We noted the favorable E 6 mph Galveston winds and decided to launch from Texas City Dike to check on all the reefs along that western shoreline. Soon we realized the wind was blowing East about 12 mph creating sporty waves making our cruise rough. Add in the frequent ship channel freighter-wakes and you've got a turbulent torment over there. Saltykat knows what I'm talking about.
After fishing Dollar Reef with no bites, we headed for the Moses Lake tide gate to get out of that incessant wind. Cruising into the lake we suddenly saw about 40 fishing boats with that same idea! There were guide boats, full families, kayakers, and way too many people, anchored up and drifting. Also saw not one fish caught.
That convinced us to speed back to our launch and flee the damn Dike. That area has been unproductive for me since Hurricane Ike. We got to the ramp surrounded by pier fishermen. Thank God Shoffer's got his powerboat routine so efficient that we landed, backed down his trailer, and pulled out in 10 minutes. Boo Tx. City Dike, a $10 mistake.
It was 1pm so we drove to the West Bay Pirates Beach launch at Waterman's Restaurant. Over there the winds were light.. Shoffer sped over to the north shoreline in that protected water, wind E. 6 mph, not a cloud in sight. Soon we entered Greens Lake and saw only ONE boat, a young family of three anchored up on a grassy shoreline, casting live shrimp under popping corks.
We respectfully killed the marine motor and fired up the amazing noiseless GPS guided trolling motor. We looked for bait fish and slicks about 15 minutes when Shoffer said "Captain, we've got BIRDS working ahead!" There were six seagulls hovering & diving over one patch of 6-foot-deep water, while beneath them were frantic splashes and glints of silver... Yes!!
Shoffer guided us to within 60 feet of the melee. Wish I could have thought to snap some bird photos, but we got too busy. That's when you feel the hair on your neck stand up
. As soon as our white Down South paddletails hit the water beneath those gulls, we had our first two Speckled Trout of the day.They were both 14" and promptly released, but nothing beats those instant hookups! We proceeded to catch about 30 Trout each, many on consecutive casts, many doubles. We could have legally kept 10, but released all under 16". Ended up keeping 5 to eat from 17-19".
The action of the seagulls hovering over trout within casting distance for 2 hours (2-4pm) was about as good as it gets. Only improvement would have been "all keepers, no throwbacks!" Lol. Early in the day I joked that we usually catch more Trout in our kayaks than in the powerboat. Duh. Not our last two PB trips.
Our inside joke is that we often are lucky enough to catch loads of Trout in front of close-by boats catching NOTHING. It happened on our last PB trip, the one to John Wayne Cut which I also posted. That family of three today watched us catch about 50 specks. As we quietly motored away I could hear the wife ask "Honey, why we catch no fish?" Oh my.
Hope I've offended no hard-core yakkers with this powerboat report. Please use the information to get out on the bays in search of working birds. I forgot to mention that at each spot we saw small white shrimp skittering frantically on top. There were small schools of specks and several schools of finger-mullet riding the lazy currents. The Greens Lake water had visibility about 18", water Trout-green.
On the way in we stopped at reliable old Confederate Reef, saw sitting seagulls, landed 4 more Trout. The reports indicate bird action all over West Bay. Yes, the birds are working.
As Yak Boi said, "Go get you some."
P. S. And Go, you dang Astros!
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