Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

[Mac8111 2105]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4046721148697333/?ref=share


Saw this for drone fishing.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

In regard to reading the surf, on Matagorda where @fattyflattie and I were talking about earlier, having google earth images helps a lot.  You can see on this image, in between the red marks, which are at about 7 miles from the beach entrance, down to about 13, the barrier island is about 1/4 mile thicker than the area on either side.  That means it's either higher in elevation, or a harder composition that hasn't eroded as much.  That's why the wade guts are deeper there.  I've found the same thing on PINS, if you look at images and find variances where the barrier island changes, or where old "passes" used to go through, those are usually good spots to try.

 

[Zwylde 812]

Just posted on Dos Frios as well but here are the results from yesterday's afternoon wade.  All fish but the smaller red caught in 30 minutes.  West Bay Galveston.

 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Here's a similar image of PINS - you can see at about the 20 to 40 mile marker between the larger red lines, where the big change is.  Little Shell and Big Shell.  On either side of that is the same.  The smaller red marks are the entrance to PINS and the end at Mansfield Cut.

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

5 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Here's a similar image of PINS - you can see at about the 20 to 40 mile marker between the larger red lines, where the big change is.  Little Shell and Big Shell.  On either side of that is the same.  The smaller red marks are the entrance to PINS and the end at Mansfield Cut.

The small red mark at the top is across from Baffin.  That is about at the 10 mile mark, Yarborough is just below it at the 15.

I have found my favorite wade guts at about the 48, although big and little shell have some great and obvious structure.

[The Royal We 3067]

14 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

It's really hard to beat the convenience:fun ratio of catching average fish on really light tackle. Excitement and challenge goes up 10x and you can do it just about anywhere for zero cost.

2 wt fly rod fishing ftw!

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, Jiggy-Z said:

That is about at the 10 mile mark, Yarborough is just below it at the 15.

I do not miss dragging the boat thru there.  I never got stuck but damn that was hairy going in sometimes.  Plenty of people I was with would bury up in there, the trailer axles would just dig and take the top off the sand until you couldn’t go anymore. 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I do not miss dragging the boat thru there.  I never got stuck but damn that was hairy going in sometimes.  Plenty of people I was with would bury up in there, the trailer axles would just dig and take the top off the sand until you couldn’t go anymore. 

Back in the days before I had my Tacoma, I spent many an hour digging my 3/4 tn F250 diesel out of the sands of Yarborough...good times.  I have had buddies get stuck there with kayak trailers too.  Great spot to go for a few days, not for everyone though.

Long before the park fixed the road a couple of years ago and before the oil companies fixed it the times before that, your adventure was just beginning once you got through the dunes at Yarborough.  Often there were wet washouts and boggy areas that could sink even the lightest of vehicles if you were not paying attention.  I'll take being stuck in the sand any day as long as its not that muddy stuff down by the water like at Matagorda.

[hookemATL 11700]

So if going to PINS for a weekend to fish the surf and maybe camp, what is the best bet location wise for some seclusion from other folks and a decent shot at some fishies?  

[fattyflattie 4639]

3 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Back in the days before I had my Tacoma, I spent many an hour digging my 3/4 tn F250 diesel out of the sands of Yarborough...good times.  I have had buddies get stuck there with kayak trailers too.  Great spot to go for a few days, not for everyone though.

The boat I had couldn’t make the trip and then fish a week in the landcut due to fuel.  So we would all launch from Yarborough.  This would be circa 2000-2005.  I had a little lifted single cab Chevy on 33’s, and a 17’ skiff.  I could take care of myself but a lot of my fiends had 3/4 tons and bigger boats.  They could handle bird Island but were just along to keep the group together.  I don’t know how many times I had to go thru, drop my boat, then back in there and snatch one of them out.    Going the other way was easy peezy, I remember that.  0% chance I could do it with current ride and boat, but now I can fill up in Rockport and make it there without any worry. 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

2 hours ago, hookemATL said:

So if going to PINS for a weekend to fish the surf and maybe camp, what is the best bet location wise for some seclusion from other folks and a decent shot at some fishies?  

Depends on how far you want to drive.  But

minimal effort somewhere between the 8 and 15mm

a little more effort 20-30mm harder driving fewer people

past 30mm it gets pretty secluded, unless you are at Mansfield which is like Vegas on the weekend.

[hookemATL 11700]

If I’m not hauling a trailer and whatnot, is 4wd sufficient?  Have high clearance as well  

 

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

8 hours ago, Zwylde said:

Just posted on Dos Frios as well but here are the results from yesterday's afternoon wade.  All fish but the smaller red caught in 30 minutes.  West Bay Galveston.

