Things were looking really nice for a while as the wind laid all of last week. The winds finally died down and the fishing exploded here in the Galveston Bay complex. There was no wrong place to fish! The jetties, the surf, the pass, and the deep reefs were all producing excellent catches of Trout. Then mother nature decided we needed a little more wind LOL. Tuesday we braved the wind and caught a few Trout but it was difficult. A few of my spot were blown out or just to hard to fish in the stiff south southwest wind. Wednesday the wind was not any better but we gave the jetties a run. I thought it was gonna be a tough day for catching but we did much better than I expected boxing a few Trout, 4 slot Reds, and a flounder. Free lined Shrimp was the bait of choice for the jetties.
Once this wind backs off again this fishing will be on fire once again. When wading with arties I will be back down on the lower end of Galvestons West Bay throwing topwaters at the San Luis Pass and working areas of shell pads in Chocolate Bay.
Staying in the boat I will continue throwing Shrimp and hitting areas around the Galveston jetties and Galvestons East Bay.
The next few days I will be mixing it up in both areas so hopefully there will be some good reports and pictures to follow.

Capt. Greg Francis
Saltwater Assault Guide Service

Hayden

Justin

Jeff Mats

Jeff Mats

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Tailes and Tunes Tourney

Yesterday Team Saltwater Assault fish the Tailes and Tunes Tourney and ended up doing really well under a stiff North wind blowing 20 gusting to 25 knots. The bay was really tore up but we managed to scratch out just enough fish to put us in the money.  All we needed was 3 Trout and to Reds which was easier said than done under the conditions. My team of Chris, Brian, and Gene grinded hard for what fish we had. By 1:30 we had caught 4 Trout and 4 Reds. Our 3 biggest Trout and 2 biggest Reds gave us a weight of 21.84 which was good enough for a 2nd place finish just 1lb out of 1st place. We also had 1 3lb Flounder that won us 1st place in the Flounder division.  It was a great tourney and I really enjoyed it. Look forward to hitting it again next year.

A big congrats go out to the 1st place team of Danny, Steve, Keith, and Jamin for taking home the first place honors with a total of 22.90 lbs. It was a tight finish but they held on to edge us out. Great job guys!!!!!

On the the fishing side of things it has been brutal. Strong winds continue to make things tough and has been keeping the bay tore up. We have been catching some scattered fish but this wind has been keeping me from hitting the areas that have been holding the most fish. Once these winds lay things will pick up quickly.

Capt. Greg Francis

Saltwater Assault Guide Service

Capt. Greg with a 25" Trout

Team Saltwater Assault 2nd place

Team Fishwestend 1st place

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This years Specktacular tourney has come to an end and what a good one it was. My partner and I made a good run but just fell short of team of year honors. Overall we ended up in 2nd place behind Capt. John Havens and his partner Eric Renteria. Congrats go to John and Eric for taking home the Team of Year honors as they are always a tough team to beat. Congrats to Randy Weaver and Dean Stevens for pulling out a win for the championship. It was some tough conditions but they battled through it and brought in some solid Trout.

This tourney was run really well this year and Capt. Lynn put together a great tourney series that I look forward to fishing again next year.  Great job Capt. Lynn

