)fly fishing the Galveston area
fly fishing the Galveston area
i just recently moved back to the Galveston area from Southeast Tennessee. I started fly fishing for rainbow and brown trout to scratch the fishing itch. I'd like to find some places in the Galveston Bay to get the kayak out for some shallow water fly fishing. I'd like some ideas if anyone has any. I'm not looking for GPS coordinates (I wouldn't know what to do with them if you sent them )
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Re: fly fishing the Galveston area
Welcome back, Timbo. Sorry about not having any mountain trails for you to hike.
I've had pretty good luck fly fishing the Texas gulf coast. A kayak lets me approach the fish much closer than if by wading. I never found it difficult to make the necessary casts from a sitting or side saddle position.
With my kayak tied onto my waist, and a small anchor keeping it behind me, I always enjoyed wading downwind on one of the many knee deep flats along the coast. The flats on the bay side of Padre Island, along Padre Island National Park (South of Corpus Christi) was ideal for this. Red fish Bay has some nice hard bottomed flats.
That being said, I have had the most luck sight fishing areas like lighthouse lakes and the marsh areas on the bay side of Boliver peninsula. Blind casting parallel along the leeward shorelines has also produced for me.
Too many great fly fishing areas to list. Tight lines and safe fishing.
I've had pretty good luck fly fishing the Texas gulf coast. A kayak lets me approach the fish much closer than if by wading. I never found it difficult to make the necessary casts from a sitting or side saddle position.
With my kayak tied onto my waist, and a small anchor keeping it behind me, I always enjoyed wading downwind on one of the many knee deep flats along the coast. The flats on the bay side of Padre Island, along Padre Island National Park (South of Corpus Christi) was ideal for this. Red fish Bay has some nice hard bottomed flats.
That being said, I have had the most luck sight fishing areas like lighthouse lakes and the marsh areas on the bay side of Boliver peninsula. Blind casting parallel along the leeward shorelines has also produced for me.
Too many great fly fishing areas to list. Tight lines and safe fishing.
Re: fly fishing the Galveston area
Although I prefer the clear water in the middle coast, Galveston has some great fishing as well. I would hire a guide like Jared Easley to show you the ropes. If you are set on do it yourself fishing, I would concentrate on west bay and xmas bay. Pay attention to water levels, wind, tides, water temp and you will start figuring out the fishery.
Re: fly fishing the Galveston area
Most marsh drains of any depth have some fish you can dredge up with a weighted pattern like a clouser. Same story for reef margins or drop offs with moving water. When I say dredge up I’m still talking about using floating flyline and patterns of various negative buoyancy in relatively shallow water. I break the fly fishing I do here in the Freeport area down as one of three types, casting to and making presentations to sighted predator fish, casting to and making presentations to sighted predator sign and/or bait sign, and casting to making presentations to predator fish drawn to or congregating around sighted or inferred structure.
My M/O is to study the areas around a particular launch to see what kind of structure is there. There’s only so many launches out there (books have been written or other published material list launches) and the kayak has only so much range. If an area or structure is beyond practical range, then why even consider knowing anything about it?
Satellite images are really helpful in determining what structure is where in relation to an available launch. Even better are archival images taken at low water events.
I probably have haunted over the years on a semi regular basis about a dozen launches either side of Freeport or Surfside. Maybe there’s a few more beyond those that seldom get used in rare conditions.
My advice would be to pick a few launches you are comfortable with, within the range you wish to travel, the area seems intriguing, or for whatever reason appeals and then study the aerial photography of the area around the launch and then get out there and do some exploring.
If you are only into or enjoy casting to and making fly rod presentations to strictly sighted predator fish, then be prepared for long periods and the majority of the time where the conditions are unfavorable for that pursuit. Many people that fly fish the local waters will only sight fish to sighted fish. If that describes you, then that’s wonderful, just don’t expect a lot of opportunities to do it here.
If some chop or a bit of wind or some stained/sandy water or water deeper than shin deep or clouds that might otherwise frustrate sight fishing efforts aren’t necessarily deal killers, then there’s opportunities for fly fishing on virtually any day at any launch that it is reasonably safe to kayak.
My M/O is to study the areas around a particular launch to see what kind of structure is there. There’s only so many launches out there (books have been written or other published material list launches) and the kayak has only so much range. If an area or structure is beyond practical range, then why even consider knowing anything about it?
Satellite images are really helpful in determining what structure is where in relation to an available launch. Even better are archival images taken at low water events.
I probably have haunted over the years on a semi regular basis about a dozen launches either side of Freeport or Surfside. Maybe there’s a few more beyond those that seldom get used in rare conditions.
My advice would be to pick a few launches you are comfortable with, within the range you wish to travel, the area seems intriguing, or for whatever reason appeals and then study the aerial photography of the area around the launch and then get out there and do some exploring.
If you are only into or enjoy casting to and making fly rod presentations to strictly sighted predator fish, then be prepared for long periods and the majority of the time where the conditions are unfavorable for that pursuit. Many people that fly fish the local waters will only sight fish to sighted fish. If that describes you, then that’s wonderful, just don’t expect a lot of opportunities to do it here.
If some chop or a bit of wind or some stained/sandy water or water deeper than shin deep or clouds that might otherwise frustrate sight fishing efforts aren’t necessarily deal killers, then there’s opportunities for fly fishing on virtually any day at any launch that it is reasonably safe to kayak.
Re: fly fishing the Galveston area
thanks for the info. I've been trying to decide on a starting point and build on it from there. I didn't know where to start and ya'll have given me some good ideas!