Okay, so I'm 34 and have never successfully fished on my own. I've gone with buddies who knew what they were doing but now I'm ready to try something myself. Yes, this is desperation but TexAgs knows everything - especially outdoors.

This is my 1st post on Outdoors, so take it easy!

I'd like some tips on where to fish, what bait to use, line weights and cork setups and any other tips to start catching some fish.

I've got a house on the West End of Galveston so I'd like to stay that direction if possible. Bay side or beach I'm open but I had the bay in mind at 1st thought.

This is a rod I bought but I'd get another if another is reccomended:
PENN Fierce II Combo Spinning Combos - Black/Red/Smoke - Boat - FRCII6000701MH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017X79MBK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.8nsybS7GHQST

Help! Go!

Odds are you'll be on foot getting started. You're going to want some waders if you want to start anytime in the next few months. Magellan (Academy) mag 2 breathables are good for the budget, you'll want to try some on in the store and then find some wading shoes that fit over the booties.

Learn at least one good knot (I prefer uni-knot) well enough you can tie it quickly without thinking. Practice at your desk, in front of the TV, or wherever until you can tie it by feel / muscle memory.


You already have some recs for wading in West Galv. There's plenty of fish in all the coves, it's just a matter of figuring out which ones you can access easily / legally. Ray Crawford has a kayak / wade fishing book that will knock down your learning curve.

Flounder run should be on with this good cold front. Seawolf Park is a hot spot. Slowly drag a gulp curly tail on the bottom.

Lots of fish down by SLP also (flounder run there too), but be careful with the quickly changing bottom and strong currents. I'm sure you've seen the drowning headlines, wade with a PFD in that area even if it's uncomfortable.

Here's some surf fishing tips I copied from a previous thread to supplement the info you're getting about bay.

I break surf fishing in to four general categories based on tackle, target species, and bait. There's no hard and fast rules with any kind of fishing, but this is what works for me.

1. Wading for sport fish (mostly trout). Often done with inshore tackle, throwing artificials or live shrimp under a popping cork. Some people throw live croaker when they're available also. This type of fishing is very popular on the upper coast in the Galveston/surfside area where the sandbars are wide and flat. Ideal conditions are flat and blue/green water. Most people do this in the summer, but the trout are there year round, they're just a little more lethargic in the winter (this means corky lure time).

2. Soaking smaller bait for bottom fish such as, whiting, black drum, sheepshead, and the occasional slot redfish. You may end up catching a bunch of hardheads doing this, but if they get too thick just relocate. Your bay rig can do double duty here, but a slightly heavier rod is nice to handle heavier weights. My favorite setup for this type of fishing is an 8' rod with a 3000 size reel. I use a cheap pre-made double drop rig (Walmart), 1/0 kahle hooks, and a 3 oz spider weight. For bait I like fishbites tipped with a half inch piece of peeled shrimp, sometimes they hit just the fishbites alone. I get whichever unfrozen shrimp from HEB seafood section is cheapest and keep it on ice. Frozen shrimp like you get at the baitstand will turn to mush in the surf and not stay on the hook. I usually put out 2 rods per person (use PVC pipe holders) and vary the distance from shore until we figure out how far out the fish are.

3. Soaking bait for bigger bottom fish like sharks, bull reds, and big uglies (large black drum). You can also do this with an inshore rig, but you're lobbing some pretty large weight and bait and have a good shot at getting spooled. The combo you bought would be good for this. I like a 10 ft rod and a 6000 size spinner or 6500 abu. For terminal tackle, I use 100 lb mono leaders, usually tied with a 3 way swivel (24" to barrel swivel to mainline, 18" to 7/0 circle hook, 24" to weight), and 5-8oz spider weights. For bait I use a 4"-8" chunk of either cut mullet, half crab, or cut whiting. The fresher the better, so any small croaker or whiting I catch on my lighter rigs (number 2 above) gets sent out as bait, as well as any large cast netted mullet. I'll send out smaller whole mullet live (3-5") but I've actually had better luck with the heads of larger cut mullet.

4. Soaking big baits for big sharks. You're looking at jet-ski or kayak deployed baits, 30 or 50 wide trolling reels, and probably a tower to do this effectively. Common baits are stingrays, jacks, huge mullet. Catching big sharks is a blast, but it can get expensive quickly. Not many people dive into fishing like this. I'd start somewhere else and get some experience first.

For both 2 and 3, you want to get your baits in the deepest part of the guts, because that's where the fish cruise to avoid getting thrashed around by the waves. Vary your bait placement until you start catching fish. Water clarity and wave action aren't really a big deal, fish will eat in nasty brown water with 5 ft waves, but it's a pain to get bait out and set.

The waves come up on a sand bar which pushes the water up, and makes it break. The breaking action digs out a trough (gut) in the sand bar. You can try and cast just in front of the breakers, or wade out until you get a feel for where the deep spots are.

