Hey guys...

I've been lurking on the forum for a little over a week and decided to take the time and register.

My name is Scott and I moved to Houston a couple of months ago from Minneapolis. I'm not completely new to in-shore fishing as I was originally born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. Its been a while though. In Minnesota, I fished for primarily bass, muskie and other freshwater game fish. I guess the questions I have are more so 'how' and 'where' than anything else...?

I'm currently living in Houston in the Spring/Tomball area and I've not even had the chance to go freshwater fishing... much less do anything in-shore. Here are my questions...

1.) Since coming from Minnesota, obviously, the rig I have isn't exactly ideal for saltwater use... I have a 7'0" MH rod with a Quantum Energy Pti reel spooled with fairly heavy duty Fireline. It's the best combo I've got in my arsenal and the only one I've got the most confidence in but do I run the risk of damaging my reel if I used it for saltwater use? Secondly, is a braided line like Fireline at all effective for saltwater in-shore use? Or am I better off with something else?

2.) For those of you that live in the Houston area, where in the world do you go in-shore fishing?? I did a Google search last night for "Texas Shore Fishing" and I'm stumped... all things point to Galveston but what about the bay that is further inland? I noticed on a map I found there is a city called Seabrook and others along a bay a bit more inland. Are there are spots to fish in that area without me trucking it down to Galveston?

I'm not a *huge* fan of pier fishing. The sight of hundreds of people on a pier casting the same stuff in a fan formation just isn't appealing to me.

I guess with that said, what areas are effective for wading or just normal "beach" fishing? Any??

3.) Coming from Minnesota and tackling bass and muskie and walleye and fish like that, I'm normally an artificial-kinda guy. Is there anything working that can be using while wading that is artificial? I have quite a bit of different sized spoons, plugs and topwater baits and I'm wondering if these might work?

4.) Are there any kind of forum get togethers that you guys have? Meet-ups where everyone goes fishing together or takes a newbie out? Or is it every man, woman and child for his or herself? :p

5.) Lastly, I'm just wondering what fish typically caught are the best eating? I've read quite a few posts on the board thus far from a few of you who seem to fancy the black tip shark? Are you guys serious? I can't tell who's being facetious or otherwise. Haha. I know snapper is regularly caught and I know a few of you keep making a lot of fuss over thess bull reds? Or red bulls? No, that's a caffeinated beverage. When I was a teenager fishing the seawall in Hilo, we typically caught pa'pio or u'lua... these are also commonly known as the Jack Crevalle (sp?) These are phenomenal eating, IMO. I love snapper, as well. What else are you guys catching and placing on your dinner tables at home?

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy first post...

Welcome to the forum Scott.
Look up "Leonardo's fishing report" in this section and shoot him an email. He fishes Seabrook and I bet he would help you out. A little closer than going to Galveston.
My suggestion is to get a hooknline wade fishing map of the area you want to fish. MAP
Then I would hang out at all the baitshops and fish cleaning stations and chat with all the locals and get as much information as I could. Most folks are pretty good about sharing info if you are nice about it. Go out and see what others are doing. Nothing better than actually seeing it done.
Once you figure out what species you want to fish for you can start fine tuning your gear.
Most good tackle will hold up in saltwater just remember to rinse well, lubricate often and keep it out of the sand.
You will really enjoy fishing around the Texas coast and can do so all year long.
Speckled trout, redfish and flounder, among many others, are some of the best eating and are a blast to pursue. The first time your topwater bait gets smashed as you wade along a quiet, grassy shoreline at sunrise....you will be hooked for life.

Welcome to the finest state in the country.

Thanks, Robsco!!

being only able to fish piers i made this, give it a shot anf follow the info in the red box on how to do the links.

http://www.terry-g.net/fishing/

Terry - what a great resource!! Thanks!!

shufle your feet and go slow if your going to be wade fishing, you dont wanna get hit by a sting ray. I saw 6 this morning and my friend saw 10-15 of them. I caught 2 by sight casting to them, you may be wondering why i would do sometihing that stupid, but they make awsome shark bait .

hey scott.
you can also try www.thelivewell.com they have a bunch of folks who wade the Kemaha area and could help you out.
1. buy some reel scrubber and clean it well after each use and braid will work but you might want to liten up to 8-14lb. test.
2.Kemaha (see above)
3.yes trout, redfish, flounder can all be caught on arti's.
4.see the Partner finder section here at Texas f
Fishing Fourm.
5.Shark is good to eat and bullreds put up a great fight, for the table most target trout, redfish & flounder but many others are good to eat also whitting, croker, sheepshead, black drum,gafftop catfish, most of the that you will catchcan be eaten if they are big enough to clean. Most will not mess hardhead cats and the dogfish and a few others are not good to eat.

Also:
www.fishcoastaltexas.com/forums
www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum

Thanks, you guys!! Wow... I had no idea there were so many forums for Texas.

heheh about 3 forums per fish i think.