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Lower Galveston Bay -- 7-23-13
Got back from Las Vegas last night after competing in a pool tournament, and let's just say I needed some fishing time to relax and forget about how much money I lost, lol. So, I went flounder fishing.
Decided to fish the Lower Galveston Bay area at a spot that I haven't tried in a while. I've only fished it during the fall and winter each year, but have been curious if it holds flounder in the summer.
I didn’t feel like getting up early because of the full moon, so I just fished from 11:00 AM to 3 PM. Tide was normal, with not much water movement. The moderate southwest winds made the paddle a little difficult, but manageable. Water clarity was very good, as this particular area was protected from a southwest wind.
Today, I jigged pearl white Gulp pogys around some bottom structure in varying water depths. These lures hold up well to the abuse from croaker and piggy perch attacks. It didn't take long for the first flounder to find my lure, which was bedded up close to the bank in 2 feet of water. After catching and releasing several undersized flounder, I landed a 16" flounder that was missing both of its eyes! How it found my lure and ate it is a mystery to me. Perhaps I just so happened to bounce the lure directly on its face. Must be tough being a blind flounder.
After that odd encounter, I make another rare catch. A 16" fluke, in Galveston... This is the second one I've caught in the past few years. I ended up keeping this fish along with a normal southern flounder to show as comparison, since both were gill hooked.
Around noon, the tide started moving a little bit, and water elevation raised maybe 0.25 feet. It was a very weak incoming tide. Made a few more casts in the deeper water and got a good thump. Had to be careful setting the hook because the fish was bedded along some bottom structure. After an impressive fight with several acrobatic flips, the flounder glided into my net and measured 21.25" and about 4.5 lbs. Took a few pictures and released the fish.
Next cast, the lure didn't even hit the bottom and THUMP. But, this wasn't a flounder, as the fish immediately made a quick run for deeper water. The fish got me all tangled up in some pilings, and I was surprised that my Sufix 832 braid didn't break. Ended up being a upper slot red.
After removing 20 feet or so of frayed line and re-tying, I made another cast to the area and again, felt a sharp thump as the lure hit the bottom. I knew it was good flounder just by feeling that heavy weight at the end of the line following the strike. The big flounder didn't put up much of a fight as they sometimes do in the fall, but watching it surface from 12 feet of water (water visibility was 5 feet) shaking its mouth and madly thrashing around for a minute was cool to see. The flounder measured 23.375". Didn't have a scale but I'm almost certain it was between 6 and 6.25 lbs. The fish was not quite heavy enough to contend for the CCA STAR tournament, so I released it for Chester Moore's Flounder Revolution tournament.
Decided to fish the Lower Galveston Bay area at a spot that I haven't tried in a while. I've only fished it during the fall and winter each year, but have been curious if it holds flounder in the summer.
I didn’t feel like getting up early because of the full moon, so I just fished from 11:00 AM to 3 PM. Tide was normal, with not much water movement. The moderate southwest winds made the paddle a little difficult, but manageable. Water clarity was very good, as this particular area was protected from a southwest wind.
Today, I jigged pearl white Gulp pogys around some bottom structure in varying water depths. These lures hold up well to the abuse from croaker and piggy perch attacks. It didn't take long for the first flounder to find my lure, which was bedded up close to the bank in 2 feet of water. After catching and releasing several undersized flounder, I landed a 16" flounder that was missing both of its eyes! How it found my lure and ate it is a mystery to me. Perhaps I just so happened to bounce the lure directly on its face. Must be tough being a blind flounder.
After that odd encounter, I make another rare catch. A 16" fluke, in Galveston... This is the second one I've caught in the past few years. I ended up keeping this fish along with a normal southern flounder to show as comparison, since both were gill hooked.
Around noon, the tide started moving a little bit, and water elevation raised maybe 0.25 feet. It was a very weak incoming tide. Made a few more casts in the deeper water and got a good thump. Had to be careful setting the hook because the fish was bedded along some bottom structure. After an impressive fight with several acrobatic flips, the flounder glided into my net and measured 21.25" and about 4.5 lbs. Took a few pictures and released the fish.
Next cast, the lure didn't even hit the bottom and THUMP. But, this wasn't a flounder, as the fish immediately made a quick run for deeper water. The fish got me all tangled up in some pilings, and I was surprised that my Sufix 832 braid didn't break. Ended up being a upper slot red.
After removing 20 feet or so of frayed line and re-tying, I made another cast to the area and again, felt a sharp thump as the lure hit the bottom. I knew it was good flounder just by feeling that heavy weight at the end of the line following the strike. The big flounder didn't put up much of a fight as they sometimes do in the fall, but watching it surface from 12 feet of water (water visibility was 5 feet) shaking its mouth and madly thrashing around for a minute was cool to see. The flounder measured 23.375". Didn't have a scale but I'm almost certain it was between 6 and 6.25 lbs. The fish was not quite heavy enough to contend for the CCA STAR tournament, so I released it for Chester Moore's Flounder Revolution tournament.
LIVIN THE SALT LIFE 
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