at 13 knots.

Friday morning, conditions were excellent, and anglers on the water early brought in some nice fish.

Cary Hampton and Ross Rogers, of Plano, fished Pelican Island near Seawolf Park and landed a variety of fish including eight specks, two reds, a keeper and a throwback, four puppy drum and a number of ladyfish and sand trout. Live shrimp was the bait, and the action took place along the Galveston Ship Channel.

Joseph Blue reported a nice catch from the rock groins near the old Flagship Hotel. Eight specks to 21 inches, 11 Spanish mackerel to 26 inches and a 26-inch blacktip shark was his tally for the morning.

Capt. Bill Curry, Workingman’s Charters, has been doing a lot of night fishing lately at the jetties using portable generators with lights. Earlier this week, he hosted the Thomason Cabinet group of six to full limits of speckled trout. Curry has been catching live bait with his guests for the trips.

The weekend outlook is dependent on what the forecast southwest wind does to the water. Offshore fishing should not be affected; however, tarpon fishing likely will be hindered as the crosswind tends to sandy the near shore waters.

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.