Heading down to Galveston this weekend with the family, never fished saltwater before. Anyone know any areas where I can catch a variety of species? Size doesn't matter!

A lot of folks fish off Texas City Dike and the jetties at the boat cut. But I have never fish either place. We are going also this weekend. My wife said we have some kind of fishing dock to fish off. We will see.

The Dike is a nice place to visit and fish.

www.texas-city-tx.org/page/rec.dike

You can fish the surf right from the beach. You can go to TX City Dike, or Seawolf park, or SLP. You can walk out on the ship channel jetties, or the small jetties along the beach. There are two public fishing piers. Any of these places can be great fishing and you never know what you'll catch.

The question you need to address is whether you are going to commit several hours or a day to fishing, or do you just want to wet a line while the kids play on the beach. Stuff like the dyke, or seawolf park are a 30-45 minute drive, depending on where you are staying.

Fishing is almost always an all-day affair for me! Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

That being the case, my favorite spot to spend a day is wading the flats on the northeast side of the San Louis Pass. There is a huge area you can walk out through the grass flats, never getting any more than knee or waist deep. It is almost a mile long, and you can get as much as 500 yards from shore before you get into a channel you cannot wade through. You can expect to catch trout, reds and flounder, as well as the occasional sheepshead and small shark.

You are pretty isolated out there though, so make sure you have plenty of water and pack a lunch if you need to. Also search up some of the wading recommendations that can be found on this forum. NEVER try to swim a channel out there. The current is stronger than you realize and you can get yourself in trouble real quick.

Now if you bring a kayak or boat, that will open up a lot more potential spots. But that is among my favorites for a walk-in.

Last summer my son and I had a great time catching some reds and a couple of sharks surf fishing.. waded out chest deep and casted as far as I could. Bring a cast net and try to catch some mullet for bait. Good luck!

What is a good bait or lure to use to catch fish from the shore at Galveston?

Came here to post this exact question. Going at the end of the month.

If you want to cast out into the surf and leave it in a rod holder, then you can use any type of live or cut bait. Shrimp, mullet and cracked crabs are all good. You can catch all in a cast net, or buy it from several bait shops.

My favorite artificial in the surf is a zara spook or other walk-the-dog type of top water lure. Something you can cast a mile when you see birds diving into the surf.