Hello all,

I am new to this forum and joined to benefit from the experiences and advice of others on here. Currrently, my wife and I are looking for a bayhouse on the West End of Galveston's bayside or Tiki Island. In the next year or so I also plan to purchase an offshore boat in the 28 to 30 foot range. Anyway, the purpose of this post is to ask for advice and experience from some of you who may also own offshore boats and bay homes on the west end of Galveston Bay or Tiki Island and your experience and challenges to reaching offshore waters. What routes do you commonly take and why? I assume that most who like in Tiki Island run past the Galveston Jettis to get offshore, while those in West Galveston run through the San Luis Pass to get offshore. I have had some limited experience running the San Luis Pass with my father-in-law for a few years before he sold his 23 foot Grady White walkaround.boat. He would plot the San Luis Pass channel a few time per season with a small bay boat and then use those GPS coordinates to help navigate the treacherous sand bars when taking his boat offshore through the pass. I have grown to have some apprehension about this since we always seemed to hold our breathe as we passed from GPS point to GPS point in hopes of not running aground. Any advice or experiences from others with 26 to 30 foot offshore boat would be greatly appreciated. We are still in the early planning phase of exactly where to buy a bayhouse and accessibility to offshore fishing will be one of many factors considered. Thanks in advance!

PathAngler

I choose the San Luis run. And bay house on Galveston West end.
Why. First off,I dont think anyone on tiki island is under 70.And most dont fish.For me, most but not all Tiki Residents are too stuffy .
By going through the pass, its a short trip to where the brazos comes in, and on a good day you good fish east matagorda bay,
which in my opinion is better then west galveston bay.
Get a gps for water with topo.

I'm not sure I'd be wanting to pilot a 30' tuna schooner through an unmarked san luis pass.

I've been out through SLP dozens of times. It's a pretty easy run. The sand bars are only about 100 yards across. There will always be boats anchored near the bridge fishing, and surf fishermen. Just go out to the right og the fishing boats, and the left of the surf fihsermen on the Galveston side of the pass. Take your time.

It's pretty easy to see here;



The bigger problem is getting to the pass from lower west bay.

I have fished offshore from Tiki and from Sea Isle I would rather go out of Sea Isle any day. Navigation to and through the pass is harder but much shorter then Tiki. Also once you get offshore deeper water is closer fishing out the pass. I ususally stayed in Sea Isle and trailered my boat to the pass but on weekends the boat ramp was crowded so we sould put in at Sea Isle. One other thing the further west you go on Galveston Island the lower the elevation.

I've caught a lot of snapper and ling at the 14 mile rigs while fishing from my 16 ft boat. I've found a few good weed lines which held dilphin, and ling on the way out.

Those days are over for me.

this may help, shows the water depth,sandbars, etc...
go to http://www.fintalk.com/resources/chartserver/charts.html

You can also get the garmin chart plotter for coastal regions.Looks like there about 450.00. worth it, if your going to fish alot.

House wise I'd defiantly go with a bay/canal house. Sea isle is my favorite. And Id go through the pass as well. I don't like going through the port of Galveston and out by the jetties because of the big ships going through

The pass changes a lot. That's why I wrote that you should key off the boats fishing the bridge and the surf fishermen on your left.

Yea, I was talking to my father-in-law who ran the pass to offshore waters for many years and he said the same thing about the pass changing frequently. His advice was to do like he did and chart the channel with a bayboat every few weeks during the prime fishing months or especially after a storm. Use these coordinates and visual cues like you have suggested to run the pass. I will definitely use his expertise when I start this endeavor. Thanks


PathGuy