Yesterday was an example of the latter case, driving through Houston on the way to Galveston through the drizzly, rainy, windy and cold conditions. The forecast was for the rain and the winds to die down in the afternoon, with winds more from the east. They were right about the rain, but the winds stayed in the 15-20mph range until well past sunset. We launched in West bay a bit after 3PM for some afternoon fishing, followed by fishing in the lights. Air temp in the low 50’s, water at 55, winds from the north to northeast. Launched a bit after low tide and the water was very low!! A big incoming prediction should bring in plenty of water and water movement, tho the northern component of the continuing strong winds may keep the water low.
Early on I had some hits from likely flounder, the wind and waves hampered line management and so all I felt was some weight on the line for a time. Mike later anchored in the area and so from a more stable platform was able to feel the initial hit, wait and set the hook, bringing in a small flounder.
Generally, fishing was slow, though I did pick up a few small trout later in the afternoon.
Later, in the lights, the night got off to a promising start when I caught a couple of trout early on, tho they were not quite keeper size. In the canals, the water was clear. At some of the lights you could clearly see the filaments, burning green. We saw very little bait fish, no circles of fish, just a few darting about at some of the lights. Not too many large fish either, swimming through on the hunt, tho Mike did see several large reds in one area, but no takers.
The surface of the water varied from being flat and smooth, to stirred up, depending on the wind access. The stirred up areas had more action. We went through a long stretch of calm water, with no action, but still an occasional splash from a large red on the attack.
Finally, we got to an area with some stirred up water. While I was releasing a small red from the line, Mike hooked into a big red, putting up a battle. He landed a nice 27” red. A short time later I pulled in a 24” red. A bit later, we returned the area where Mike had seen the group of reds – I managed to find a 26” red.
- 24"
- 26"
- 20.5"
A nice way to end a day that began with some rough conditions. I am not crazy, I just like to feel the pull of those big redfish!!
