Not a pier rat but think I might give it a try.
Is it mostly typical bottom fishing for whatever bites?
Wonder if gotcha jigs, swim baits, or spoons might catch some trout or mackerel?

Bring ya some wire leader for smaks.....and try some "Spec Rigs" for trout

Free line live shrimp

Croakers work well also

Decent info as I'll be on Galveston Pier Saturday morning!! Still trying to catch my first saltwater fish!!

Let us know how it is Saturday. I won't be there till Monday.
Love Florida pier fishing. Not sure about he sandy shallow upper coast of Texas.
I think the pier has a 3 rod 10' limit and carts are ok.

yeah you can fish all manner of ways. From Cut bait with circle hook for reds, jacks, and sharks, to using all manner of lures and live for trout. if you're going at day break I'd probably throw a topwater first thing. Might even be a better plan to get their around 4am and work the lights with a small 3-4 inch lipped jerkbait like a yo zuri crystal minnow or something close. fish it erratically and it will draw a strike. Then fish topwaters at daylight for a while. All this can be done while you also soak come cut mullet, but at the same time you want to move around the pier and fish the lights and edges of lights for trout. Fish for trout early and then chunk cut bait .

have fun.

I fished the 61st St Pier about 3 weeks ago and was very pleasantly surprised at the variety. I caught a hog of a bull red, lost a big jack crevalle, and saw a couple more big jacks/reds hooked and lost. Saw sharks caught, a couple of smacks, lots of croaker and oddly enough only a couple of hardheads. Like the fella above said, lots of different techniques being used. And LOTS of mullet around. Always seems better early in the AM. Definitely bring a couple of rods. One stout rig for reds/sharks/jacks and something lighter for throwing hardware at the smacks or ripping lures through the mullet schools. When the water is right, it's a heckuva good time. Oh, and if you have a drop net bring it. They have one at the pier office, but if someone else has it, you might have to wait.

Good luck to ya!

Matt

I fished gfp about 4 times last week and the best time for specks was at night under the lights. During the day they were doing well with live shrimp under a cork about 3ft. Use the same rig for smacks but use a steel leader. Hopefully I can get back down there another few times this week.