Last Friday night, a couple of friends and I went dock-walkin' down between Galveston and Surfside in the canals. We have a couple of family friends with houses down there, and we fish the lights of the ends of their docks, as well as off the docks of a few neighbors. For those of you without a boat and no quams about missing some sleep, this is a great way to scratch the saltwater itch.

It was a banner night. We caught fish steadily from about 12:45am all the way to 6am. The fishing was just too good to stop. We caught trout 12" to 18" all night, totally just shy of 40 between the 3 of us. We threw most back but kept a few of the bigger trout and one redfish, all of which tasted mighty nice on Saturday evening after a mixer with some bread crumbs and butter.

We took all of the fish with soft plastics fished high in the water column over the lights. Most of the lights that were producing held dozens of fish swarming in the light, in all shapes and sizes. It was pot-luck which fish you would get to bite each time. After you hooked up on one light, that light and any others off that particular dock would be done for a while. One dock in particular, though, kept reloading every 20 minutes or so. I took 4 keepers and several smaller trout off that dock during the course of the night. In fact, the biggest fish of the night, a red that was right at 28" on the nose, and thick, came off that particular spot.

It was dumb luck hooking the big red. I could see well over 20 fish circling and swimming in and out of the farthest of 3 lights. Most were smaller, while 3-4 were bigger, with one fish standing out as the largest by far. As I brought my bait through the light, the biggest fish turned and inhaled it, much to my surprise and delight. After that, all I can say is thank Heaven above for PowerPro braid. I was fishing a medium action All-Star rod with an old-school Curado spooled with 20lb PowerPro braid. When I set the hook about 15 yards out, that big, cagey boy ran about 10 yards laterally, and then dove straight underneath the dock. There was nothing I could to stop him from installing himself among the posts. I couldn't tell how big he was at first, because he was wrapping me around the posts, and any fish feels big after he wraps you around a few 6" diameter posts. Applying steady pressure and bending my rod just shy of the breaking point, I managed to get him out from underneath after about 5 minutes seriously abrasive of tug-of-war. Immediately, he ran out into the canal, taking drag (which is set pretty tight) with him. At that point, I knew he was a much better fish than we are accustomed to taking on the docks. I kept the rod tip down and in the water most of the fight to avoid him jumping and throwing the hook. When I got him close, he turned on the surface and I finally got a good look at him. Normally, I just flip the fish onto the dock, but after glimpsing his size, I immediately took a belly-dive onto the wood. I got one hand under his gills and hefted him out. He was a beauty, thick all the way down and one big spot on each side of the tail. Best redfish I've taken in the canals by far.

We also saw 2 decent sized sharks. One swam right through one of the lights, giving us a nice profile. The other damn near splashed me when I was walking between docks and he took off in a geyser from 3ft of water at the very edge of the canal. There are reasons I don't swim in those canals...

I'll try to post a pic or 2 of the red if I get the chance later tonight. Like I said, this is great way to catch some specs and reds without getting wet or guzzling too much gas. It's not always this productive, but if you can get the presentation right, you can catch a lot of fish. And the strikes are fun to watch in the lights, as you can watch a shadow turn on your bait and engulf it.

Excellent post..

I should be ther later this month. I need pics to hold me off until them.....

Went again last weekend and had good luck. We didn't catch as many as 2 weekends ago, but we managed 8 keeper trout and 1 keepr red. Again, tasted great. Fish weren't as active this time around. Still plenty of fish in the lights, but only a few of our spots held fish that were aggressively feeding. Normally, 75% of the spots hold feeding fish. Last weekend, it was only about 50%. Still, had a blast and ended up having a nice fish dinner on Sunday.

Pics are coming soon. Probably tonight.

This really is one of the best ways to catch fish if you're landlocked. IF you're willing to be up late, that is.

Here are some pics from the last couple of trips. This is a little better than average for down on the docks, but the fishing should just get better as the summer winds down. September could be downright raucous down there. Enjoy.

Why, why, why did you have to post those pictures?!? Dammit, I hate you now Medicine Man...

Now I'm gonna have to get my saltwater gear ready, organize my tackle for days and days...until I finally get to find a way down there to do some dock fishin'!!! GREAT pics!!!

It's ok, I'll be back at A&M soon, and then the trip will be so much shorter!!!

Good place to be, A&M. I'm a former Aggie myself, now in Houston. The drive isn't bad at all from CS, but it's only 50 minutes door to door at night from Houston. I'm going again this weekend. Definitely Sunday night. Maybe tonight as well. It's tough to leave it alone when you know you're going to catch fish, and it's that close.

My buddy caught a big fish down there last weekend that I couldn't readily identify. I think it's a bluefish, but it was over 10lbs and I don't know if the blues get that big down here or back into waters that shallow and warm. I'll try and get pics of it from him. I know it wasn't a spec, not a sandy, not a red, not a gar, not a shark...

I have a stupid question....How can you be a former Aggie?
I've never heard of such myself.

By the way...super fish. My buddies are trying to talk me into going offshore with them next weekend one more time. We've had a good year but I haven't gotten to hit the bay at all.
Started a new job this week and it's pretty hectic. I'm gonna try to slip in a bull red trip in Mid-Sept.

Well, I'm lookin' forward to more pictures being posted, and maybe knocking on a few doors and asking for permission to fish from boat docks...;)

Well, we went and did it again last night. Had to drive through some nasty weather on I45 to get down there, but once we reached Galveston, it was eerily calm. We got down there relatively early, around 9:30pm, but the fish were already biting. My first light produced a nice ~18-19 inch trout. Second light had his twin. Caught mostly dinks after that. Had 2 good fish come undone right at the dock. All in all, we ended up keeping 7 nice specs. Threw a bunch back, mostly undersized but a few we just didn't want to clean.

Got into a huge school of sand trout at about 1:30am. Caught them steady for about half an hour until we decided to quit. Could've had a cooler full, but already had the specs by then.

Pics will be added, likely tonight.

medicine man where down there on the docks can i go ,used to know people who lived in pirates cove .They had those bright under water lights but they moved ,and there house is vacant might try that,would like to find a spot where i wont get shot.By the way nice fish!!!

Going to add just a couple more pics tonight. Got busy last night and couldn't do it. Part of the reason I was busy involved frying up those nice Specs! I tell you what, they sure taste great when they've never been frozen.

We tried a couple varieties. Seasoned cornmeal, Italian bread crumbs, just plain old seasoned flour. All of it was good. Put some vegetables on the grill and made some roasted rosemary potatoes. Man, it was good. Easily fed 6 people with a little leftover.

I love catching those fish, but man, it's almost more fun eating them not 24 hours later!

JohnE,

Pirate's Cove is a good spot. It's hard to say, because it really helps to have a friend down there. We're lucky in that we have a couple family friends (between the 3 of us that usually go) who have houses on the canals. Between those houses and a few neighbors, we stay busy. I'd be lying if I said we didn't walk out onto a few docs where people weren't home or where the houses were for sale, but it pays to stick to friendly territory. No felonious implications/ramifications in fishing lights where you know the folks who are home.

The other alternative is to get a kayak or johnboat/bass buster. You can fish whatever lights you want from the water.