Here how the weekend championship went down

CHAMPIONSHIP
Day one- As the day started, with a light northwest breeze; 52 anglers or 26 teams were set to fight it out for $12,800.00 in total prize money and the championship crown. There were also 4 teams with a legitimate shot at taking home the coveted TOY (team of the year) award (a prize package valued in excess of $10,000.00), so we thought. With the points being doubled for this 2 day event and 3 teams within 10 points of the TOY leaders and a few more a little farther back, things could get interesting to say the least. As the weights started coming in, and the weigh line not set to close until 5pm, the leader board began to take shape and the TOY race was getting real interesting. After sorting through it all the Team of Cubbage/Soule (Mike Cubbage and Steve Soule) were sitting on top with an impressive 3 trout stringer of 16.08 lbs., which included a fish that tipped the scales at 7.52 lbs. In second was the Team of Anderson/Stillwagon (Steve Anderson and Aaron Stillwagon) with a nice stringer that weighed in at 13.67 lbs. Crossing the scales in third was Team Wild ride (Jimmy Love and Jason Applebee) with a total weight of 12.49 lbs. Rounding out the top five on day one were the Teams of Ramsey/Vacek (Chris Ramsey and Michael Vacek) with 12.42 lbs. and Team Gunslinger (Taylor and Tracy Griffin) with 11.67 lbs. Big trout honors for the day went to Mike Douglas of Team Baad Marine with a pig weighing in at 8.26lbs. The TOY the year race was starting to get real interesting also with the leaders Havens/Renteria (John Havens and Eric Renteria) only able to bring in a 3 trout stringer of 9.70 lbs. landing them in 10th place after day one and Team Saltwater Assault (Greg Francis and Daniel Popovich) was applying the pressure by landing 2 places in front of the leaders with a sack that weighed in at 10.49 lbs. Team Generation Gap (Brent Juarez and George Knighten), only 3 points behind when the day started, found themselves completely of the leader board and Team Shake & Bake (Daniel Marshall and Mike Pickell) were sitting in a paltry 18th place, setting up a showdown on day two between Havens/ Renteria and Team Saltwater Assault for the TOY bragging rights. With the top 7 teams on the leader board after day one virtually out of the TOY race, pulling out the TOY race could become reality for Team Saltwater Assault if they could move themselves up 3 more spots in front of Havens/Renteria and come to the weigh line first. (All ties are broken by first to weigh in). With conditions set to change drastically on day 2 things were about to get real interesting both for the championship crown and the TOY race, and without a doubt, probably a sleepless night for a few teams to say the least.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 2- As the sun broke the horizon and the wind blowing from the southeast with wreck less abandon, day 2 of the championship promised to be an exercise in futility. With conditions doing a complete 180 degrees from the day before, the leader board quite possibly could completely turnover and the TOY race was there to be had for the team that showed the most patience and intestinal fortitude. Weigh lines were set to open at 12pm and closing 2 hours earlier than the day before at 3pm. With less time to fish, and the strong southeast wind, teams were forced to get to there spot and pretty much stay there for the majority of their day, if not all day. As the teams started to arrive, it promised to be exciting all the way to the end. When the dust had settled, Team Ninja (Randy Weaver and Dean Stevens), the reigning TOY, had climbed all the way from 6th place on day one to win the championship with a day 2 stringer of 15.33 lbs. and a 2 day total of 26.89 lbs. garnering themselves a nice pay day of $6060.00. Making it close and standing pat from day 1 was the team of Anderson/Stillwagon with 3 fish that hit the scales at 13.00lbs., giving them a 2 day total of 26.67 lbs. only 0.22 behind the winners and taking home a check for $2650.00. Holding onto third for the 2nd day in a row was Team Wild ride with 3 fish totaling 12.03 lbs. and a 2 day total of 24.52 lbs. earning themselves a check for $1755.00. Rounding out the top 5 were day 1 leaders Cubbage/Soule with a 2 day total of 24.26 lbs. and a check for $1000.00 and Team Saltwater Assault moving up 3 spots to finish in 5th with a 2 day total of 23.62 lbs. to take home a check for $735.00. Big trout honors went to Mike Douglas with that hefty 8.26lb pig from day 1. Steve Soule took second with his 7.52 lb fish from day 1 also. In third was Aaron Stillwagon with a nice 6.67 lb. trout. TOY of the year leaders Havens/ Renteria were able to move up 4 spots from day one to secure the title of TOY finishing a mere 8 points in front of Saltwater Assault, who made a valiant effort and put a lot of pressure on Havens/Renteria when all was on the line, but in the end John and Eric were not to be denied. They fished their rear ends off during the series and will tell you to this day that there were no easy days during this series and that at times thought that they had blown it only to keep fishing. They eventually ended up getting all the bites that they needed to take home the prize. Congrats to Team Ninja for their championship win and to John and Eric for busting down that door and taking home the TOY title for 2011. Thanks to everyone who fished this year’s series and hope to see you next year.

