Birds working. Photo by Kelly Groce.
The start of our summertime coastal fishing
By Capt. Joe Kent
While not the official start of our summertime fishing season, Memorial Day Weekend often offers excellent conditions for both inshore and offshore fishing. For many anglers it is their first run of the year to offshore waters.
Others focus on the jetties and bays, with all areas capable of producing some nice fish.
Most years, the water temperature has reached the 80-degree mark and, while not as warm as in the mid-summer range of July through mid-September, it is at the point when all of our summertime fish are around.
The bay waters are not so warm as to keep trout and other fish that are sensitive to dissolved oxygen levels, in deep water. This means that wade fishing the shorelines continues to be a viable option for catching trout, reds and other fish.
During May, the jetties begin turning on with trout activity and other fish join the prized specks in feeding up and down the rocks. May through August is prime time around the collection of granite rocks known as the North and South Jetties and many locals add still another designation, that being the Bolivar Jetties for the North and the Galveston Jetties for the South.
Regardless of which designation you use, Memorial Day Weekend is a great time to fish them.
Bird action in both East and West Bays will continue until the waters warm to the point that the fish go deeper. Normally that does not take place until late June or early July.
Polly Kent with Joe Kent’s 48 pound ‘smoker kingfish’ in 1972.
Memorial Day Weekend is a Holiday Weekend that I always have looked to as the time to head offshore, conditions permitting. My first Memorial Day trip was in 1972 and what a trip it was. King mackerel were thick beginning about 10 miles south of the Galveston or South Jetty. Before that I had made an offshore trip in my boat only four or five times over the previous years.
A learning experience it was. One of the largest kings I have ever caught was landed that day. It was a real “smoker” that weighed 48 pounds on the unofficial scales at Wilson’s South Jetty Bait Camp.
Wayne Tucker, operator of the bait camp, said the king was one of the largest he had seen.
For years thereafter Memorial Day Weekend was set aside for offshore fishing and the percentage of times we were able to make it beyond the jetties was higher than normal for offshore trips.
Some of the largest pelagic fish which include kings, ling, sharks and Dorado make it to the shallower offshore waters during May and early June, with Memorial Day right in the middle of that timeframe.
Besides good fishing and statistically good weather, the Memorial Day Weekend does not normally have the intense heat we experience later in the summer. One advantage of fishing offshore during this time is that the crowds are much lighter than for inshore fishing.
While inshore fishing is in its prime, the weekend is one of the busiest on the water. Normally, that does not bode well for fishing and one way to escape the heavy concentrations of boats is to head out from the jetties and enjoy the offshore.
Don’t forget the sunscreen, as the sun is intense, and that warmth of the season along with good fishing and crabbing, make Memorial Day Weekend a very special time of year.
Keep up with Joe Kent’s daily fishing report here.
