Pier owner reports lots of reds

After almost two years, I have a beach-front fishing pier report to pass on. The 61st Street Fishing Pier reopened Saturday, and there were a lot of redfish caught. Owner John Menna called in to say there were some really big reds caught Saturday night.

Menna said for the next several days, the pier will be closed during the day while workers finish up and the doors will open at 5 p.m. The pier will be open all night and close about 7 a.m. For information, call 409-744-8365.

Upper West Bay has been producing a lot of fish, not all speckled trout, but a number of large sand trout, whiting, gafftop and other fish.

Shirley Pike, Fat Boy’s Bait & Tackle, reported catches of sand trout, flounder and large crabs, both blue and stone, coming from the pier behind her bait camp. Live and dead shrimp have been producing some nice fish from West Bay and the Green’s Cut area.

Amanda Cain, one of Pike’s customers, caught a 4.1-pound flounder while fishing Pelican Island using live mullet for bait.

Eric Concha and Doug Potter fished the North Jetty on Saturday, where they landed 15 trout, three Spanish mackerel and two puppy drum.

Ricky McGaffey at GYB Bait Camp reported specks coming from the end of the South Jetty, channel side, and lots of sharks hitting the cleaning tables.

Galveston Bait and Tackle, causeway location, reported lots of trout being caught by the guides. West Bay reefs and the jetties seem to be where most were coming from.

Offshore, king mackerel, ling, small dorado and sharks are making up most of the catches.

Henry Wampler hosted two of his employees to a productive offshore trip in his 28-foot Rabalo. Fishing between the old Buccaneer Field and the sunken ship, V.A. Fogg, the group returned with a full limit of king to 38 inches, two ling measuring 38 and 39 inches, 48 spadefish, 12 triggerfish, two Bermuda chub and two sharks.

Wampler said spadefish and sharks were thick around the V.A. Fogg.

Conrad Connally, of Waco, along with two friends, took his 21-foot center console boat about 10 miles out from the jetties where they caught several sharks, king mackerel and Spanish mackerel. The highlight of their trip was landing a pilot fish. None of the anglers ever had seen one, and they carried it home to be mounted.

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.