Jumped in the truck after work and high-tailed it down to Galveston with a buddy in search of some redfish.

We were on the water and paddling by 6:15 pm. The water was in decent shape but still a little off-colored from all that W/SW wind we had last weekend. I knew we would very likely encounter some heavy grass so I decided to go with a Texas rig. I was using a 3/16 oz. tungsten mega-bite weight with a 2/0 EWG Gamakatsu worm hook. My choice of plastic was a Texas Tackle Factory killer flats minnow in a color I call "peanut butter & jelly." Not sure exactly what TTF calls it. :p It's got a brown back with a plum belly and blue flake. You can see it in one of the pictures below.

We paddled along a grassy shoreline and I made a long cast up near the grass and started my retrieve back. Before I know it I get that signature "thump" and my line starts slowly swimming towards me. I sweep back and it's go time. After a few minutes I brought a 6 spotted 22" red into the kayak. Sorry for the bad photo but when you hook up on your first cast you have a tendency to get in a hurry when taking pictures.



As I lower my red into the water for release my buddy hooks up. I hear him say, "This is a trout!" Right about that time the trout comes unbuttonned.

We basically stuck to the pattern of fishing the shorelines and islands and were keeping a sharp eye out for tails. My buddy hooks up on what he thinks is a red then gets it near the kayak and says, "It's a nice flounder!" Right about that time - boing! His line comes flying out of the water. Bye-bye fish. Deja vu? Flounder are stubborn little creatures and can often be coaxed to bite multiple times. Sure enough, he pitched back in the same spot and hooked up again! Can you guess what happenned? Yep, another lost fish.

Moving on down another shoreline I throw the flats minnow way up in the grass and drag it right to the edge of the water and plop it in. As soon as the Texas rig hit the water it got sucked up. Another red, this time right around 20". Yep, another pulled hook. It just wasn't his day.

I ended up catching a trout right around 16" and my buddy redeemed himself by landing a hefty 18" speck of his own. All my fish were caught on the Texas rigged flats minnow. My buddy got his fish on a paddletail of some sort but I'm not sure what it was. Threw topwaters a little but to no avail.

All in all, not bad for a little after work trip in the kayaks.

Good report. What general area were you fishing? I was down at San Luis Pass this past weekend and found a few trout. It was a bit windy for the yak, so we opted to fish the pier down there. It was somewhat crowded, but most everyone left by 11pm or so. I had a few larger rods set out with live croaker while I was working the lights with plastics, and they were never touched. I figured there would be an occasional red running the surf, but those baits soaked without any threat.

Justin,

Don't feel bad about having a hard time this past weekend. It was tough for EVERYBODY. I fished a tournament that had 85 anglers and only 15 of us weighed in fish. That SW wind killed everything. This weekend will be MUCH better with the light SE winds all week, high tides, and the new moon. I can't wait.

I would give you GPS coordinates if it were up to me but this spot belongs all to my buddy so I wouldn't feel right just spilling the beans.

We were on the south shoreline not far from 61st st. fishing areas less than 2' feet deep over hard sand and grass. 8 mile Rd. area but not right by the launch.

I gotcha Crankb8. It's just not right to give up a buddies honey hole. I have not fished 8 mile in quite sometime. I like that area. I sat in the yak one day and pulled out probably 10 reds in one spot. I have not had the chance for very many salt water trips this year, but that will change soon, as the summer is approaching. I was going to head down this weekend, but my buddy invited me to fish Lake Fork with him. I can't pass on that one.

Never pass on Fork!

Keep in touch and the next time you head down to the coast we'll hook up and go after some reds.