Capt. Lynn

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I really wish I had a good report to make but to be honest its been really tough out there on the water. The fish are on there usually spring time spots but our spring time winds are keeping us from hitting most of the areas we like to fish this time of year. Most of my trips the past two weeks have been canceled to to wind forecasts of  20 knots or more. On the days we try to get out and brave the windy conditions we are forced to seek  protected shorelines or coves. The numbers have been way down on these days as most of them turn into a grind it out type of day. When we do get that small window of light winds we have been doing real well. The San Luis Pass has been holding high concentrations of fish that have been just crushing  topwatersl. Two weeks ago me and my Trout tourney partner caught well over a 100 Trout on topwaters. Most were in the 1 to 2lb range but we did manage several in the 4 to 5lb range. The mid bay reefs have been holding good numbers of trout but the wind has been way to strong to get out on the open bay reefs most days. Once the wind starts backing off these reefs in Galvestons West Bay will be producing a lot of good Trout for us. Hopefully the winds will give us a break real soon so I will have something better to report. As of now the only advice I can give is try to find a good protected area with good water and key in on areas with lots of bait and look for slicks. Slicks will be a good sign of feeding Trout in the area. Areas with rafting mullet is another good area to try as hungry Trout and Reds wont be far behind. All the fish we have caught at thePass the past few weeks have alot of nervous bait in the area. Topwaters in the Jimmy Houston pattern Super Spook, Chrome/ blue back Super Spook, and the bone Super Spook Jr. Have been the best producers the past several weeks.  

Tight lines and full limits

Capt. Greg Francis

Saltwater Assault Guide Service

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April 12th

Fishing the last few days has been very tough!!!! The wind has been our biggest enemy limiting the areas we can fish. Yesterday we had a hard westerly wind and today it was comming northeast. The two directions make most of the areas in West Bay difficult to fish. On the few days we have had light winds we have done pretty well on Trout and Reds. On days with high winds our numbers have been cut way down. The San Luis Pass has been showing good signs of feeding Trout and Reds on topwaters but you really half to have light winds to have a good day in this area. The most consistant bite has been finding Trout over shell in 2 to 4′ of water. Bass Assassins in plum/Char has been been very effective along with topwaters early. The north shorelines has had steady action on the Reds on the smaller Super Spook Jrs. When this wind decides to give us a break look for some more solid reports comming from down San luis Pass way as this is an area I will been focusing in on the most.

Capt. Greg Francis

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Fished West Bay today and found a pretty good bite over shell in about 2 to 4′ of water. With a northeast wind blowing around 12 knots it made it a little difficult to throw topwaters out in the open bay. But that was OK as the Trout this morning were flat out hammering Saltwater Assassins in plum and chartreuse. Ended up fishing 2 shell pads today and both held fish. Keying in on Mullet and small slicks near the reefs were key to catching some really nice Trout to 5lbs. About 11am we hit one area along the north shoreline where we found some mid size slot Reds that where crushing small Super Spook Jrs. in the Jimmy Houston pattern. Hopefully the wind will cooperate through the weekend so we can beat’em up some more.

Tight Lines and Full Limits

Capt. Greg

A few pics from the last week or so

Trout and Reds

Capt. Greg

another great day

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The last few days out on the water has served up some rough conditions aswell as a tough bite.

Thursday March 24th

Todays forcast was suppose to be light winds to 10 knots out of the southeast. The morning started out with light winds but light out of the north. It didnt take long for the winds to jump up to 20 gusting to 25 knots out of the northeast. This pretty much wiped out any chances of catching any fish that have been holding  along the south shoreline. Before the wind kicked up we did box 4 or 5 Trout to 23″. Called it a an early day around 10am.

Saturday 26th

Met up with my party of Kevin, Chris, and Shane at the Texas City Dike around 530am. The weather forecast was calling for light winds early and gaining strength through out the day. When I arrived at the Dike around 5am I was greated with a stiff wind out of the southeast at 15 knots. I knew then we might be in for a tough day. At the first spot we hit it didnt take long for the Trout to start cooperating and everyone in the party hooked up right away. Unfortunatly the bite here didn’t last long. We strung maybe 6 Trout to 23″ on a mix of topwaters and Corky’s. After that the wind jumped up with a more westerly direction and made fishing a little on the difficult side. We did have a few bites here and there on some smaller Rat Reds and some smaller under sized Flounder but the Trout bite died for me after 745.

