http://galvestondailynews.com/story/181250/
Correspondent
Published October 5, 2010
The beach front and bay water temperatures are dropping and now are well below 80 degrees.
Fall fishing has begun and only will get better as the days get shorter.
Offshore fishing for reef fish is in its prime, as larger fish are dominating the catches.
Although we are barely into October, signs are favorable for fall fishing to bust loose any day now.
Later this week, when the wind drops and possibly returns to a more southerly direction, expect to see action from all around Galveston Island.
Specks should start schooling in the bays, and, with the seagulls pointing them out to anglers, look for reports of easy limits being taken by anglers working the birds with soft plastics and live shrimp fished under popping corks.
The beach front and jetties easily could be covered with bull reds and other fish.
October is here and it is a great time to plan a fishing trip to the Upper Texas Coast.
On the local fishing scene, Eric Tapa landed a stingray at the Texas City Dike on Monday that measured almost 5 feet wide.
Fishing has been slow along the beach front; however, you can expect that to soon change.
Richard Belleau, 61st Street Fishing Pier, reported a slow day Sunday under a northeast wind blowing at 15 knots.
A few bull reds, sand trout, croaker and specks were about all his customers could land.
Brock Harrison and Becky Allen fished upper East Bay on Sunday and landed six flounder to 19 inches.
One of the highlights of their trip was watching a small alligator along a grassy area.
Bill Drohand, Dave Brent and Bryan Drohand fished Offatts Bayou last weekend and landed a variety of fish, including flounder, specks, stingrays and Spanish mackerel.
All of the fish were released except for an 18-inch flounder. Live shrimp and fingerling mullet were the baits.
Patrick Lemire reported the party boat Capt. John had one of its best trips of 2010 last weekend, as the 81 anglers aboard limited out on red snapper with 40 ranging from 12 to 22 pounds.
Their tally for the trip was 162 red snapper, 10 lane snapper along with mangroves, king, spadefish, porgies and a 40-pound stingray.
Saturday is the date of the second annual West Bay Redfish Showdown Fishing Tournament.
The event is sponsored by the West End Anglers Group and will be at the West End Marina at Sea Isle.
The entry fee is $100 for a two-man team, and guides are allowed to participate.
For information, check out the group’s website at www.fishwestend.com or call 713-594-4252.
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.