I am in the process of trying to teach myself how to saltwater fish. Sometimes I go to the surf when the waves are pretty big and I catch nothing but hardheads. Sometimes I go and the surf is pretty flat with no wind and I catch all sorts of good stuff. I know the waves are supposed to be pretty flat in galveston this week but the wind is supposed to be pretty strong albeit from the north. Does this mean the water will hopefully be green and trout will be biting?

Green water is dependent on currents and wind. Often north winds will flatten the surf and push the waves down. If you get green water up to the beach I say fish it.

I never waste my time fishing the surf when it looks like angry chocolate milk. At least not for trout. You can catch some sharks in rough surf and some bigger black drum and reds.

As for hardheads, stop using small bait and don't fish muddy/dirty/brown water. That's where they thrive.

Get yourself a tide chart and watch the tides for the day. I've caught fish on both incoming and outgoing tides. Yes the water clarity makes a difference, usually when the water is choppy and brown I've caught hardheads, sometimes gafftof also. Sandy green to blue are the best for other species. Just do a search on techniques on this forum. There is a wealth of info here!
Rob

Here's a decent place to get tide info for the Texas coast. As Capt Rob implied, I've found a moving tide (in or out) create good conditions for catching fish in the surf.

http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/texassites.html

I try to look for relatively clear (as clear as they get on Galveston) and quiet waters to fish the surf when I'm serious about catching fish. Of course, since I also go when my kids want to boogie board in the surf, I have also learned to deal with the less desireable situations.

thanks for the info. also, is it to early to fish trout in the surf? I usually fish it in the summer and have heard that the bite isnt on in the surf until it gets warmer.

were suppose to have wind friday and saturday with a let up on sunday. with this front passing tonight, i think fish will be in the flats on sunday.
you want to wade the west bay flats, pm me.you will probably give up the surf...at least till hot summer.

well I went out this morning, my brother and I fished 8 mile beach with live shrimp, fresh dead shrimp, and cut mullet without a single bite, not even hard heads. The surf was really flat because of the north wind but it was also very murky. It was 52 degrees this morning with 30mph winds which made it somewhat miserable especially with the lack of fish. We even tried the bay side off sportsmans road for a little bit with no luck. Pretty disappointing day, I guess I just picked the wrong day.

When staying in my RV at the beach I'll poke my head and take a listen. If I can hear the roar of the surf then I just go back to bed. Surf fishing will suck and it'll be too rough to go offshore.

when i fish the galveston surf, i've found that color does matter but the main influence of good fishing. Flat seas is when it is best to fish the surf. I've caught good fish in green and dark water, but everytime its been flat.

I'm a montauk guy just getting used to fishing on the gulf but at least back east, we like a lot of white water (which may disorient the bait) and wind in your face (pushing bait fish closer to shore) but that may not be the case in TX. Just picked up a truck so i'll put my experience to the test soon.

Boston,
In general, you won't catch a whole lot if there's much white water in the Texas surf. A rough surf can be ok for shark sometimes. Not generally very good for trout and reds.

Conversely, I don't like the surf to be dead flat calm either. A mild to moderate surf has given me the best results. You will almost always have a SSE wind. Under 15 knots will be best.

First light and last light are usually the best times. But anytime the tide is running can produce fish.

There's a lot of subtleties in learning to read the surf and then successfully fish it. Only way to learn is get out there and do it.

Thanks for the reply Mike.

Regarding the jacks and king macs, when do they start showing up in the surf?

Back east, we also like the changing light conditions, but in all honestly, I always get my best fish at night. Is that common down here?

Thx.

We fish shark at night but not much else. You don't want to wade the surf at night. Too many toothy critters and stingrays.

Not many King Mackerel caught in the surf. They'll run near shore and every so often you'll hear of someone catching one in the surf. Spanish Mackerel would be more prevalent but they're still not real common. Again, mostly near shore. The end of long jetties will frequently yield Kings and Spanish Macks.

Jack Crevalle will run the beach fronts and are a hoot to catch but they're not really a frequent catch either.

I've caught more of them just offshore, outside the breakers. Frequently there's a color change in the deeper waters, several hundred yards offshore. You can catch a lot of fish on these color changes but you'll need to do it by boat.

that's tough man, i'm totally missing the huge striped bass run on the east coast, jacks and kings were my only salvation!

are there any larger fish in the surf that can be caught on lures?

If you want to speed up the learning curve then book a surf fishing trip with Capt. Billy Sandifer down Padre Island National Seashore (PINS). You'll learn a lot quick.

Most common surf species of GAME fish are trout and reds. You'll hear plenty of folks telling you to go after whiting. I regard them as a baitfish.

Florida Pompano are fun on ultralight tackle.

Jacks can be found schooling but you got to hunt for 'em.

Shark can be fun and challenging.