I am taking a few buddies down to san luis pass this weekend for a little wade fishing on the bay side. Anybody got any suggestions on what live bait is working best right now or which way to start our walk out from the bridge area. This is my first trip there and not too sure where to go

Mr. G,

I fish the area quite a bit, but rarely with live bait. I know piggy perch and croaker can produce some large fish (trout and reds). As far as a place, I fish Christmas more than the actual pass. There are several dirt roads west of the pass along Blue Water Highway that go towards the bay. If you go a couple of miles toward Surfside down blue water you could try and fish some of the guts. I will warn you that you may have to wade a ways to get to the guts and the mosquitoes are fierce before you get in the water. If you want to try artificial topwaters early and late and then soft plastics with a jig head. You could try fishing cold pass also, but it can get crowded.

Thanks for the reply. I too prefer plastics but with the out of towners coming I thought they may catch more fish on live bait. As far as fishing christmas are you talking about near churchill bayou around the islands and guts that separate them. I dont mind a long wade or mosquitoes if I can get on some good fish. What color plastics seem to do the best job.

I agree, Christmas is a good bet, also try cold pass nice hard sand and you can get there right after the Yellow houses (on stilts) Cold Pass makes a dog leg right and the trout stay in the deep gut. Red and white always works well for me. Also use a penny 3� gulp

Last time I went down there 1 month ago there was not any live bait, so buy it on the way, before you get to the INTER-COSTAL BRIDGE

Further down bluewater is really Bastrop and not Christmas. I have never really fished the area around Churchill except in Cold Pass. Lexus gave you some good advice. I agree on the color of the plastics. Also, if the surf is calm, fish the second and third guts just west of SLP.

Also, the Brite Light is open at Treasure Island. I assume they have their bait up and going too.

Great Info Guys. I definately will see if I can find the Yellow house on stilts about daylight in the morning. I have never fished the surf before so Im not too sure how it works. The only people I see have those huge rods and are sitting along the shore fishing. Can you wade fish the surf if so how deep is the 2nd and 3rd guts dont really want to swim just fish.

I thought that you were fishing the Bay side?? Surf fishing is a whole differant beast

I would only fish the surf if it is calm. You can catch them on topwater, soft plastics, and swim baits. If it looks like you would not want to stand out there and fish then go the bay. I only fish the surf for trout and reds, so that is what my advice is geared toward. You can catch a ton of other stuff using different methods, but I don't fish that way so I won't offer you any advice. Also, I use the same setup as I use for the bay, just maybe not my favorite reel because I often baptize it. The second gut is only waist deep and the third is just below your chest (low-tide). It could vary a little bit. Usually stand on the sand bar and cast into the guts.

By the way wade fishing by the Bridge is very dangerous, watch out for the rip currents. I have seen people wade fish on the north side of the bridge, but have never seen them catch anything. Look on Google earth, follow the water from the bridge to the bay, move to the left (west) into cold pass, when it takes a hard right to the north look to the SOUTH that is where I would wade fish.

Hope that helps then you can see where to park and walk to the water

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um...ge&resnum=1

click on �B� and zoom in you will see what I am talking about

Thanks Guys maybe I can post some good pics tomorrow night. I will report how it was

PICS ??????????

Mr. G - How did it go? I ended up driving down early Saturday morning and fishing Christmass, Cold Pass, and the Bay near SLP. Two of us caught 4 trout, 1 red, and 2 flounder. Those were the legal fish, caught some undersized trout and a red. The water is kind of dirty and the surf was really dirty. It was a calm day, but I think the water from the surf was causing the bay to dirty up. We had a good tide and a ton of bait around, but could never really get into the fish.