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Upper Galveston Bay -- 5/11/13
The flounder fishing is heating up in the bays.
Went back to one of my flounder spots on Saturday morning. Tried to schedule my trip with the incoming tide, but it never really came in as strong as predicted. The weather in the morning was overcast and rainy which is by far my favorite kind of conditions when targeting flounder. These conditions always get my hopes up for catching a big fish.
Started the morning by jigging a pearl white Gulp pogy in shallow water (< 3') along bulkheads. Quickly picked up a few small fish around 14"-15" and too many undersized fish to count. No special technique, just kept the lure bouncing along the bottom, which consisted primarily of mud with scattered shell.
Around 8:00 AM, the tide turned and started coming in. A few dark clouds passed over, but just drizzled on and off, so I continued fishing. Caught and released 3 flounder to 18.5" using the same lure setup.
These fish were caught along a drop off in deeper water (~5'), about 30 feet away from the bulkhead. All of the fish were gorging themselves on small shad.
Kept seeing a large swirl next to the bulkhead with a giant tail sticking up every now and then. Couldn't tell where the head of the fish was because the water was a little too deep. Made a few casts in the area, and finally hooked the beast. At first, I thought it was going to come in without a fight, until it went into some strong current nearby. Went on a sleigh ride for 15 minutes as the fish drug me towards the Houston Ship Channel.
Turned out to be a "Big Ugly" black drum just under 41". Quickly vented and released.
Paddled back to the bulkhead and continued flounder fishing. Made a cast to almost the same spot I hooked the drum and immediately hooked up again. Felt just like heavy weight as the fish swam towards me and then underneath the kayak. Was anticipating another BU sleigh ride, but got a pleasant surprise when a big flounder surfaced.
Measured 23" and 6 lbs.
Before I released her, she spit up a couple dozen shad and small croaker and appeared to have more fish in her stomach.
Afterwards, the flounder bite slowed down as the current got too strong along the bulkhead. The red fish then moved in and I proceeded to catch and release 4 slot reds to 27".
The bite finally shut off around 11:00 AM as the tide slacked up, so I headed in. Overall, a good day on the water.
Went back to one of my flounder spots on Saturday morning. Tried to schedule my trip with the incoming tide, but it never really came in as strong as predicted. The weather in the morning was overcast and rainy which is by far my favorite kind of conditions when targeting flounder. These conditions always get my hopes up for catching a big fish.
Started the morning by jigging a pearl white Gulp pogy in shallow water (< 3') along bulkheads. Quickly picked up a few small fish around 14"-15" and too many undersized fish to count. No special technique, just kept the lure bouncing along the bottom, which consisted primarily of mud with scattered shell.
Around 8:00 AM, the tide turned and started coming in. A few dark clouds passed over, but just drizzled on and off, so I continued fishing. Caught and released 3 flounder to 18.5" using the same lure setup.
These fish were caught along a drop off in deeper water (~5'), about 30 feet away from the bulkhead. All of the fish were gorging themselves on small shad.
Kept seeing a large swirl next to the bulkhead with a giant tail sticking up every now and then. Couldn't tell where the head of the fish was because the water was a little too deep. Made a few casts in the area, and finally hooked the beast. At first, I thought it was going to come in without a fight, until it went into some strong current nearby. Went on a sleigh ride for 15 minutes as the fish drug me towards the Houston Ship Channel.
Turned out to be a "Big Ugly" black drum just under 41". Quickly vented and released.
Paddled back to the bulkhead and continued flounder fishing. Made a cast to almost the same spot I hooked the drum and immediately hooked up again. Felt just like heavy weight as the fish swam towards me and then underneath the kayak. Was anticipating another BU sleigh ride, but got a pleasant surprise when a big flounder surfaced.
Measured 23" and 6 lbs.
Before I released her, she spit up a couple dozen shad and small croaker and appeared to have more fish in her stomach.
Afterwards, the flounder bite slowed down as the current got too strong along the bulkhead. The red fish then moved in and I proceeded to catch and release 4 slot reds to 27".
The bite finally shut off around 11:00 AM as the tide slacked up, so I headed in. Overall, a good day on the water.
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