Big bull reds are on the run

The big news on the fishing front is the bull red run has started. I had anticipated this as two key ingredients were in place: September and rough surf.

Actually, the big run began Monday. Galveston Party Boat’s New Buccaneer made a jetty trip in lieu of a planned offshore trip and returned with 37 tagged bull reds.

The 61st Street Fishing Pier reported lots of activity on the big reds. Richard Belleau, in his Tuesday report, said cut bait was attracting the big fish.

More would have hit the planks; however, many of his customers chose smaller baits, such as dead shrimp, which were not as appetizing to the fish as the larger baits.

Tuesday, I visited the new fishing pier and chatted with another of the pre-Ike employees, Mike Widecki, who also had seen lots of the big fish being caught. The new facility is quite an upgrade over the previous pier.

Not much activity was taking place on the beach-front rock groins, as the heavy surf and strong winds were creating a peril for the rock walkers. In fact, at noon, the wind was so strong that pelicans were having a difficult time flying. One of the birds had to give up and landed in the middle of the intersection of 61st Street and the Seawall Boulevard and caused quite a stir.

Shirley Pike, Fat Boy’s Bait and Tackle, reported fish being caught at Virginia Point on Monday. Kasey Arnst and Christie Sorrels landed a 3-foot blacktip shark, six drum, a limit of specks and lots of gafftop while fishing the area with live shrimp and cut bait.

The pier behind Pike’s bait camp produced piggy perch, crabs, sand trout and reds for customers using dead shrimp for bait.

Lots for reds are being reported from Jones Lake where live shrimp and fingerling mullet are accounting for most of the fish.

Capt. Lloyd Pepper reported some good action on reds and trout around Terramar on the far West End of the island.

Now that Tropical Storm Hermine is history, conditions should rapidly start to settle. The high storm tides likely will take a few days to subside back to normal.

One positive aspect for fishing is that retreating water levels should draw baitfish out of the marshes and into the bays. That should help boost speckled trout action.

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.