(EXERPT FROM THE GALVESTON COUNTY DAILY NEWS)
For those of you who like winter, this is your last day to enjoy that season, as springtime begins Wednesday. With winds gusting on Monday and black drum still biting, it appears that spring is already here.
From the Pelican Island Bridge to the beachfront, large black drum are in a feeding frenzy. Warmer-water fish are appearing in the surf in larger numbers, and whiting remain consistent in most areas.
Richard Belleau, 61st Street Fishing Pier, saw action from jackfish, sharks, whiting, hardheads and flounder on Sunday.
Farther west along the beachfront, Clayton Cody and wife, Ellen, had a productive day fishing the Galveston Fishing Pier. Fishing most of the day, they caught 15 whiting, five of which were fairly large and retained. Cody used several of the smaller whiting as cut bait and was quite surprised at how well other whiting went after the flesh of their peers. Rounding out the action was a 3-foot bonnet head shark. The couple took home a nice stack of whiting filets for dinner Monday night.
While most of SaturdayÂ’s drum fishing was slow, two groups must have known where the big fish were celebrating St. PatrickÂ’s Day.
Coe Parker, Travis Bethel, Cody Hollman and Cory Hollman of the West End Anglers Fishing Club (www.fishwestend.com) fished the Pelican Island Bridge on Saturday and Sunday with outstanding results. Using live blue crab with the shell pulled and cut into two pieces, the group caught six large black drum ranging from 25 pounds to a whopping 70-pounder measuring 50 inches.
Larry Welch, along with son Brennan of Round Rock and friend Alan Crawford of Leander, fished the North Jetty Boat Cut on Saturday and Sunday.
SaturdayÂ’s catch included six black drum, with the two largest hitting the scales at 45 and 47 pounds. The anglers returned to the same spot Sunday with even better success. That time the largest drum weighed in at 60 pounds. The only other species caught was a 5-pound sheepshead by Brennan. All of the fish were caught using cut crab and were released.
The Party Boat Capt. John, with co-captains Tony Langston and Johnny Williams, took 40 fishermen on a 36-hour tuna trip this past weekend. Their first stop was at the Stetson Rock, approximately 73 miles out, and from there they headed to the deep water platforms, located in water more than 3,600 feet deep and more than 100 miles into the Gulf.
Their catch included 105 vermilions to 3 pounds, five lane snapper, one coney, 21 triggerfish, a 38-pound ling, 27 ruby lip grunts, three rockhinds, two scamps, 160 kings to 30 pounds and 156 blackfins to 20 pounds.
Individual catches included Bill Reed and sons Cody and R.J. from McKinney with blackfins, vermilions, triggerfish and a double limit of kings for three. Peter Letts of Dickinson caught seven blackfins, 11 vermilions and a double limit of kings. David Jaeger of Houston and son John from Overland Park, Kan., caught vermilions, 27 blackfins and a double limit of kings.
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. ThereÂ’s no charge for this service.
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