Overall this has been a pretty tough spring bite with no consistancy what so ever. Here today gone tomorrow. Hopefully this week they will start being a little more predictable.

Capt. Greg Francis

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Fishing report  3/20/11

Wednesday 3/16

Wednesday I had Frank and his son Alex out and for a half day trip and was it ever a tough bite. We waded several spots in East Galveston Bay but just couldn’t find a bite. Alex did manage to catch his first ever Speckled Trout while wade fishing. This was a nice Trout that weighed a little over 3 lbs. The wind was really not an issue today we just had a tough day and a tough bite.

Thursday 3/17

Thursday I had Brian, Mike, and Steve out and the bite started off a lot better than the day before. Within the first two hours we stuck close to 20 Trout on topwaters. All Trout were caught on a slow retreive working She Dogs around active /mullet. Trout were caught in 3 to 4′ of water over mud/sand bottom. Corkys were also effective later in the day when the topwater bite slowed down.

Friday 3/18

Friday I had Lance and Milo out for a half day trip.  The wind started blowing early and the bite was a slow one. We caught a few Trout early on artificials while drifting a reef on the upper end of West Bay. Decided to make a move to Chocolate Bay next where we cut some drift around some of the spoil reefs in Chocolate. Throwing Shrimp under popping corks we scratched out a hand full of Trout to 20″. The water in Chocolate look great and is holding some good fish right now for people wanting to get out and do some drift fishing around some of the reefs.

Saturday 3/19

Saturday Danny and myself  hit the Specktacular Tourney series fishing tourney. The day started off great as we both caught near 40 Trout in the 3lb range. All our fish were caught on Broken Back corkys and topwaters. We had good non stop action and even had 5 big fish on that would have put us in the money but it just wasn’t our day as we watch all our big fish pull of our hooks. It was very frusterating watching these big fish destroy our topwater one to have them come off and swim away. But we will be back!!!!

This fishing is in transition right now as we slowly get away from our winter time patterns. It has been really hit or miss right now. As the water temps warm the bite will be more consistant. The topwater action has greatly improved from last week. We have started seeing some awesome topwater action this week and will continue through April.

To book a trip cast me an email  at captgreg@saltwaterassault.net or call me at 409-939-1684

Capt. Greg

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This week has been a tough one! With the spring like temperatures and the water near the 70 degree mark our fish have moved out of the winter haunts and have started to scatter out into thier spring time patterns. March is a transitional period and the pattern can be at times a hard one to figure out.  This last Thursday and Friday was definatly a tough one. With a hard 15 to 18 knot north wind and the barometric pressure high. We struggled to catch a single fish. I think we may have had 5 bites for the day with 0 fish caught. It was a grind and a struggle.

Friday wasn’t much better as my party of 3 struggled to find  fish for the stringers. From 6am to noon we hit several spots while comming up empty.  Around 1pm I finally found a few fish wanting to cooperate. It wasn’t pretty but we did manage to scratch out a few Trout, 2 Reds, and a very nice Flounder. These fish were caught wading a small shell pad with softer mud edges. Soft plastic Bass Assassins in plum/char accounted for all the fish in about 3 to 4′ of water,

Saturday the bite was on from the start and a quick limit was had within 45 minutes.  All these Trout to 20″ were caught once again on plum/char Assassins over shell in 3 to 4′ of  water. Saturday mornings bite was definatly a good one as we probably caught 15 to 20 Trout in a short amount of time. These fish Saturday were caught  over shell keying in on active bait in the water.

With the warming temperature comming the fishing will only get better and the topwater bite will be in full swing. We have been getting some topwater action now but its not “ON” just yet.  I would guess by next week you will see more topwater action in my reports.

I will be on the water just about every day this week and will make a report daily…..

Capt. Greg

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Capt. Greg Francis and Danny popovich AKA Dpop take 1st in the 2nd round of the 2011 “Speck”tacular series. Next tourney will be March 18th.

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