Galveston Island State Park

[FreezerHunter]

I’m headed south for family vacation after Christmas with a 9 year old who absolutely loves fishing. I don’t have room in the car for much fishing gear, but we have a collapsable rod that lives under the passenger seat because as my son says, “you just never know when we might have a chance to go fishing”. He is happy casting for about 30-40 minutes, but an occasional nibble keeps him interested. We will be visiting Galveston Island State Park and according to the website a fishing license isn’t required when fishing from the shore in a Texas state park. If a guy were to end up in the fishing aisle at Walmart (while searching the store for my wife of course), does anyone have any suggestions/local knowledge as to some cheap, simple tackle we should try? Thanks in advance.

 

[Greyman]

I live about 50 miles down the coast from there. There are some good fishing spots there in the park. If the surf is too rough, you can go to the other side of the park and fish the bay side.
As far as tackle, you don't really need anything special. In town in Galveston, there is both an Academy and a Walmart. One of the cheap, ready to go spinning outfits will do just fine. 15 to 20 lb test will work. If you fish dead shrimp on the bottom just like you would do freshwater catfish, you can catch a wide variety of fish like croaker, whiting, black drum, redfish, gafftop, and of course hardhead catfish. When your done, just donate the gear to the Goodwill in town, or you could just give it to some kid in the park.

One thing that you might see is the resident population of red wolf hybrids that live there. They aren't dangerous but they are really cool to see.

Galveston 'ghost wolves' have endangered red wolf DNA

The rare island canine is a mix of red wolves and coyotes, scientists reported, which means they could help the highly endangered red wolf survive.

www.chron.com

 

[JV842]

If u find some fiddler crabs near the shore, use those n pitch em tight to structure; pilings, concrete walls, etc, this time of year u could find some sheeepshead down there

 

[FreezerHunter]

Thanks for the help! I can’t say we caught much, but the 9 yo went through a container of bait shrimp trying to catch one of these little guys. I didn’t pack small hooks, so I had to swipe the tiny treble hook off the crank bait in the “emergency” tackle box. Fun was had by all even though all we managed to reel in was a couple of these little bait snatchers.

 

[JV842]

Pin fish, pretty decent bait for reds n trout, not as good as piggies or croaker, but definitely will work