 

Nice. Where at in West Bay?  Struck out today in East Bay. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, hookemATL said:

If I’m not hauling a trailer and whatnot, is 4wd sufficient?  Have high clearance as well  

 

Yes 

[troph 24781]

11 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

In regard to reading the surf, on Matagorda where @fattyflattie and I were talking about earlier, having google earth images helps a lot.  You can see on this image, in between the red marks, which are at about 7 miles from the beach entrance, down to about 13, the barrier island is about 1/4 mile thicker than the area on either side.  That means it's either higher in elevation, or a harder composition that hasn't eroded as much.  That's why the wade guts are deeper there.  I've found the same thing on PINS, if you look at images and find variances where the barrier island changes, or where old "passes" used to go through, those are usually good spots to try.

 

Are you pointing out the bay side or the gulf side of the island in your description? 

[troph 24781]

13 hours ago, Mac8111 said:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4046721148697333/?ref=share


Saw this for drone fishing.

She’s shopping for a cheap one, we don’t want to take her work one. I think she joined the group too. I’m too busy watching baseball to care too much. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by troph

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

10 hours ago, troph said:

Are you pointing out the bay side or the gulf side of the island in your description? 

The gulf/surf side. 

[4th and 5 4914]

If you want to do some looking this is a good place to do it

 

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/inundationdb/

[troph 24781]

[BearSchlong 8082]

Thats awesome. Just texted it to a buddy whose wife is off the rails.

All this talk about fishing the lower TX coast makes me grateful for SW Louisiana. Haven't posted much lately but ive been 5 times over the last few weeks and the fish have been sparse but solid. Trout, reds, flounder,, and drum today. Last weekend -

[CHIEF 5075]

1 hour ago, troph said:

and all of your incoming text notifications are gonna scare the fish.

CHIEF

[BearSchlong 8082]

Texted that to my buddy last night and this morning he answered "Oh Jesus, I thought that was actually (his wife)"

 

[davidg 4035]

13 hours ago, troph said:

Perfect example of the female/male dynamic.

 

As my dad had reportedly said when he was dating my mom and was late picking her up: "When then fish are biting, you fish; plenty of other time for courting."

[Zwylde 812]

No real big girls, 22" and 21" were the top two.  Sporadic bite but a few more for the Memorial Day fish fry.  

Top water bite is back on in the canal at dusk and dawn.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Zwylde

[Lat22 4010]

6 hours ago, Zwylde said:

Top water bite is back on in the canal at dusk and dawn.

I have more luck at dusk than I do at dawn. I sleep too well when I’m down there to get up early.  Well, I sleep well when the house across the street isn’t burning down. 

[Zwylde 812]

Oh trust me I rarely see the sun come up.  I woke up to pee one morning about 5:30 and I figured the wind laid pretty good so I went out to see if anything was in the lights.  Not much but a got damn dolphin scared the shit out of me.  Came up for air right in my light coming towards me with that big as "splewww" out its blow hole.  So freaking loud when there is not another sound in the air.  Went back to bed but never really slept so went back down after dawn and caught that one on the first cast.  I usually have two or three blowups at dusk but they are usually so small they can't get the top dog in their mouth.  

So you are right across from the fire house?  That was a shock to see driving out the next morning.

 

[horn4life 3759]

On 4/6/2021 at 4:25 PM, fattyflattie said:

This is anecdotal af but a couple of years ago I went to the island to visit with a friend, and he wanted to hit the jetties.  January, and the water was like yoohoo.  I watched him catch a limit of trout, all between 20-25" on a freaking mirrolure.  The conditions were so bad I didn't even bring tackle. I just sat there and drank beer and watched him crush these fish and froze my nuts off.  I 100% would not have believed any of it had I not been right there.   They are there.  It was miserable conditions tho.  Changed my entire outlook, although I can find other things to do on yoohoo water January days.  

 

All I need to know is which one is Mont running?   And is doing anything other than cockguzzling their sponsors still grounds for censure.  

My Nephew has pulled some nice trout stringers with a rattle trap in the Surf. Whodathunkit.

[Deej 76748]

My mom's neighbor caught this in front of her house. 8 lbs 13 oz.

Fuck me. 

 

[fattyflattie 4639]

8 hours ago, horn4life said:

My Nephew has pulled some nice trout stringers with a rattle trap in the Surf. Whodathunkit.

I use to throw rattle traps in the surf, they work well. Kingfish eat them up too.  My comment about the mirror lure was just because the winter.  I have whipped their ass with 52MRs a million times in the summer. Guess it’s not all that surprising it was a good lure that day, similar to a corky. Just didn’t expect that guy to be throwing it.  And crushing it. 

[BearSchlong 8082]

Beats a day in the office. Only thing missing is one with immamac.

[Sam Lin 3550]

What kind of fish in the upper photo? It's gorgeous.

[horn4life 3759]

25 minutes ago, Sam Lin said:

What kind of fish in the upper photo? It's gorgeous.

Whaaaa hooooooooo

[Mac8111 2105]

Some friends wanted to come fish and paid for a guide to go the jetties. So I went with them.

