On Galveston: September 2011

Capt. Mickey here, time to bring everybody up to date on the fishing action around the Galveston area bays and take a look at what September holds for us.

If you like it hot you ought to be very happy, that's all I can say. The summer pattern is in high gear and we have a lot going on. We are still fighting winds but at least the Ship Channel area has started holding some decent fish. It seems we have a bunch of trout congregated there, maybe a late push of fish through the jetties, and that has been keeping us going with all the southwest wind we have been receiving over the last ten to fifteen days.

Let me give you a run down on Trinity Bay. We still have some shallow water action in certain places for waders. Not exactly a bite to write home about but a few really good trout in the seven pound class have been caught recently. Topwaters mainly, the old tried and true MirrOlure Top Dogs and the Spook Jr in just about any color you want to throw. That is what has been going on shallow. A lot a redfish have been getting way up shallow in the back end of the Trinity Bay complex. Spoons, topwaters, soft plastics if you like 'em throw em. We are getting into these big herds and you can stand in one place and catch ten to fifteen on just about anything you throw at them if you want to. Trout-wise, and I have mainly been chasing trout, they have been good early morning and evening. We have also been getting a pretty good midday bite when the wind will let us and we catch a good tide movement. If you miss your school in the morning, just hang on and work your slicks and open water in the afternoon and get your trout that way with soft plastics. We are still throwing that MirrOlure scented soft bait called the Lil John and it is working good for whatever reason. It doesn't look like anything anyone else is fishing with but it is working! The Big Nasty Voodoo and the Tidal Surge (the little twin tail on the end – the eel type bait) have been working good in plum, grape and black. To be honest pretty much everything in the soft plastic department is working well.

The wells are holding fish. It's not really rock 'em and sock 'em but you can probably work your favorite wells on strong tides and come up with some decent numbers. I suggest soft plastics on 1/8 heads early in the day when the fish are up and later in the day go to 1/4 ounce heads to get closer to the bottom as the water gets hot. Tide is critical right now. Best tide for Trinity Bay right now is the outgoing tide which is twice as good as the incoming. We see that a lot this time of year.

The Ship Channel action picked up a bunch in late July and seems to be holding steady. This is a good deal later than normal, we usually expect it in June. I believe all that green water coming through the jetties and rolling up the channel has a lot to do with it. What I'm doing is working deep spoil banks with seven to ten feet of water over humps and old well pads just off the channel. Stay away from boat traffic if you can and key on the slicks and bait. A good tide line on occasion has also been a good signal of where you need to be.

Over in East Bay it's been kind of a rollercoaster ride because of the southwest winds. It muddies up real easy and when you get an incoming tide with the SW winds it riles it up pretty quick and makes it hard to catch them with artificials over there. Some of the reefs on the south shoreline, like off Elm Grove Point and out from Fat Rat and all that area, have been holding some real good trout like in the four to five pound class. The croaker guys are the ones catching the most of those with the off-color water and all. You can go in there and plug out a few with soft plastics but on the bottom with croakers is definitely the ticket. Redfish are still holding in the middle all through East Bay; same pattern I reported last month.

They are still catching a few fish behind San Luis Pass wading early in the morning fishing guts between the pass and Bird Island. Topwaters early and then switching to spoons and plastics; standard stuff. Carancahua Lake and Green Lake have been loaded with redfish and a lot of the shallow water fishing guys that like sight-casting and fly rods are doing pretty good.

All in all we are in great shape. That abundance of shad I've been telling you about is finally beginning to dwindle but there are still a lot. On occasion we see a tarpon jumping over in Trinity Bay running the shad schools. It is pretty cool to see when you are trout fishing and all of a sudden you hear that big explosion as a tarpon blows up. The beach front is loaded with trout whenever the surf guys can get there. Conditions have been largely unfavorable for the Dawn Patrol this summer but when the surf lays down its wide open.

All conditions are favorable. Not much bird action this summer because we don't have many shrimp with this drought going on. If all conditions hold, the fall season should be really good and I expect to see lots of bigger trout. Look for the deeper well pads to start coughing them up soon and then the shoreline wade fishing to really heat up later in the fall. Right now we are just paying our dues burning up in the boat, praying for rain and can't seem to get any. Keep on picking your days and playing the wind right and I'm sure you can catch some fish. We have plenty right now all across the Galveston System.