Every beach is a little bit different. High island - Galveston beaches in general are slow sloping and pretty flat for a long ways out, say waist deep for the first few guts. As you move further south (Sargent Matagorda) the guts get a little deeper, maybe chest deep in the first few guts. Even further south, PINS SPI there are places where you cant touch the bottom in the second gut.

My only rec is if you haven't used that combo yet, return it and exchange it for the Battle II. I have both and the Battle II is so much smoother and worth the extra $30

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Lots of fish down by SLP also (flounder run there too), but be careful with the quickly changing bottom and strong currents. I'm sure you've seen the drowning headlines, wade with a PFD in that area even if it's uncomfortable.

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Just adding emphasis.

Also PFD if going to wade the surf wearing waders. There are typically 3 "bars" and guts off the beach--gets deeper, shallower, deeper, shallower, etc as you get farther from shore. You have a problem if you slip and/or a wave fills your waders and no PFD

I don't have anything to add other than I like this thread and feel like it's what the OB is really all about. Good luck to the OP.

TxFig said:

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If you have a house near there, my advice would be to join the 2Cool Fishing forum and find a bunch of fishing buddies (preferably those with boats). Trade staying in your house for fishing with them (and learning from them).

http://2coolfishing.com/forum/index.php

And invite me...

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So do you have a boat to trade? Or are you like Flash Seats where you hook people up and take a cut of the pie?

Premium said:

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Things are still cloudy on gulp and other artificial baits/lures... corks... hooks... line... weights. Just trying to fill out an Amazon wish list if anyone wants to give me links to actual products.

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You've mentioned baits vs lures a couple times. Here's my opinion on the two.

Bait Pros: will often out produce lures, less work to fish with it (less casting and reeling), more variety of fish will hit bait than lures
Bait Cons: a lot of work to catch (or buy), keep alive, lug around, keep cold (if dead), etc. Will most likely mean more "trash fish" like hardheads. Hard to cover a lot of water with bait.

Lures Pros: easy to buy, store, pack, and carry. You are constantly casting and reeling so you can cover a lot more water. New advances in scented lures can sometimes out fish bait (pro-cure scent or gulp lures). I think constantly working a lure is more engaging than casting out a bait and waiting, but it's not for everyone. Less likely to catch hardheads . Much easier to wade with lures than bait.
Lures Cons: requires more work to do the casting and reeling, you have to learn how to work some lures, less likely to catch some good eating fish like croaker, sheepshead, or black drum.

You don't have to commit to one way or another. A lot of people start with bait and then migrate to lures. As long as you're having fun and catching a fish every now and then who cares how you do it.


Some product recs and more info below. Mostly personal opinion so take it with a grain of salt. Note: quite a few of the lures and tackle are marked up on amazon when compared to academy.

Main line - Power Pro Braid is a common brand (Finn and Suffix are just as good if not better). 15-20 lb is plenty for the bay. I'd only go higher if you fishing in really thick oyster. Smaller diameter line will allow you to cast farther (I use 10 lb).

You can go with 10-12 lb mono instead of braid if you want. But I'd recommend braid.

Leader - Fluoro Leader is virtually invisible, low stretch, and very abrasion resistant. Again 20 lb is sufficient, go up to 30 or 40 if you are getting broken off.

Leader length and attaching to your line - a lot of people recommend tying about 6 ft of leader direct to your main line. I prefer using a small swivel tied to my main line, with about 12-18 inches of leader tied to that. Try both, see what works for you. Spro make a nice strong small swivel that doesn't catch a bunch of weeds.


Hooks - If you are fishing dead bait on the bottom with your pole in a holder, i'd use circle hooks. Gamakatsu 4/0s should pretty well cover you for bay species.

For live bait I like a Kahle (live croaker) hook

Corks - A popping cork can be a deadly tool in your tackle box. The popping noise sounds like fish feeding and causes other fish to come in and investigate. Usefull with bait underneath or an artificial lure.

Weights - consider some egg weights in assorted sizes to rig up a carolina rig for mullet / croaker / mud minnows on the bottom. Can be used for lures too.


Jig Heads / Jigs - Jig Heads are how we commonly fish plastics in TX. There are other ways to rig them (see carolina above, or weedless ala bass fishing), but a simple jig head is a good place to start. Get some assorted weights to start with (lighter for shallow water, heavier for deeper water).

Buggs jigs are pretty popular with the flounder and redfish sight casting crowd. They're like a jighead with some extra bling.

Plastics
Gulp scented lures are very popular for a reason. Their scent makes them kind of a hybrid between bait and lures. I'd reccomend Chartreuse curly tails and new penny shrimp to start with.

Another favorite plastic of mine is a wedge tail or paddle tail baitfish imitation. I like the tuxedo cocahoe for a mullet looking lure.

The spoon - One of my top 3 lures is a gold weedless spoon. Just cast and crank, its that simple. I'll often dress it up with a grub on the hook to give it a little more action.