Considering a vacation in the Pointe West area in mid-summer, but haven't ever been to that end of the island. Group of 5 families with a bunch of kids in the 10-16 age range and surf/shore/dock fishing options are an important consideration. Any opinions or recommendations on the west end generally, and fishing specifically are appreciated.

Fish the surf if it's calm with live or dead shrimp. If it's rough surf, your options are limited. Very few walk in spots out there. You can fish the bay side of the state park with paid admission I think.

Sargassum comes and goes. Last couple of years its been bad, but when it is light and conditions are calm the surf can be incredibly productive.

Sportsmans Rd does not have parking anymore. The house owners put a stop to it due to all the trash. Good luck parking there without getting towed.

You can still park at Sportsman Rd. You just can't park in the little turnaround at the far western end. You've got to go up the road a little and pull off to the side.

If you're staying at Pointe West there's a few really good walk-in sites nearby. See below. You can walk in off the back side of Pointe West and it's good hard sand bottom for easy wading. And there's a solid amount of grass these days.

The gut on the backside of the pass is often overlooked but it gets about 4' deep at it's deepest and maybe 100' wide at the most. I've caught limits of trout in there with my truck parked 50 feet away. But be careful driving the trails there are washouts that look like mere puddles but can damn near swallow a truck.



And don't get too excited about my map, I'm not giving away any secret spots here. This is a good area that everybody and their mother knows about.



[This message has been edited by Finn Maccumhail (edited 3/18/2014 11:18a).]

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Sportsmans Rd does not have parking anymore. The house owners put a stop to it due to all the white trash and mexicans that cannot seem to figure out how to pack it it, pack it out.

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Seriously, you can still park on Sportsman. You've just got to park on the side opposite the houses. The marsh side.

This is from a friend who fished there this past week.

If you do decide to wade fish near the San Luis Pass, be very very careful. The current can be very strong.

There are several drownings every year.

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Truth but if you stay N/NE of the very western end of the gut I marked you'll be pretty safe.

If you want to get to the flat on the other side of the island north of that gut you can wade along the western edge and be on firm sand and pretty mild currents. Get onto the edge where the sand bar drops off into the channel and it can get dicey.

Thanks to all for your replies and warnings. Unfortunately, my family witnessed 2 kids drown in the surf on the East end of the island a couple of years ago, so that's a good reminder to be careful.

Finn - map was incredibly helpful, you're the man! The houses we're considering are right between those grass flats and would be easy access.

Drown in the surf? Wow. Couldn't swim I guess? Lots of poeple wade, and when they drop into a gut or hit a current, they discover they're weak swimmers.


Fortunately, when I was a kid, I could swim like a fish. I can't imagine not being able to swim my way out of trouble.

FYI- those grass flats are often only ankle-deep for about 75 yards out from the shoreline. If you've got a rising tide early you'll find reds working the grass and then hanging in the drop-off (only down to about 2' deep) on a falling tide catching bait washing out of the grass.

It's an easy wading bottom too.