The Galveston County Daily News

Thursday’s high winds kept anglers away from the open bays and beach front; however, those who fished protected waters found the fish waiting and biting.

Leeward shorelines held some nice trout, reds and flounder.

With the water temperature close to the 70-degree mark, more and more fish will be feeding in the shallower waters.

Chocolate Bay joined Moses Lake in producing some nice catches, and as soon as the wind settles, look for the jetties and surf to produce nice catches of reds and large gafftop.

Now, let’s get to our fishing reports.

Thursday afternoon, I dropped by the Fish Spot on Moses Lake to see the new facility and to meet Vicki Pike, who has been contributing some good fishing reports lately.

Pike said the owners hoped to have the restaurant open this weekend; however, the ramp is open and they have been selling bait.

For more on the Fish Spot, check out Laura Elder’s Biz Buzz at galvnews.com.

I did receive a fishing report from Pike, who said a Texas Slam had come from just outside the floodgate.

Mike Edwards and Woody Woodward returned with four flounder, a red and a speck. Two sand trout accounted for the rest of their catch, and all of the fish were caught on artificial lures.

Shirley Pike (no relation to Vicki), Fatboy’s Bait Camp, reported a nice catch of flounder coming from Pelican Island on Wednesday night.

Customers John Agnes, Dave Vinnie, Robby Dudley, Andrew Dykes and Kevin Hunter returned with 18 flounder caught using live shrimp and mud minnows.

Scott Madden and his father-in-law, Donnie Hooker, recently fished Chocolate Bay from the 2004 bridge to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Using dead shrimp and mullet, they caught more than 20 gafftop between 8 and 15 pounds and a few sand trout.

Their big catch came from the Intracoastal Waterway, where Hooker landed a 21-pound, 40-inch bull red.

Mike Stevens left work early and headed to the beach front Tuesday where he caught six reds, including two slot reds, three black drum to 20 inches, eight whiting and four croaker.

Shrimp (no mention if live or dead) was the bait.

Lee Bryant and Paul Taylor, of Lindale, fished the South Jetty on Tuesday afternoon and landed two bull reds to 38 inches using live shrimp for bait.

Bryant said they had to work their way through numerous large gafftop to get to the reds. The action took place on the Gulf side while fishing bottom.

To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Capt. Joe Kent at 409-683-5273, or send an e-mail to reel.report(at)galvnews.com. There’s no charge for this service.