West Galveston Bay Winter Fishing Tactics

by Fishfinder AKA Tim

(Editor's note:   Fishfinder, AKA Tim, is a personal friend and I can vouch for his amazing ability to come up with the fish!  This winter, Fishfinder entered the Spectacular Pro-Am tournament, electing to fish by himself instead of with a professional partner.   Well, his stringer of fish was heavy enough to be second overall, and he won the largest trout category outright!   This was in a field of some very stiff competition!   Tim drives an old Shoalwater with a 28 HP outboard...not what you would normally call a competition rig.)

Most of the winter fishing in West Galveston Bay takes places from the line of Meacom's reefs that are just west of North Deer Island to Greens Cut. The easiest way to access west bay is to launch at Tiki Island or Fat Boys Bait Camp, head towards the causeway, and then turn right in the channel heading towards west bay. There are 2 channel markers, a red buoy and a green buoy about 50 yards apart that will give you a direct heading into west bay. Once you go through the west bay channel buoys, you can then set your sights on a wooden channel marker that has a sign on it. It say Shellfish marker number 1. The area between the channel buoys and the shellfish marker to your right is North Deer Island. The area to your left is Confederate reef. Both of these areas provide some great wading for trout and reds in the winter. The bottom is primarily sand with mixtures of mud and shell as is most of upper west bay.

Almost all of the people who fish Upper West Galveston Bay in the winter are drift fishing. The obvious reason for most drift fishing is because of the water temperatures. Drift socks can be purchased in order to slow your drifts down. Most boaters will attach their drift socks to the middle of their boat so that all anglers aboard can cast straight out. The drift socks turn the boat sideways and allows you to drift with the boat turned sideways if positioned right. Most people will start drifting from the Meacom's area to the Greens area until they find a school of fish. Others will just slowly cruise around until they see someone bowed up. On the weekends in west bay, it is not uncommon to find 30-50 boats in one little pod drifting. This can be very annoying at times, especially if your fellow anglers are not respectful of your position.

Respecting others on the water is very important. I can’t tell you how many times it has taken me several hours to find a school of fish. Once those fish are located, you eventually will be seen by someone. Some people will come flying right in and throw their anchor, while others will be respectful, checking on the current wind direction and tidal flow to see how they should position their drift. I basically do not mind someone setting a drift behind me if they do it in a respectful way. Do not come up on me full throttle. Gauge the tide and winds, and then set your drift about 75 yards behind me. Once you're done with your drift, ease back around or use your trolling motor. We all can have fun as long as you respect the area the fish are located in. Once you get past January, the fish in West Galveston Bay get very skittish. The pressure that is put on them really does scatter them. I think the fish in upper west are a lot like the geese & ducks towards the end of goose & duck season. They are a lot smarter and know our habits.

My favorite lures to throw in the winter are Mirrolures and Corky’s. I also will throw soft plastics while drifting west bay. I have had some outstanding luck with the new Chartreuse series 3 52MR this winter. Actually, I really have not thrown anything else in west bay. The mirrolure or other slow sinking plugs will tend to catch bigger fish. If you want numbers, I would suggest that you throw a soft plastic in a Salt Water Assassin or Texas Trout Killer. I love to throw Limetruese colors during the winter. The water in west bay tends to be gin clear on most occasions letting you see all the way down to the bay floor. I really believe that a bright bait works better in clear water, while dark colors work better in darker water. Whatever bait you decide to throw, I do suggest that you work it super slow. If you're not getting hung up on oyster shells, then you are working it too fast. The trout choose west bay in the winter because the mud bottom and oyster shell attracts bait fish. In the coldest months of the winter, you will see the trout’s belly’s all red and scuffed up. They are actually burrowing down in the mud that attracts heat from the sun.

Once you find a school of fish in west bay, work the area over and over. If you are on the fish, and then 5 minutes later you are not getting hits, slowly start up your motor or trolling motor and reset another drift where you started. Always try and circle around the area you were catching fish in. Do not run right back through it. I personally get more satisfaction out of finding my own school of fish rather than potlicking off another fishermen. Yes, the word potlicker means to get in on someone else’s fishing area because you saw them bowed up. Funny, how I saw someone’s name on their boat the other day that was named "POTLICKER". I guess I would not be able to blame him, since he was brave enough to put it on his boat - LOL…Anyway, some of the signs that will lead you to fish in west bay are the following. Make sure to honk that old horn before you leave home really good. Those nostrils need to be in good working order. While cruising the bay, you will often smell watermelon. That is a great sign. Fish that are feeding will regurgitate leaving a watermelon smell and creating a slick. Slicks are best when they just pop up. Any slicks that are in 3’ to 5’ circumference are new and have feeding fish below. So if you smell watermelon, you had better find that slick. Once you see a slick , set a drift as close as you can. Color changes in the water are another way you can find the fish. Fish often will work the bottom of the bay floor or go into feeding frenzy’s stirring up the bay floor. If you do see a color change in the water, do not pass it up. Birds will also lead you to the fish. Primarily in the winter time in west bay, you want to look for Loons. They are always swimming around looking for bait fish. If you find a pod of 2 or more loons in an area diving under and working the same area, I can assure you that the bait fish are there. The bait fish very rarely are on top in the winter, that’s why loons can be so helpful. A few weeks back, I saw 5 or 6 loons working one area. I trolled over to them, and it was on. I also have found that the fish in west bay seem to turn on when there is an incoming tide. So preferably, I would fish the high tide in the late morning to late afternoon. The fish seem not to turn on until later in the morning even if there is a low or high tide. I also experimented with a crabber the other week. Crabbers tend to run parallel lines of crab traps from Meacom's reefs to Greens Cut. I watched this guy for about an hour the other day picking up trap after trap while I was not getting any hits. I finally started thinking outside the box, and said to myself. I bet picking up those traps might stir up some worms, eels, get bait fish active, drop barnacles off, and get the fish active due to sources of food being disturbed or revealed by the crab trap being picked up. Well, I saw one area that had 5 crab traps bunched up and waited for the crabber to pick them up. 15 minutes later I trolled over to the area, and had a nice 21" trout on the first cast. So after an hour of no hits, to first cast at this crab trap, to fish on? You decide!

Last but not least, do not rule out an evening wade in the later winter months. Several of the coves from mid-west bay to the lower bay hold some huge sow trout. I tend to only take Corky’s or top waters with me on these trips. From early February to late March some of the biggest trout that are caught all year come in this time frame. I would stay very in tune with the weather. If you can find a warming trend after a cold front, these big trout can often be found feeding on the points along the coves in west bay. Typically, you will want 2-3 days of warming weather with an east to south wind. You will also want to fish some kind of tidal movement, and try to get out a few hours before sun down. So an ideal situation may be, 3^rd day after a front, se winds 10-15, high tide at 4:45pm. Target bait fish, and work those baits really slow! There are several 8lb to 10lb trout caught on the winter time in west bay, you just don’t hear about them.

FishFinder aka Tim Lopas