March 16, 2012 - Afternoon Jetty Trip

As I mentioned earlier Friday, March 16th was a fantastic day – couldn’t have asked for better weather. The morning trip was successful and so was the afternoon trip.

Joining me for the afternoon trip was Dwayne W. and his mom and dad. Dwayne’s dad started it off with some really nice sheep head - then some giant sheep head. The bite was light – meaning they weren’t hitting to bait hard – they would nibble at the shrimp in some cases strip the bait completely. We worked hard at it, repeating the process of free lining the shrimp and Gary starting catching the sheep head… then, mom. But, Dwayne was setting in the front of the boat and wasn’t getting anything.

After couple hours I had to switch Gary and Dwayne. Shortly thereafter, Dwayne was on some really big fish. Again, we caught some really nice Sheep head and puppy drum. The afternoon trip didn’t see any red fish. In fact, all the boats around us were experiencing the same thing – no red fish. They must have moved out. Mom got into the action too. She would have one then lose it, but she stayed with it – great attitude. Then, couple times throughout the evening Mom nailed a couple really nice sheep head.

I want to thank Dwayne and his family for fishing with me. I believe we all had a good time. I know it seems just too short of a trip – we were laughing so much.

And a special thanks to Dwayne W. – folks I’m good size myself but this guy is the size of an NFL line backer with arms the size of pipes. He was able to dislodge my anchor with a little pulling and a slight grunt or two. Don’t know how long it would have taken me if I had to do it myself.
Gary mentioned a story about Dwayne – he pulled 95 feet of well pipe up including the well’s pump when the commercial well company in the area came out to the house and couldn’t get it up and left for more equipment.

Looking forward to the next trip - when I will get to see you guys again for that Crocker run…

March 16, 2012 - Morning Jetty Trip

Friday, March 16, was a fantastic day plus everyone caught fish. A couple of us ran two trips in one day – in this case, both trips were very successful. Checking with my associates it seemed that Friday was good for everyone.

Charles J., Jamie J., Max D., and Alfonzo C. were my fishing partners for the morning trip. They were all part of an 8 man bachelor party. Jamie started everything off that morning with a couple sheep head. Then, Charles and Max followed. Charles caught a good mess of sheep head and black drum. Then, Max loaded up with something that took us all for a ride – including one of my spinning reels. Max set the hook good and it began to strip line – I tightened the drag just a bit then… Max started reeling a bit – he looked like he was starting to win the battle then the reel started striping gears… Max and I began to turn the spool just to try to gain ground on this monster but snap… line broke. Wish we could have seen him. Shortly after that Jamie J. nailed a nice 27 inch red fish.

As the morning wore on Alfonzo was able to dramatically improve his casting ability. In addition, he started figuring out the bite. Meaning – Alfonzo started feeling the bite more and started setting the hook on sheep head. Everyone had caught fish this morning except poor Alfonzo.

Keep in mind it’s his first trip and the guide was explaining to Alfonzo all the details of what to do. Alfonzo was a great student. I say that because as it turned out Alfonzo started catching fish left and right – surpassed everyone on board and kept catching fish… what a fast learner Alfonzo is.

I want to thank my morning customers and tell everyone how much I enjoyed having them on board. We caught some really nice Sheep head, Puppy Drum, some larger Drum, and one nice 27 inch Red Fish.

I look forward to our trip this summer.

March 2012

I've only run a few trips so far this year mainly because of high winds. We've stuck to fishing in the late afternoon mainly because of the tide and the time of year. Most of our action has come in the last couple hours of the day.

The lure of choice recently has been the Red Shad, Texas Chicken in the original Corky or the newer pink/red Maniac Mullet. However, this changes from week to week. A couple weeks ago we caught our fish came on top water. We’re wading 2 to 4 ft of water over soft mud with a bit of shell – some discoloration in water color due to tide activity plus what sun we do have warms the mud. Additionally, we’re on the lookout for bait activity and slicks - sometimes bird activity (if you’re lucky -still early).

This time of year is challenging in Galveston Bay (even for the hardcore fishermen), however we try to improve our chances by wade fishing. For this time of year, you just have to be patient and grind it out for that big girl. But, thanks to Columbia Sportswear for that nice warm wading jacket I’m able to stay out there a little longer.

Besides, if you do fish this time of year regularly you already know what’s in store for you - ya just gotta love it…

This week has us on some Spring Break Trips - Jetty Trips – this allows us to take ‘spring breakers’ out for a 4 hour trip and catch just about anything – in some cases it allows us to do two trips a day.

With the coming of April / May we’ll be back to doing our regular Trout and Redfish trips. We’ll get away from the banks and backwater lakes and start drifting the reefs – what some call the Croker Bite. Great live bait action unless you like to throw artificial lures.

However you like to fish - the 2012 Fishing Season is here – the Boat and Fishing Shows are over and it's time to start planning your trip now - reserve that trip in advance.

Our calendar is starting to fill up – set your trip as soon as you can - we can usually re-adjust your trip time/day the closer we actually get to your trip. Don't wait till the month you want to go to plan that trip. We'll be booked.

Remember, to practice CPR as much as you can – Catch, Photo and Release.