Wife gave me and my boy, 5 years old, a fishing trip of our choosing for Christmas. Looking for recommendations on what, where, who, and when. (What to fish for, where to go, who with…guide, and when to book it for. )

I would love to get him on some specs, but he wants to catch a shark so bad he can taste it. Main thing is it needs to be set up for easy fishing with a kid friendly guide. I'm located near the trinity bay complex. Wouldn't mind making a trip anywhere from Sabine down to Matagorda…or stay local.

Also, when? Spring fishing is tough with the windy conditions. Always seems to get so damn hot by the time winds start to lay down. Kinda got June in mind, but could be convinced otherwise.

Any suggestions?

Glenn Ging is very kid friendly.

https://www.glennsguideservice.com/

Keith Gregory out of POC put our family on fish - (361) 220-1658. Kid friendly. Threw shrimp on diamond weight rigs. Hit the jetties in the dark and caught a good number of reds. Then came into the jetties and caught all sorts of species - mangrove snapper, specs, hardhead of course, a gaftop. Good trip for kids , fish right out of the boat, Keith rigs baits and throws the lines out. We went in the fall but he'd put you on fish year round.

With a 5 yr old I might suggest you split your wife's gift into two half day trips. Full day is a long time in the water for his age if the fishing is slow, he gets seasick, etc. and give him some kids Dramamine even if it makes him a little sleepy. Trust me on this. And the bonus of 2 half days is you get two trips out of one!

Thanks for the advice. My boys nickname is Boogs. Lol.

bullsprig01 said:

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Thanks for the advice. My boys nickname is Boogs. Lol.

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Been doing fishing trips with Keith for 15+ years, so he has my recommendation as well.

Half day trip would be perfect and he's great with kids. Started taking my boys out twice a year with him at 5y/o and have a blast. If it's rough he has some real sheltered places to go and make a calm trip of it.

Sprig…
I have a "real" job, but I'm also a part time guide and run a few trips a month out of Hackberry. I LOVE taking kids and/or people with not much experience fishing. I was fortunate enough to have a father and uncles who exposed me hunting and fishing at an early age. So, I firmly believe it will always be my responsibility to "give back" by doing a few of these kind of trips a year for free.

Obviously everything is weather dependent, but I'd suggest taking a trip in early June. The weather should start stabilizing by then and the water should be warm enough where we start seeing some sharks around the jetties. Hackberry area is great because we have a lot of protected water if it's really windy and house rentals right on the water so you can take multiple short trips a day and give the kids some breaks.

If you're interested, just send me an email and we can set something up…. Nkrivjansky@aggienetwork.com

Lots of great advice above. Certainly target mid may to early june.
I will suggest one thing. Even though the kids says he wants to go catch a shark since he's only 5 years old I wouldn't put much focus on getting sharks. The reason is the minute you hook one he's not going to be able to hold the pole or reel it in. I Target anything of small size and just focus on getting him hooked up constantly. Heck even a nice trout or redfish will certainly wear him out. Not to mention medium to large gafftops
Then you also might have the added experience for him of watching fish get clean and then taking home for dinner

Hackberry LA?

If so we fish out of Spicer Hughes often. It's a great place to fish and I'd recommend it. Tons of fish

This isn't a coastal fishing trip, but if you were up for a road trip, matt baur in Crawford is a heck of a striper guide on lake Whitney. And very good with kids.

Bump

Really appreciate all the great replies so far. Would love to hear more.

CS78 said:

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Glenn Ging is very kid friendly.

https://www.glennsguideservice.com/

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Ditto on Glenn Ging. Your son & you will have a blast.
If you go in the summer, very easy to find sharks in West Matagorda Bay.
Along with trout and reds.

FYI- his daughter is an Aggie, she was in the Corps.
His son was accepted to A&M starting this year.

Another Keith Gregory fan here. And definitely a half day but he will tell you that when you tell him how old your kid is. I've heard his brother is also just as good. Very patient with kids.

I always put in a reference for Nathan Gray, but especially when you want to take kids or first timers. Him and his wife are good friends of ours and one of his passions are getting kids and their families on the water. He's local to the Trinity Bay area, but he fishes all areas from Baytown to Galveston.

713-299-4647