# Galveston Sandbars



## robie (Jun 16, 2008)

Hey fellas. I've been going to Galveston since i was a kid but always down at Jamaica. People always talk about going out to a third or fourth sandbar. Are they closer on the East side of the island? 

Every time I've tried to get out there I end up swimming for a good bit and still don't find it, I am 6' 1". Can someone clear this up for me. Sometimes that green water is just a little further out there and I want to figure out if I can get to it without a boat. 

Thanks,

Drew


----------



## kenny (May 21, 2004)

It's there, but you usually have to swim a little, and in the surf with any current it seems farther than it is sometimes.

I usually do the side stroke, so I can scissor kick and one arm pull holding my rod out of the water with the other hand.
I think I may be getting a little too old for that anymore......nah!


----------



## Rusty S (Apr 6, 2006)

The third sandbar is a ways out, the fourth sandbar is dangerous unless you have no value for your life, that is unless the beach is the first sandbar. rs


----------



## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Robie,*

Virtually all Texas beachs have 3 fishable sandbars, and a fourth, that you absolutely can't fish 100% of the time. The third bar is about the same distance out, as the 2ond bar is from the first.....sometimes a little further. You usully can tell where it is by the waves breaking over it, or SEE it in extremely clear water.

I, like Kenny, have fished it often in my 50 yrs of fishing, with the aforementioned side stroke, holding rod and stringer coiled in your hand. Dont just tie it to your belt and take off...pretty hard to swim with a half hitch tied around your ankles! LOL Dont ask me how I know this.

I have done it many times before alone, when much younger and not much more stupid always without PFD! I like he, am too old for it now! I could tell you tales, of how I got into trouble on several occasionss...but not gonna bore you.

But you can take this statement to the bank.....ONE DAY YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY THAT YOU WORE A SKI BELT OR PFD TO THE THIRD BAR, if you decide to fish it regularly!! Another thing...dont do it within 2 miles either way of a pass. Another good "how stupid am I" story here.

In 50 yrs of fishing the coast, I have said to myself...."so this is how I am going to die"...three times while fishing....twice was on the third bar!!

It can be done, it can be done safely....you can get away without the cautions I gave you 19 out of 20 times...but that one time you will remember this "lecture!"

And if you have a phobia about sharks, you might rethink it. They dont bother you, but I have seen a few fishermen freek out about them.

And I bet anyone that has fished it often will tell you the same things that I have!.

Good Fishing
Later
R3F


----------



## hardhead34 (Sep 6, 2007)

X-2 ROBIE ON THE SHARKS THEY FREAK ME OUT THEY DO NOT MESS WITH YOU BUT JUST THE SIGHT OF THEM MAKE THE HAIRS ON MY NECK STAND UP.. AS A KID WE FISHED THE THIRD BAR ALL THE TIME I HAVE NEVER EVEN TRIED TO GET OUT TO THE FOURTH ONE AND NEVER KNEW THERE WAS A FOURTH ONE HECK THE THIRD ONE IS WAY FURTHER THAN I WANT TO GO..AND THE CURRENT AT TIMES IS KILLER ON YOUR WAY BACK IN YOU NEVER KNOW HOW FAR FROM YOUR ORIGIONAL DESTINATION YOUR GONNA END UP.BUT HEY ALL THE HARD WORK USUALLY PAYS OF WITH NICE FISH JUST BE CAREFUL.


----------



## speckledred (Jun 1, 2004)

I have fished the 3rd bar when I was much younger and thought I was much smarter, bad combination. I see the 3rd bar as a last chance to get to green water or cooler water mid-day. Most of the time folks wade through the fish getting to the 3rd bar early when the fish are feeding next to the beach. At lesat consider a PFD and as said before don't wade close to any pass. I too have a story or two about the 3rd bar but I'll keep it to myself,


----------



## robie (Jun 16, 2008)

Thanks fellas. I appreciate the info. I think I will enjoy my time on the first two sand bars and leave the third for a day when someone who has been out there can show me the ropes. I am new to fishing Galveston surf. I am learning how nice it can be on a good day. 

Hopefully I can start contribuiting to the fishing reports with some good stories one if these days.


----------



## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Just a Post Script....*

For you guys talking about the fourth sandbar.....in my 65 years, I have never heard of ANYONE wading to the 4 th. At normal tide it is about 6 to 8 foot deep. In very clear water you can SEE it, and in rough water you can see waves break on it, but dont even think you can wade it. The third bar is usaully about titty deep to neck deep, at normal tide..maybe a little less at low tide. I am 5 9", and on a very high tide the third bar is out of reach for me.

Good Fishing and be safe
Later
R3F


----------



## tigerhead (Jun 17, 2005)

Stumbled on this post. Probably too late to make any use of it but I have a question about the third bar. I'm 6'3" and I'm a lot braver than I should be when it comes to the water. I use to fish the third bar out of Jamaica B. or Sea Isle every summer. I usually had to swim a little but it wasn't much. But the last several trips I've made to the surf (haven't even been yet this year) I have not been able to find the third bar. I can see the breakers and know where it should be, but it's been too deep to stand on. I was wondering if the third bar had eroded away or something. Has anyone else had this experience?


----------



## Rusty S (Apr 6, 2006)

No, 3rd bar isn't over head level on a calm blue day. rs


----------



## gigem87 (May 19, 2006)

speckledred said:


> Most of the time folks wade through the fish getting to the 3rd bar


I agree with this


----------



## reelthreat (Jul 11, 2006)

The last time I surf fished on memorial weekend the third bar was out of reach... the second bar was mid chest. This was in surfside around access 4 &5. Last year the same spot was mid waist deep on the third bar (it was also loaded with pompano). From what I have seen this year the third bar is DEEP, i guess from Ike.


----------



## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Pay attention to these guys....*

I havent waded the surf since Ike, and the bars are always shifting. Some say they are deeper, some say they are still there...both are prolly right at different places. There have always been "washouts" in the bars where they might not be there....usaully good places to fish...from the "sides", or the second bar.

All you guys that are bullet proof, and 7' tall, that just cant resist the lure of the 3rd bar, PLEASE wait for blue bird conditions, with a calm surf, and crystal clear water. Then you can SEE the third bar, with poliroids, when the sun is up, and make your try then. And at least wear a ski belt...at first.....currents can be wierd out there and your family and loved ones might appreciate it!

Someone sent me a private message and wanted to hear the stories....so come on Speckledred...You or I can start a new thread in the morning and tell our stories, or on this string. LOL

Later
R3F


----------

