Awesome day in East Galveston (11/27)...

[TeamTTF]

It looks like you LA boys are enjoying the same action we are over here in Texas. It's been wide-open lately!

I headed to East Bay with my dad the day after Turkey Day in hopes of finding some schooling redfish in shallow water - and I did!

We visited a few marshes along the south shoreline of East Bay and finally found one with some life. The redfish were thick in the back lakes and were schooling up by the dozens. They were moving slowly along the southern grass banks sucking tiny little ghost shrimp out of the mud. It was a sight to see. At one point a duck flew off the bank and startled one of the schools. They pushed off the bank and made a tidal wave a foot high out in front of them.

The water was glass-calm and you could see pods of hungry reds patrolling the shoreline eating everything in their path. For some reason in the marsh we were in they were stacked heavily on the southern bank. Didn't see much happening on the north side - for what that's worth. There was one spurt where we sat in one spot and caught fish for an hour straight as the schools passed us by - it was like watching a pumpkin parade.

Water temps were in the upper 50s and clarity was about 12 inches - but all our fish were caught in water much shallower than that. Most were right on the bank in water that barely covered their eyeballs. When the outgoing tide died so did the bite. There was some bird activity out in the main bay, but mostly scattered dink trout.

I lost count of how many fish we caught for the day, but let's just say it was a BUNCH. These weren't little fish, either. Most of the fish we boated were in the 5- to 8-pound class - all in the slot - not a single throwback caught all day.

TTF Killer Flats Minnows in liquid lime accounted for most of the fish. I also threw a BIG MINO weightless and waked it on the surface and that drew plenty of strikes. Nothing cooler than watching a redfish wake trail your bait and then seeing an open mouth inhale the MINO. I really wanted to get some video of the schools, but I just couldn't force myself to stop casting.

This picture pretty much tells the story. Slick conditions, skinny water and big fish. Good times with dad!



Also, after hearing reports from some fishing buddies that were also out that day, the redfish were going crazy everywhere. I got a 50-fish report from West Bay, a 40-fish report from further east than we were fishing, and another group told me they worked them over in Freeport. Friday was a great day to be chasing redfish in skinny water.

I went out to another location the following day and found plenty of fish, but they were way spooky compared to the day before. No schools, just scattered singles and groups of 2-3. If you got anywhere near them they'd spook off. Friday we could get right on top of the schools and they didn't care a bit. What a difference a day makes.

I'm going to give it a go again this Thursday and Friday. Not sure how this front and the accompanying winds will impact the shallow bite, but I'll be sure and let y'all know.

["W"]

Nice Report thanks

[LaAngler]

sweet report, what kind of boat is that?

[bay_slayer]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

sweet report, what kind of boat is that?

I was going to ask the same thing...........I am thinking about getting a flats boat next year.

[trophytroutman]

nice report.

[fishmaster911]

great report and catch ! cool looking pic.

[Mediumheavyaction6'6]

you just got me wanting to take off of work and going out there with my fly rod!

[TeamTTF]

The boat is a Beavertail B2. Love this little boat. Where we caught these fish Sunday not many other boats (with the exception of yaks) could go. We were poling in about 6 inches of water, and there were several times where I was scooting the boat over mud in water even skinnier than that. I've gotten so used to being able to access water like that that it's hard to imagine not doing so.

I really want to get this rig over to SE LA and whack some of those big ol' dumb reds you boys have over there. Anybody up for a trip?