Surf Fishing - Surfside/High Island

We’re thinking about going down in the next couple of days to fish the beach. Any updates on beach conditions? Sargassum? Action?

Appreciate it folks!

I was at Galveston last week. We stayed close to East Beach - far side of Galveston from where you are talking, but I can't imagine the beach conditions would be that different.

Sargassum was almost non existent. In a 100 yard stretch of beach you'd see maybe a half a dozen clumps washed up on shore. Never had any clumps stuck to lines. Did not see a single jellyfish the entire week, which was a pleasant first for me. Had a couple days of very strong rip current, and one day of rough surf, but overall it was very nice.

Note that this was a family beach trip, not a fishing trip. Basically I set out a surf rod while the family played on the beach. Only fished 3-4 hours a day, mostly in the afternoons or close to dusk. And usually we stay down close to Jamaica Beach, so this is the first time I've fished on the east end.

Bait in the surf was pretty spotty. Usually I've been very successful catching mullet and the odd shrimp in the cast net, but it was pretty tough last week. I had to drive 5 minutes away into some marshy areas to reliably catch bait. The good thing about that is that in the marshes I'd get a lot better variety than I've ever found in the surf. Ended up catching mullet, shrimp, perch and croaker.

We caught a lot more fish than we usually do. Not sure if it was due to the location or what. Son pulled in a 48" bull red, 5-6 blacktip sharks, a bonnet head shark, a keeper trout and a couple of small reds.

Fresh cracked crab was what caught the bull red. Several of the blacktips were in the first gut right off the shore line. Even caught one sniffing around the bait bucket in ankle deep water.

Thanks Coff. Exactly what I wanted to know. Ours will be more of a family day too, but I’ll have at least 2 long rods cast out, and we’ll throw bait/lures some as well. Not too worried about catching monsters, but constant action would be great for the family. Was it crowded at all? Did you go on a weekday or weekend? Sounds like you were over by the Sun Oil area. We would either go there, or surfside. I’ve caught more fish on the east end, but Surfside is our other go-to. Thanks again.