Hi, my name is Wil Spann and I live in Pensacola Florida. I have just taken a job in the Houston area. My wife and I will be moving to Humble (or some other town in the East Houston area) at the end of May. It might be a little while getting unpacked and settled before I get to fish any, but I look forward to checking this forum often and learning how you guys do it.
From what I understand, the offshore fishing is pretty similar to the FL upper gulf coast, but you guys might look at me funny for using nothing but spinning tackle inshore. Anyone who has any info about the Humble or League City areas, PLEASE get in touch with me soon and give me any advice, I've been to Houston once and I am completely oblivious to where I want/need to live.

Hello NB -

Welcome to Texas.

In between 20 year stints of living here in Corpus Christi I lived in Houston for about 20 years when I was transfered there by my company. I hated the thought of moving to the big city with lots of traffic but once there I loved it. Same goes for some others who are friends of mine.

First ..... Humble and League City may not be on completely opposite ends of the spectrum but they are close to that. Humble is a nice area that is north/northeast of Houston. Lots of tall pines and golf courses. League City is southeast of Houston and is much closer to the gulf than Humble. Other than that I don't know much about League City.

As far as gulf fishing goes out of Galveston and Freeport is concerned the fish we catch may be similar and the methods used to catch them are the same but the big factor is the weather and the water. Along the Texas coast the beaches and the water are not the same as you'll find in Florida, particularly Pensacola/Destin. We have a lot more wind than most areas of Florida and that means rougher, dirtier water. We have to pick our days.

Not until some time in July will you be able to plan trips in advance with a greater certainty of going. This weather usually lasts into September but tropical activity in between will create interruptions.

You didn't say if you owned your own boat or if you fish charters and party boats. If it's tuna you like there are several options. One of the best options is the Big "E" out of Freeport which offers multi-day trips that target Yellowfin Tuna. There's usually a mix of AJs, groupers, snapper (in season) and Blackfin Tuna also on these trips. They are having a 76 hour trip during the fourth of July that many of us are going on. It should be a blast. There are other party boats out of Galveston. If you trailer your own boat you may want to consider pulling it to or storing it somewhere near Freeport.

Spinning tackle is common inshore here. Inshore we catch a lot of Kings, Dorado, Bonito, Spanish Mackerel, Ling (aka Cobia in Florida ) and some folks target Tarpon. There is the rare Tripletail too. Further out we catch the tuna, Wahoo and AJs. Even further guys go for billfish.

For what it's worth a very close friend of mine moved to Pensacola several years ago and he still swears the fishing is better here than there but that may just be him .... I dunno.

Hope your move goes well. You'll meet lots of fishing friends right here.

thanks a ton! i might have to talk my wife into letting me drop the cash on that 76 hour. if for no other reason than to meet some of you guys here on this forum!
i dont own a boat. i have always fished piers and other people's boats. i deckhanded on charter boats and private boats for a few years, that was most of my offshore fishing. i am not picky, i just want to get on some fish once i get there, whether from shore, bumming a ride and chipping in for fuel, or hopping on a party boat. if it's fishy, i enjoy it!
i have also heard that the inshore fishing in galveston is FAR better than what we have here in pensacola. pier fishing seems like it will be a drastic change though. with almost always clear water here, 99% of our cobia fishing is by sight. 80% king mackerel fishing is by sight (the other 20 percent you're throwing baits blindly and still get to watch them eat!) and texas beaches and water seem like they are considerably "browner" which is fine, it will just take me some getting used to.
i think i am most excited about floundering. the past 3-5 years have been overcrowded and produced less and less fish here in pensacola and if the rumors i heard are correct, texas gigging is a WHOLE different world (for the better). that is why i am thinking of checking out league city. it will get us closer to the bay and inshore fishing. humble seems like a great area (and my wife is already in love with it) but it feels like a pretty good drive to get to some salty fish.
thanks for your info! maybe sometime i can get down to corpus and fish with you. my brother is in kingsville (navy pilot) so visiting him will put me closer to corpus. maybe we can wet a line together!

Welcome to Texas! Now, having said that, I lived in or near Houston for quite few years and I would suggest living as close to your workplace as possible. The drivers in Houston are possibly the worst drivers on the planet. I believe it is just due to there being so many people there, Houston in MHO, is just not the city it once was, It is to big for that anymore, alot of people from all over have moved into that area(no offense nb&wil).
Depending on where you move to there will be ample places for you to fish from, it just might take a while to get there. As far as gigging for flounder? You will have to get further south than any Galveston Bay system to have any success. Christmas bay might be the northernmost bay to do it in. Without any significant seagrass beds, the water just doesnt clear up enough to find them, as far as I know of. There might be someone out there who knows of a good area to gig in Galveston Bays. Rockport/Corpus Christie area would be good gigging.
Will

BTW, I lived on both the south side(Clear Lake,Webster, League City, Texas City) and west side of Houston and have friends who live on the northwest side. Without a doubt I would live on the south side if I had a choice, but that depends on where you will be working! As I stated before traffic is a big consideration.

I moved to an area called Clear Lake Shores which is less than a mile from Kemah and adjacent to League City. I have fished off the docks here in Clear Lake with success for Specks and Redfish (mixed with a ton of hardheads, croakers and sand trout).

I agree , the south side of Clear Lake is far nicer than the North side. If you work out of your house and don't have to travel for work, stay near the water. If you are going to work near downtown, both Humble and League City will cause you major commute times, so why not come home to the water? To me the League City, Kemah, Clear Lake Area has a Key West kind of vibe going on. Lots of little dives/hole in the walls with great food, drinks and atmosphere. You get nice breezes down here as well, which you don't get inland like in Humble.