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West Galveston Sharks

14K views 47 replies 33 participants last post by  coastalbender 
#1 ·
Fished West Bay for the first time on Saturday (beautiful day). Poled a flat just north of West Bay Marina, as I was coming off of the flat I put the trolling motor in the water and was relaxing on the front casting platform when I saw a large shadow swimming in my direction. Just for the heck of it I put a fly in front of it only to be cut off so cleanly it looked like I cut my leader with a pair of clippers. After the shadow stripped me of my fly, the man in the gray suit swam around the boat for a short period & then slipped off into deeper water. I ran further north to another flat & picked up quiet a few reds & a couple of sheephead.coming was comming off of the flat I ran into a fella in a kyak that had a very simular story to tell that same afternoon. Are sharks pretty common in West Bay, if so I would like to try to chum some up to catch on a fly.
 
#5 ·
We see them all the time.....

There is a shrimper out of West bay marina who shrmps in frount of Chocolate in the ICW.....He had about a 7' Bull Shark get caught in his net, and tore it all up.....he did manage to get that buger...in....but it was a hassel....

Sharks are not all bad in he bay......they eat stingray's...why do you think the rays are always so shallow.......
 
#6 ·
I had a pretty bad scare last year while fishing Eckerts Bayou. I was sitting side saddle drift fishing when I heard a loud A#$ splash about 5 feet behind me, I almost broke my neck I turned around so fast. All I got to see was about 3' of the back of a shark (tail out of the water)

I won't sit side saddle again when fishing out there.
 
#9 ·
Muddskipper said:
We see them all the time.....

There is a shrimper out of West bay marina who shrmps in frount of Chocolate in the ICW.....He had about a 7' Bull Shark get caught in his net, and tore it all up.....he did manage to get that buger...in....but it was a hassel....

Sharks are not all bad in he bay......they eat stingray's...why do you think the rays are always so shallow.......
Agreed. The risk of a shark attack in the bay--or on the beach--is pretty remote, but the odds of stepping on a ray are pretty high.
 
#10 ·
once after grilling down in pirates beach, we forgot a raw steak and left it out over night. in the am, i grabbed the plate andropped it in the canal. within 30 minutes, someone up on the deck starts screaming, "shark!" had a 5 ft black tip circling in front of the boat dock. so i'd be willing to bet you could chum them up. id startat the mouth of a back lake or bayou on a strong outgoing tide. or at the pass/jetties...
 
#11 ·
Agreed. The risk of a shark attack in the bay--or on the beach--is pretty remote, but the odds of stepping on a ray are pretty high.
The real threat comes when a stringer of fish is too close to the person it's attached to or wrapped around a leg of a wader. A shark could inadvertantly bite the fisherman, trying to get to the fish. Plus, sharks loose a little sense when there's blood in the water. Add low visibility to the equation and it's possible to get bit.

Keep your fish as far as possible from you.
 
#12 ·
shark attack in Galveston waters is much more likely guys if ya do not know but Galveston leads Texas in shark attacks big time with 12 attacks and 1 death the next is nueces at 9 attacks and camron with 5 and 1 death matagorda at 2 attacks , now the Galveston attacks are all at one secret spot that has Ben block off from camping swimming or any beach access .i am pist it was my fishing hole for 30 years .
 
#19 ·
scuppersancho said:
I had a pretty bad scare last year while fishing Eckerts Bayou. I was sitting side saddle drift fishing when I heard a loud A#$ splash about 5 feet behind me, I almost broke my neck I turned around so fast. All I got to see was about 3' of the back of a shark (tail out of the water)

I won't sit side saddle again when fishing out there.
I remember that day. That same shark (about a 5' bull shark) also blew up on my spook jr within 10' of my kayak. Luckily it completely missed the lure.

I've seen plenty of sharks in West Bay. Three times this past summer I had sharks take fish off my stringer in West Bay. A buddy of mine also had a fish taken from his stringer in the same area in West Bay. I've also seen the crusing the flats in less than 1' of water.
 
#20 ·
lunkerbrad said:
now the Galveston attacks are all at one secret spot that has Ben block off from camping swimming or any beach access .i am pist it was my fishing hole for 30 years .
I would think that might be a bit of a stretch...I have shark fished Galveston since the 60's, from floating baits out on ballons at 37th with a couple of dudes named Skip and Gaylord, to surfing baits off the Flagship with the Galveston Sharkers and Monster Fishermans Club and even wading baits out at 13mi road and SLP and have never heard of such a "secret spot blocked off from camping, etc". I have not sharked in a bunch of years now, even sold most of my gear, but would like to know where this dangerous spot is on Galveston Island. :biggrin:
 
#21 ·
Chuck said:
I would think that might be a bit of a stretch...I have shark fished Galveston since the 60's, from floating baits out on balloons at 37th with a couple of dudes named Skip and Gaylord, to surfing baits off the Flagship with the Galveston Sharks and Monster Fishermans Club and even wading baits out at 13mi road and SLP and have never heard of such a "secret spot blocked off from camping, etc". I have not sharked in a bunch of years now, even sold most of my gear, but would like to know where this dangerous spot is on Galveston Island. :biggrin:
East beach base of the jetty great spot in the pocket . yepyep no bs i am old school and redfishr will vouch for me monster shark chuck.i will be on the flag next Sunday Monday and Tuesday . getting a few jacks and cownose . you know of big Jim old school sharker landed old state record tiger out of the ship channel long time ago . he help me alot in the 80s when i lived in galvez .
 
#25 ·
lunkerbrad said:
East beach base of the jetty great spot in the pocket . yepyep no bs i am old school and redfishr will vouch for me monster shark chuck.i will be on the flag next Sunday Monday and Tuesday . getting a few jacks and cownose . you know of big Jim old school sharker landed old state record tiger out of the ship channel long time ago . he help me alot in the 80s when i lived in galvez .
Know the spot well...we fished for big stingray in that area many times. Caught them to 150#, usually full of babies! Great shark baits!

You must be talking about Big Jim Alsobrook that practically lived on the Flagship. What an honery old cuss but a hell of a fisherman! Have fished with him many times in the past and he was in the club a time or two. Always had the stub of a cigar in the corner of his mouth! What great memories! It's been many a year since I hit the Flagship for bull reds, jacks late in the summer when the mullet would raft up, and of course the sharks.
Might have to see if the old Harnells and squidders still work and give it a try!
 
#26 ·
Chuck said:
I would think that might be a bit of a stretch...I have shark fished Galveston since the 60's, from floating baits out on ballons at 37th with a couple of dudes named Skip and Gaylord, to surfing baits off the Flagship with the Galveston Sharkers and Monster Fishermans Club and even wading baits out at 13mi road and SLP and have never heard of such a "secret spot blocked off from camping, etc". I have not sharked in a bunch of years now, even sold most of my gear, but would like to know where this dangerous spot is on Galveston Island. :biggrin:
Thats my dad and uncle you mentioned there. Gaylord being my dad. I was one of the kids in the 70's that started the Monster Fisherman club. I must have seen you around. I to, gave up rowing out big baits for sharks years ago to. I'd rather catch a 50 lb bull shark on a surf rod these days than a 400 lb one on a 12/0 . But it was some fun times back then....
 
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