We are going to Galveston and got a house for a week again. This year we are trying something different . Instead of a beach front house we got one on the bay side . Back at the end across from Jamaica Beach in the neighborhood that has the cool marina and restaurant . I think that the water is pretty shallow from what a friend told me and it has a nice pier and boat slip . What is the best bait ? We usually get squid and shrimp .

Cast net mullet. Always a winner for Redfish, Trout and Flounder.

Due to the HIGH SouthEast winds for the last few days, we are under a coastal flood watch. High winds push the water up in the bays, sometimes flooding streets. You didn't mention when you were coming so I thought you may want to know what's happening. The cost of bait is up. Can't say what dead bait costs, but here by the Dike...live shrimp WAS or still may be $20 a qt. $11.50 a pint. X2 on a cast net. 6'

Going to be there June the 28th and stay a week . Friend just told me to use a 3 inch grub worm . Forget the brand but the one he talked about is made out of fish guts . Also said this area was hot when the tide is low .

Thanks for the response . usually bring my Abu Garcia 5500 reals to surf fish and was wondering since we would maybe use the worms to cast a lot , maybe bring my bass reals . Also Abu Garcia's . Guess if I rinse them off every day the would be OK in the salt water ??

Here is the location of the house .

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p723587vb?noDates=true

3" Gulp Shrimp....(color) New Penny or New Penny w/ Chart. tail. for soft plastic baits
Bring that cast net for those finger mullet

I�ll be up the road from there that same week with my family. Glad to see I�m not the only one looking for the same information.

There have been big arguments about rinse vs. not rinse on this forum, and I see both sides. Don't rinse because even fresh water will penetrate your gears and cause corrosion. But rinse because salt water will corrode even on the outside. We do an annual trip to Galveston, and I've used my bass gear about 5 times down there. So here is what I started doing that works so far - wipe. Oil and grease your reels prior to the trip. Then wipe down the reels with a damp rag every time you quit fishing. The only exception I take on this is when I am wading and a reel gets heavily splashed or dunked by a wave. Then I will give it a full dunking in a bucket of freshwater and soap it up, and re-oil it after it dries.

Don't forget the rest of your gear too. Bring along a ziplock with a small bottle of dish soap and a sponge. After each evening of fishing, soap up the entire rod and especially the eyelets and then rinse them off. Don't forget any lures you used need to be tossed into a bucket of soapy water and shake them around a little as well. Can't tell you how many lures and flies have been rendered useless because I left them in my box overnight. Do this daily because if saltwater is going to corrode a metal, it doesn't take long at all.

I keep pretty strict with the steps above, even with my "saltwater" rods/reels and fly gear. My reels are still functioning after 5 years of this, so I think it works pretty well.

Wade that area to the west of you. There are some deep holes in there (4-6 ft depending on the tide) so be careful and maybe wear a life jacket since the area is new. Consult the satellite pics and you can recognize some of the deeper areas.
Chunk any straight or paddle tail of your choice. Good luck. Oh, BTW...clean your gear after each trip.

+1 for cleaning every trip. I've never had a reel rust from fresh water. Seen a bunch of them do it after one trip to the salt. Been using Ambassadeur levelwinds in the salt since the sixties.