Specs,Reds,Or Flounders

I've never caught a full grown red (or keeper at least).

Hundreds of speckled trout though. Moses Lake was very kind to my father and I in the 90's. I used something called speck rigs (don't know the brand) and often caught two at a time.

 

I like to catch them all! Unfortunately, fishing, as well as my other leisure time activity (golf) take leisure time, which I haven't had much of during the past 12 months. Things should free up for me after the first of the year, but I wish it were tomorrow!

 

Now here is a topic I can get into. Of the three you mentioned I would have to say that my favorite would be the Flounder, they are such cool fish in appearance. They also seem to me anyway that I catch them less frequently than a red or speck.

 

Reds - slightly better eating imo and much better fighting.

 

Trout don't put up enough fight for me, even the big ones in Baffin Bay & the Laguna Madre don't excite me as much as another comparably sized fish. It is a blast to see 'em hit a topwater though, but I'd rather catch 5 Lb. bass on buzzbaits than big trout any day of the week.

Flounder are the tastiest (a medium sized redfish grilled on the half-shell is a very, very close second), and during the flounder spawning run, you can't beat standing in waist deep water, inside San Luis Pass, bouncing a spoon or jig along the bottom, catching saddleblanket sized flounder pretty much at will.

For my $$$, the most fun to be had fishing near Houston is catching bull reds from the beach. The best fishing is between 11pm and dawn, whenever the tide's moving in or out. I've caught 5 big bulls (why they're called bulls I'm not sure, since all the really big reds are females), 1 from Meacom's Pier in High Island, one from the beach near the Bolivar Cut, and the rest from the beach near San Luis Pass. Biggest one was about 45 inches long, and a good bit bigger around than a basketball. Get your 12 ft. surf rod, set up a redfish rig (50lb. test mono-filament leader, barrel swivels, couple of beads, spider sinker, 10/0 circle hook) & bust out the half crab or cut mullett. The really fun part is swimming out to the first bar, trying to gauge where the last channel between bars is, and heaving that sucker just about as far as you can. The really, really fun part is swimming back to the beach with your rod up over your head, letting line out as you go in. Then, plant the rod in a pvc pipe sunk in the sand, crack open a cold beer, start your fire and enjoy.

Bull reds are a blast to catch, but you should not keep them. A) they're all females, swimming into the bays to lay eggs, gotta let 'em replenish the stocks; and B) They're not very good eating, unless you want to cut 'em up and fry 'em, but you might as well fry catfish then.

One fish you never, EVER want to catch is a jack crevalle. They pull like a horse, but only in one direction, there's no action so the fighting just sucks. I was at Meacom's Pier a few years ago, been fishing for about 30 minutes, and I hooked one. 45 minutes of agony later, I get the sucker up to the pier. I was sweating buckets despite it being a cool November night, and my arms were cramped and so sore that I couldn't raise 'em for about an hour. Needless to say, I didn't touch a rod again until my buddies were done fishing. The beer was cold, though, so that was all that kept me from being completely miserable.

 

I love to catch them all, but some of the most fun I had when I was a teenager and in my early 20's was gigging for flounder with a lamp in the middle of the night inside San Luis Pass on the flats. Talk about a blast! Just don't get disoriented as to where you are, don't go alone, and don't fall into a channel.

Geez, I haven't done that in 30 years. The feeling of being out there in the dark quietly wading with a buddy and then doing something someone could have done with a spear in ancient times is a trip. It's hard to beat fresh flounder, but reds probably do. (ah, memories!)

 

Last time I went deep sea fishing everyone seems to be catching lots of Reds, but my fishing pole just kept getting tangled up with the guy next to me. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

 

Red snapper, not redfish (red drum) right?

I've had that happen with my line while on a pier trying to land what turned out to be a 4 foot blacktip shark. Not fun.

 

The flats on Bolivar(2 or 3 miles up from the Ferry landing) are good for Flounder at night as well...I was fishing there a couple of weekends ago and caught nothing but black-tip sharks--they were everywhere!! Lucky for me I LOVE fresh grilled shark steaks.

 

I dont know
I like to fish because it's fun, but when it comes to the details hmmm

 

I find Reds quite enjoyable...

 

I have fished quite a few places where you can park and wade. I'm always happy to catch any of the big 3. It always seems like I catch about 10 times more sand trout than anything else. I know some people keep and eat sand trout, but I always throw them back.

My favorite place to fish was just inside San Luis pass on the Galveston side. There was a little parking area down a little road about 1/4 from the bridge. You could wade out about 100 yards and fish a little trough, or you could wade on out for about a 1/4 mile and work the flats.

 

I've fished for reds a little over in Sabine. Mostly fished for specks, however. Before law school (3 years ago), I would go night fishing down in Freeport -- usually at the jetties or by the old river. I bought two REALLY bright theatre lights off a buddy and made a stand for them. I'd back the truck up to my spot and crank up the generator. Assuming the water was semi-clear, we'd always limit out.

 

That's where we used to go. I've camped there many times, but not in years and years. I don't know what it's like now, but I hope it's not completely screwed up. I saw 2 waterspouts up close and personal out there.

Did you ever get dive-bombed by seagulls?? They used to strafe us when we got too close to their nesting areas. (not intentionally by us) There's something Hitchcockian about being bombed by a gull that pulls up at the last moment and releases a load of poop at your head... screaming on the way down. We'd dodge 'em best we could. Devilish critters.

 

Deckard, I also saw a waterspout one time when I was there. I was way out there, way past the trough and I turned around and saw a large waterspout just on the west beach side. I was wondering what I would do if the waterspout started coming my way. Luckily it went back up in the clouds and I continued fishing.

I drove past that spot last year and it still looked the same, so I imagine a lot of fishermen can still be found there in the mornings. Unfortunately, I understand a couple of big developments are being planned for the western end of the Island. Pretty soon there won't be any places to park and wade on Galveston.

 

I have only been deep sea fishing once, for salmon. It was a great time.


Fly fishing is another story all together, I love to catch cut throat trout and big Brown trout.

 

Glad it still looks the same, but I've read as well that they're planning on mucking up the area. You would think Galveston would learn. They wish now that the hundreds of old houses along Broadway and in the adjacent areas that were leveled for gas stations and 7/11's were still there... it would help the tourist business they crave (not to mention being a huge historical loss), but they continue screwing things up. Reminds me of a huge city 50 miles up I-45.