Published May 20, 2011
Thursday, the surf was quite different than we reported earlier this week. Strong southerly winds had the beach front chopped-up, and about the only fishing taking place was by anglers on the 61st Street Fishing Pier.
Reports from the pier late Wednesday night indicated catches of whiting, croaker, gafftop and sharks.
During the very few windows of light winds, the bay reefs have been producing good numbers of quality trout. East Bay, in particular, has been one of the better spots for finding trout. Pepper Cove Reef, along with Deep Reef and Frenchy’s, has been holding trout when conditions are tolerable.
East Bay also has been a good place to find protected water from the strong south wind. Tuesday, Jerry Mason and Henry Bradshaw fished the shoreline between Marsh Point and the cut into Rollover Pass and landed 13 trout to 25 inches and two slot reds.
Mason cautioned anglers wading the area that lots of stingrays broke mud in front of them as they made their way along the shoreline in 2 to 3 feet of water.
Speaking of East Bay, the annual Bolivar Saltwater Slam Fishing Tournament is Friday and Saturday out of Stingaree Marina at Crystal Beach. The event benefits the Bolivar Chamber of Commerce, and with all of the big trout reported from the south shoreline of the peninsula lately, there should be some nice fish weighed-in.
Brad Vratis, of Stingaree Marina, is one of the officials and can be reached at 409-684-9530.
It was good to hear from the North Jetty Bait Camp again as Scooter called in a report. Wednesday, three groups of anglers fished the rocks outside of the bait camp and their combined results were three flounder to 16 inches, seven whiting and a slot red.
There were unconfirmed reports of some nice reds being caught along the shores of Chocolate Bayou on Thursday morning. The action took place south of Liverpool.
Congratulations go to Team Fish West End as the group from the West End Fishing Club took first place last weekend at the 2011 Tails & Tune Fishing Tournament. Daniel Popovich, Keith Inglehart, Jamin Castleman and Steve Anderson made up the team.
Another group from the fishing club, headed by Capt. Greg Francis, took second place.
The weekend outlook is totally dependent on the wind. If velocities in the 15-to 20-knot range continue, look for protected waters. The south shoreline of Bolivar should be a good bet.
To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Capt. Joe Kent at 409-683-5273, or send an email to reel.report(at)galvnews.com. There’s no charge for this service.