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Jesse's Hunting > Fishing Articles > Articles > Chasing Texas Trout
Chasing Texas Trout
Chris Fullilove - JHO ProStaff
- Texas
August 24, 2005
Morning run
It's always easier to wake up early to go fishing, than to wake up late to go to work. |
Capt. Groves is a seasoned fishing guide and can accommodate a variety of fishing styles, backgrounds, and preferences. He provides his clients with quality fishing instruments, such as Shimano reels and custom Laguna rods.
Last time out with Capt. Groves, I drifted artificials. This time, given the signature of our experiences and our preferred target of trout and redfish, we were going to be fishing with live croaker. As we were about to witness, using croaker during the summer can be very productive.
Leaving the boat dock, we meandered down Bastrop Bayou, observing a breathtaking sunrise and a Texas sized alligator along the bank. Eventually we made our way into West Galveston Bay. Our first stop was the submerged wreckage of a boat in 8 feet of water. We cut the engine well before reaching our destination and drifted in quietly before setting the anchor. Capt. Groves indicated that a silent approach here was critical.
Once the anchor was set, we started hurling long range casts to entice a trout to our offering. I connected on the second cast with the first trout of the morning. A nice 22-inch speckled trout was brought to the boat.
After a few more casts, Capt. Groves indicated he didn’t want to spend too much time here because he had another place that he wanted to be when the tide started moving back out into the Gulf; so we lifted anchor and powered up the TranSport boat. We headed south out of West Galveston Bay, through San Luis Pass, and into the Gulf of Mexico to an area along the coastline called the Car Bodies. Car Bodies is an artificial reef project, established by Texas Parks and Wildlife in the 1960’s that consists of submerged car bodies and concrete construction pipes. This is where we wanted to be when the tidal flow shifted from incoming to outgoing.
We eased into location and got rigged up. I observed large pods of mullet congregating off the shoreline and within the surf. The pods consisted of several hundred mullet and you could tell that they were nervous. If you watched them long enough, you would see a large eruption and flash as predator fish would crash the surface in a feeding frenzy. By now we had expected the outgoing tidal shift to have taken place, but it hadn’t. Our estimation was off for some reason. The overdue tidal shift and the current wind orientation complicated our plan and inhibited us from fishing the Car Bodies with any success.
Without any action at the Car Bodies, and being puzzled by the delayed tidal shift, we moved over to the San Luis Pass area. This is a pinch point for water coming into and out of the large Galveston Bay system. While in transit to San Luis Pass, I observed that the water was extremely clear, and one could easily see 10 feet deep. We traversed several shallow sandbars that paralleled the coastline. Large channels are cut through the sandbars by the water that escapes from the bay into the Gulf of Mexico via San Luis Pass. Strong currents rip through these channels carrying bait, fish, and resources to the bay ecosystem. This topography, compounded with a strong tidal shift, comprises the ingredients for success on the water.
Nice speck!
The author hoists a healthy speckled trout! |
We established a fishing spot by the San Luis Pass Bridge. A couple of boaters nearby indicated that they had some good speckled trout action moments earlier, but currently the bite had gone cold. Within a couple of minutes of this conversation, we immediately started catching trout. It was like a light switch was turned on in our vicinity. We boated twelve trout from 20 to 24 inches in the period of about an hour. Capt Groves said “that’s the way it works down at the Pass, sometimes your hot, and sometimes your cold, and if you wait long enough it will change, but that is why you need to be ready when it turns on.” We continued catching trout by casting towards the bridge. We also hooked several nice trout that came unbuttoned right at the boat. During the peak of it all, my father hooked into his personal best speckled trout ever, a nice and respectable 27 inch fish.
Eventually, we did see the outgoing tide take place. We were going to make one final attempt at the Car Bodies now that we had the outgoing current. This decision would prove to be the climax of an already action packed and memorable morning.
We motored back out into the Gulf and along the coastline until we reached the Car Bodies. We proceeded to rig up our lines, and then cast towards the shoreline. Within the first couple minutes, we landed one trout. Not much else action was taking place until my father hooked into a nice fish. The fish was caught between the second and third sand bar just before the breaking surf. At first we thought it was just a nice trout, perhaps swimming with the current between the sandbars, but then when the drag started squealing we knew something else was going on. We had no idea what it was. Several of the usual suspects ran through our heads, such as a jack crevalle, a shark, a large sting ray, a bull redfish, or any number of other off shore fish. Dad would reel in about 10 yards of line only to loose three times that much back to the fish when it would make one of its exhaustive runs.
It was a loosing battle for the first 20 minutes, and then my dad finally started to make up some ground. At this point we saw the copper colored ridge of the huge bull redfish break the surface. It was the biggest bull redfish I had seen, and even more surprisingly, it was one of the biggest that our guide Capt. Groves had ever seen. After the 30 minute struggle, the fish was brought boat side. It was truly a trophy fish. The fish measured 48 inches and weighed 37 pounds. It was definitely a conclusive high point for a great day on the water.
Big Red!
The author's father shows off his bull redfish. |
For more photos, success stories, and details about Capt. Randall Groves’ Guide Service, please see:
http://www.grovesguide.com
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