Not a bad day. They don’t get to fish much so they were having a blast. Good variety of fish. Sifted through a million on hard head and gafftops to get what we got. Had two big ass black drum to start the day off. Figured we would have had a few more reds. We had grilled and fried fish for late lunch that day.

One of the other jetties boats kept all their gafftop. Glad I wasn’t cleaning them.



Waded yesterday with the old man and his buddy. Found one flat with some nice trout on it. Every other spot we tried was nada. I even found a shallow sand bar holding rafts and rafts of mullet and glass minnows but only one lame half ass trout thump. Wasn’t a lot of tide movement. Fuck it. Was better than working.

[BearSchlong 8082]

Black drum you say? Yup, I must be back in Texas, soaking shrimp with Dad.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

I haven’t been saltwater fishing with my son in 7 years, since his grandfather died.  Taking him and his girlfriend this next weekend to camp for a couple days and try the surf.  Hoping he’ll catch a little bit of the bug we always had.  

[Brew 3049]

3 weeks to go until I finally get down to the beach and get some fishing in. I didn’t get to do any spring fishing this year. Sucks to miss the best part of the year, but shit like work occasionally gets in the way.

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

Headed to Matagorda 3 mile lake next week for camping, yaking, and fishing. Much needed.

[fattyflattie 4639]

6 hours ago, Brew said:

3 weeks to go until I finally get down to the beach and get some fishing in. I didn’t get to do any spring fishing this year. Sucks to miss the best part of the year, but shit like work occasionally gets in the way.

I think the last time I was able to wet a line was June of ‘20.   God that just depressed me. 

[PRONG HORN 3128]

On 5/8/2021 at 1:23 PM, BearSchlong said:

Black drum you say? Yup, I must be back in Texas, soaking shrimp with Dad.

 

Yo daddy jeans fire

[Masshole Horn 769]

Masshole Jr got his PB bass on the fly yesterday morning. I was trying out a new sinking line and he took a couple casts and pulled this one out.

[UT_OB1 2213]

We’ve been around 8 mile in Galveston for about 12 days. Hardly any mullet, waves were a bitch the first 8-9 days. Things were a little nicer last couple days.  Had very calm water 2 days ago, but no mullet and no biting on shrimp or croakers.  Some mullet yesterday, but no bite.

So this morning I got up and could see mullet jumping all over from the house. Got out to the beach and you could hardly walk through the water. They are everywhere from ankle deep to as far out as I was willing to wade (~100 yards). All up and down the beach. You couldn’t cast net and not get at least 2-3. And they didn’t come and go, they have been here all day. 
 

So what is going on?  Some migration?  Mating?  Am I swimming in fish jizz?

 

Bite was there today. Caught two 18-24” black tip and one 20” trout. 
 

Edited May 11, 2021 by UT_OB1

[Zwylde 812]

Nighttime shad slaughter.  Sorry for the sideways filming.

IMG_8071.MOV

 

Sorry, I thought the vid would embed.

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Zwylde

[Zwylde 812]

Yes, OB1, the mullet are migrating back up the Coast.  The migrate South for the Winter and come back up in the Spring.  

[Masshole Horn 769]

2 hours ago, Zwylde said:

Nighttime shad slaughter.  Sorry for the sideways filming.

IMG_8071.MOV 9.2 MB · 6 downloads

 

Sorry, I thought the vid would embed.

 

What's feeding on them?

[davidg 4035]

3 hours ago, Zwylde said:

Nighttime shad slaughter.  Sorry for the sideways filming.

IMG_8071.MOV 9.2 MB · 11 downloads

 

Sorry, I thought the vid would embed.

 

That's a pretty awesome video.  Were you in a boat or kayak?

[Zwylde 812]

Neither, I was on my deck.  They were trout.  Never seen them frenzy like that, it was almost piranha-esq.  Also hard to catch any when there is that much food in the water 😂  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

13 minutes ago, Zwylde said:

Neither, I was on my deck.  They were trout.  Never seen them frenzy like that, it was almost piranha-esq.  Also hard to catch any when there is that much food in the water 😂  

When I was a kid we fished at Oyster Lake under lights, and at certain times it would be like that.  The popping sound of the trout feeding was just crazy.  

[Lat22 4010]

2 hours ago, Zwylde said:

Neither, I was on my deck.  They were trout.  Never seen them frenzy like that, it was almost piranha-esq.  Also hard to catch any when there is that much food in the water 😂  

Wait till the reds show up. It sounds like bombs going off in the water. It’s a great time of year for the canals. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19411]

1 hour ago, Lat22 said:

Wait till the reds show up. It sounds like bombs going off in the water. It’s a great time of year for the canals. 

Nothing more fun than making reds eat on top

 

[Hmbre97 6304]

Hard to get a sense of scale but looks like a bunch of dinks. They'll fatten up real quick eating that good though.