Anglers report good weekend action

One of the more common questions asked by readers is whether live shrimp or live croaker is the best bait when fishing for trout. It is almost like taking a poll of automobiles back in the 1950s and asking, which is best, a Chevy or a Ford? It all boils down to individual preference.

Live croaker have cropped up in the past 20 years as the favorite bait of an increasing number of anglers. Yet live shrimp remains the preference for the majority of coastal fishermen. There is no question croaker are a top-notch bait when fishing for speckled trout and other game fish. There are some issues that might influence your decision as to whether to choose croaker.

Croaker are fished in a different manner than shrimp and tend to be harder to keep alive. The availability of shrimp is much more wide spread than live croaker; however, more bait camps are offering live croaker as a choice.

Live shrimp are probably the universal bait, as more fish are attracted to them than croaker. That can be a negative, as bait snatchers will take shrimp when they won’t bother croaker.

So, which one is best for you? That is a question only you can answer.

If you are new to coastal fishing and confronted with a decision on which bait to start out with, I recommend live shrimp.

The weekend fishing pattern did not change a lot, except the surf produced a good number of trout; otherwise, speck action has been confined mostly to East Bay. Reds and sharks have been making the news in other areas. Offshore conditions have been excellent for small boats; however, it appears there was not a large number of the Mosquito Fleet out there this weekend.

Jarred Johnson, Jon Johnson and April Conant fished East Bay early Saturday and returned with 27 trout and five reds. Live croaker was the bait.

Travis Tucker, Tucker’s Bait and Tackle, reported Armon and Steven Barajas catching limits of trout while fishing the surf off East Beach early Sunday. Live shrimp fished under popping corks was the bait.

Christi Mims and Mike Gray along with Justin Lovell and Cary Flynn fished the jetties and beach-front area with Capt. Jimmy Anderson and had a field day catching sharks. Numerous blacktips to 100 pounds were caught and released. Christi landed the largest of the sharks.

David Scott, of Pro Build in Houston, chartered the party boat Capt. John for an offshore trip for his 56 guests. Fishing about 70 miles out of Galveston, they landed 112 red snapper to 15 pounds, 10 vermilions, a 29-pound Warsaw and numerous sharks.

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.