Jet ski in Galveston

[zkrolczyk95]

Just wanted yalls take on the effectiveness of jet ski's in bays. Galveston imparticular just kinda wondering how worth one might be for me.

[MobyYack]

you lose so much of the art when you add a motor but you definitely cover more water....stealthiness is lost though

[Tiggeriffic]

Be very cautious with your jet ski. Skinny water is possible but sucking up a rock or oyster shell is going to screw up your impeller. Also as said before, yes cover more water, faster but at a huge loss to sneaking up on the reds. Skis are better utilized in deep water and travelling distances kayaks cannot do so quickly.

[Yaklash]

They increase your range, but decrease your serenity and stealth. And I'm not sure what kind of attachments for rod holders you could get away with and the PWCs I've been on could be a bit of a wet ride, so keeping your reels dry might be a challenge.

They don't do well with grasses so a lot of the coastal bend and south of there, you'd have to be careful about where you went at any speed. They don't handle lots of mud or any loose shell, so most marsh areas would be off limits.

I remember having heard Tobin (Troutsupport) mention he used to use a PWC to access wade fishing areas, so he might have something to add.

[Floundapounda122]

I mean I think it would be better for btb. Honestly nothing pisses me off more when your pulling up to a marsh and your see someone in a jet ski going full speed in and out of the marsh scaring all the fish away

[texnomad]

I looked at them very closely several times for this Corpus inshore fishing. Be assured I am not for or against them. By the time I rigged one out with the add ons for comfortable fishing and the maintenance, I decided to keep my thousands it would cost and continue with the yak. I decided I would rather mothership my yak with a guide service now and then instead.

[Forever Fishing]

Check out texasjetskifishing on facebook. Lot's of pictures and advice there.

[Don Chile]

I have kayak fished for 15 years and have recently switched to jet ski fishing. I love it. I only fish bays and shallow water. Just like all fishing platforms one must know how to utilize the equipment they are using. Yes oysters, rocks, and other debris can ruin your day but that is where ones knowledge of the area they are fishing comes into play. I run the bayous with no problem and I have rigged my ski just for bay fishing. Naturally you are not going to go playing in the mud like you can in a kayak but you can definitely go where any skiff can go with no problems. As a fishing platform you cannot beat a jet ski.

[texnomad]

Good grief that is a great looking fishing machine. How shallow can it run when off plane, like idling along?

[Don Chile]

I can idle comfortably in a foot of water. I have been as shallow as 6 inches to just floating. when getting super skinny I am more worried about getting stuck than sucking up something into the impeller. At 900 Lbs it is not as easy to get my ski unstuck as my kayak. I have a no wake mode on my ski that has five presets for idle speeds. this is a great feature and does allow me to sneak up on fish. Just like using a trolling motor. Since I have bought my ski in may I have been fishing Sabine only. I have been all over the lake from the north to the south and all the La. bayous. No issues at all. I wanted to learn some new water so I have been really hitting Sabine. I did fish West Bay and I launched from 8 mile road at the little ramp. Perfect Spot to launch from with no issues. Have to watch all the reefs but not a problem if you know the area. Caught my first fish from the ski, nice red fish, back in greens lake. My experience fishing greens lake and the bahyous of sabine was the reason I got the Micro Pole. Great addition and really maximizes my shallow water fishing. I plan on getting a stainless steel wear ring when i finally damage the one i have now. That will help when ingesting debris into the impeller.

[zkrolczyk95]

I have kayak fished for 15 years and have recently switched to jet ski fishing. I love it. I only fish bays and shallow water. Just like all fishing platforms one must know how to utilize the equipment they are using. Yes oysters, rocks, and other debris can ruin your day but that is where ones knowledge of the area they are fishing comes into play. I run the bayous with no problem and I have rigged my ski just for bay fishing. Naturally you are not going to go playing in the mud like you can in a kayak but you can definitely go where any skiff can go with no problems. As a fishing platform you cannot beat a jet ski.

did you build your own rack?

[Don Chile]

I made the rack out of PVC scheduled 40. You can buy racks but they only hold a cooler and rods. I wanted to be able to carry my gear for wade fishing and any extras. Now that I have my design, I will have one fabricated out of aluminum but I will still have my milk crates attached in the same fashion. If you look closely you can see a academy h2o mini tackle bag attached to the seat rail. I have one on each side and I also have a plastic water proof box inside the milk crate on the opposite side. I wade fish as much as I fish off the ski depending on were I am fishing.,

[TroutSupport.com]

It's a fun way to fish. I loved it. I had mine for probably 10 years and caught tons of fish off of it and wading from it.

Pro's - range,
AC (40mph A/C),
runs shallow in 4" on plane but you can't set down in 4".. Floated in about 6.
Handles a decent 1' chop albeit wet ride.
There are plenty aftermarket and custom rod and cooler holders. (I built my own out of aluminum angle and stainless screws)..
Awesome for riding to wading areas.
Drift fish just fine as well.

If you don't get too big an engine then they are fairly good on fuel. Another way to extend fuel is to not run full throttle all the time. Just get it up on plane and cruise. You don't need to run full throttle anyway...it just pisses off all the kayakers anyway LOL.

Handles shallow mud fine actually.. and even hard oyster reef is ok... it's the areas of tiny shell bits like on the barrier islands or like Shell Island Reef or Bull Shoals that are a pain if you clog your water line with them. There are aftermarket filters for the line that you can install and those alleviate the problem. Once I learned not to idle or run over that material I just ran a little deeper in those areas or pushed the ski out deeper (18" to 24") before starting and idling. Running super shallow over sand will have a long term minimal effect of slightly reducing your impeller but if you're not interested in going 78mph.. that should be ok. I think over 10 years I lost about 2mph. I fished the entire upper coast with one from POC to Sabine.

Sea Grass flats wasn't too bad either. over the 10 years I think I had to pull grass from the intake grate just about a handfull of times. Typically the grates got a little grass while running slowly on plane or idling through very dense floating grass. BUT, if you can't get it on plane and up to speeds above 25 - 30 then most of it would break away from the grate.. so it wasn't that too big a problem. I ran the grass flats from Baffin, AP, POC, and East Matty.

Cons.
Can't paddle after those crawlers in 3 inches in the marsh.
You'll fish less in marshes especially the shallow one, but there are still some marsh areas that can be fished.
Sight casting is not as easy as in a kayak. It's still doable but not as effective since you drift slower and can't be as shallow.
Not really paddle-able.. But that's why I waded.
Fewer launch points.. can't just launch on the side of the road, need a boat ramp.. but with the range that was never a problem.
fuel cost but not as bad as a boat. You'll need a trailer as well.
Low tides and sandbars can be a real problem if you are not smart about it.

All in all after having all three... kayak, PWC, and a boat I'd still do it (PWC) again. I'd love to have one for when it's just me on a weekday. Another option that might take away some of the cons is the jet powered kayaks.. though they don't float as shallow as a kayak, they still allow paddling, and sightcasting, ...i'd hessitate to drag it through the mud on low tide since it's a good bit heavier and I think it may need a trailer as well.