Anglers wrestle in 'stampeding' bull redfish

By Vince Stiglich Jr.
Correspondent

Published September 20, 2003

In all the years that I�ve been involved in Reel Report and fishing on Galveston Island, I�ve never seen or heard of anything even close to what occurred on the beachfront late Thursday and Friday morning.

For lack of a better word, it was phenomenal, pure and simple.

According to reports from both the Galveston Fishing Pier and the 61st Street Pier, anglers not only reeled in enormous numbers of bull redfish, but to hear Adolf Schulz talk about it, the Upper Texas Coast experienced what can only be referred to as a reincarnation of redfish activity.

It was that good.

No, it was better than good.

The Galveston Pier owner said that beginning at about 7 p.m. Thursday night, fishermen who were fortunate enough to be on hand started reeling in bull redfish in parade fashion. Unlike most times when fishing is good, there was no respite in the action. In other words, there was no rest for the weary Thursday.

In fact, what occurred Thursday night had anglers counting their blessings, and I do mean counting.

�It was so fantastic that the moment bait hit the water all a fisherman had to do was count to five and a bull redfish was on the line,� an elated Schulz said of the non-stop, pulse-pounding action. �In all, I�d say we had between 600 to 700 bull redfish caught.�

Not only that, but anglers who managed to stuff themselves in a small spot on the east side of the pier�s T-head probably caught in the neighborhood of 250 to 350 bull reds themselves.

As awesome as the redfish action was, the Galveston Pier wasn�t the only top-of-the-line spot to offer such incredible results. Lisa Baker of the high-flying 61st Street Pier said that a good 250 to 300 bull redfish found their way to the pier�s deck. One angler reeled in (and released) 39 of the big bulls all by himself.

Both piers said that most of the fish went for fresh shad, but in the long run it really didn�t matter.

�If you ran out of fresh shad, frozen shad or mullet worked just as well,� Schulz noted.

In addition to all of that, if big bull redfish weren�t you cup of tea, you could quench your thirst for results by vying for one of the countless �unusually large� Spanish mackerel that were on hand. Or better yet, flounder that ranged to a solid 4 � to 5 pounds.

And, where speckled trout were concerned, they were in the vicinity too, with one or two tipping the scales to about 6 pounds.

Armed with information such as, I know where you will be later today or this evening.

To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Stiglich at (409) 683-5273. There�s no charge for this service.


[This message has been edited by Ranger R (edited 09-20-2003).]

Because Too hasn't posted for a couple of days, I bet he's in there!