# Strange fish at Jetty



## REDFISH STALKER

Sunday night, me, Father-In-Law, and two neighbors were fishing out at the end of North Jetty on the Gulf side. After it got dark, around 10:00 we saw a large fish of some kind that jumped all the way out of the water and made a large splash about 20 feet from the boat. It was dark, so I could only see it in the moonlight, but it was about 5-6 ft. long and had a large fin on top. I personally haven't seen something jump 3-4 ft. out of the water except while bill fishing. My first thought was that it was some type of bill fish, but I didn't think they would be that close inshore. Does anyone know what that may have been??


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## Topwater blowup

Tarpon??


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## JWJBigfish

Maybe a dolphin...


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## REDFISH STALKER

It definitely wasn't a dolphin. Didn't look anything like one.


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## Tricky Matt

Shark? Tarpon?


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## BC

manta ray?


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## gcg3136

chupacabra??


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## diggler

Spinner shark.


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## luna nueva

I would guess Tarpon


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## Gluconda

King or spanish mackerel are known to jump out of the water after bait.


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## Wakerider1424

King, Tarpon, Sail, Dolphin, Spanish, Alligator Gar maybe?, Spinner or Blacktip? Was it nice colored water?


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## Hotrod

gcg3136 said:


> chupacabra??


This would be my guess, lol. Tarpon.


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## Jake Reaves

Spinner Shark


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## fishin 24/7

Hotrod said:


> This would be my guess, lol. Tarpon.


I would have to agree with these folks!!!


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## Levi

gcg3136 said:


> chupacabra??


lol LMAO....


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## XtremeAngler

diggler said:


> Spinner shark.


That was my first thought.


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## Captain Dave

*Here is a pic....*

This fish is getting around...

Seriously, when you are out at the jetties any fish is possible. Lots mentioned, its bound to be one of them. Best bet is to get a line in after it and catch it.


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## TexChef

There was an interesting article in this months Texas Fishing Game about how Sailfish can be found rather close in along the upper texas coast. not sure if one would be at the jetties but some in the article said they had caught sails just a few miles off shore. If not it was most likely a tarpon.


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## let's talk fishin

i would say a mullet hahahaha


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## great white fisherman

ost likly a spinner shark as mentioned above or black tip shark. I see them jumping a lot of the time.


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## notthatdeep

Years ago, we were rounding the end of N Jetty as a storm was coming in. A big wave washed over the rocks at end and left a huge, HUGE forked tail fish...like a tuna...stranded on the rocks. Next wave washed it back in. Also have seen big Mantas jumping out of water there. Since then, I believe that anything can be caught out there.

ntd


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## tommy261

*jetty*

I was in about 10ft of water the other day with my dad, wife and youngest daughter and saw about a 3 ft sailfish swim within a few feet of the boat.... The sail and bill of the fish was a no doubter....I would not be a bit suprised if it was a sail, but my guess would lean more towards a Tarpon... I have seen quite a few tarpon jump near the jetties/beachfront for no reason....tommy261


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## joepol

could have been a sailfish...ive heard of people seeing them within 5 miles with blue water


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## swade36

Croaker???? lol...i couldn't resist!


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## Won Mo Kasst

I bet it was a One-Eyed Flying Purple People Eater


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## Fresh2Salt

Gluconda said:


> King or spanish mackerel are known to jump out of the water after bait.


 I was thinking the same thing except he said it had a large fin.


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## Cajuncranker

While fishing the surf, I've seen 30 lb (my guess) bull reds jumping out of the water after bait. Kingfish too . . . so sounds like it could be about anythig. The 5 ft estimate narrows it down about to probably shark, tarpon, king, etc . . . .


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## lomax31

I would say kingfish. I was fishing with my uncle and a buddy about 50 yards off the beach in sargent when a king came flying out of the water and hit my in the chest and then slammed in to the rod holders on the center console ,when it did that it smashed my uncles curado.when we stopped the boat and tried to figure what just happend the fish threw up mullet all over the deck and flipped out the back of the transport.


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## lpzfishinmaniac

i know lings are not known for jumping but we caught a huge ling by the jetty yesterday


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## redslayer

best guess i can think of is spinner or a monster mullet lol


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## catfishcrouch

Not sure how many of you actually fish, but the most common fish to jump like that would be a porpoise, esp. that close to the jetties.


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## James Howell

Not sure how much YOU fish, but a porpoise ain't a fish.



catfishcrouch said:


> Not sure how many of you actually fish, but the most common fish to jump like that would be a porpoise, esp. that close to the jetties.


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## wishiniwasfishin

mega mullet???


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## slowrey

you probably had the first sighting of a trout this year hopped up on pcb and dioxin....


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## wading_fool

James Howell said:


> Not sure how much YOU fish, but a porpoise ain't a fish.


lol....not to mention porpoises are not common to texas

Think 2 years ago they caught a small sail inside the jetties in Port Aransas


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## txshrkfish

I would go with blacktip shark....they jump out of the water sometimes while feeding or hooked


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## garypro

Mermaid


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## fatrat82

Jake Reaves said:


> Spinner Shark


Definitly a spinner.


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## pkpaul

Ask Captain Mike Williams He knows everything about the Galveston Jetties (and anything else for that matter) errr according to him.


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## SEAHUNT186

wading_fool said:


> lol....not to mention porpoises are not common to texas
> 
> Think 2 years ago they caught a small sail inside the jetties in Port Aransas


What do you mean porpoises are not common to Texas? Do you think those are dolphin jumping around these parts? 
To answer the original question.... I would have to say shark. Shark are SO thick right now at the jetties and they jump out of the water quite often. We went yesterday and caught 24 shark and several of those jumped a few feet out of the water.

Steve


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## SEAHUNT186

BTW, every one of the shark were blacktip!!


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## goatchze

Merchucabra??


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## justinlw




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## Captain Stansel

I would bet it was a Tarpon. I fish for Tarpon on moving tides at night between the Jetties on a regular basis. Although they are not known for free jumping like sailfish, they jump all the time at night. In the last 3 years I've never not seen a Tarpon jump at night between June 1st and October 1st. I've probably gone 30 plus times in the last 3 years.


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## capn

SEAHUNT186 said:


> What do you mean porpoises are not common to Texas? Do you think those are dolphin jumping around these parts?


Uh, yes.


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## jeff.w

Hmmm?


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## James Howell

What most people call porpoise in these parts are actually bottle-nosed dolphin, and about half the sharks that people call blacktips are actually spinners. Not that it matters, I think jeff w. has correctly identified the mystery creature.


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## iridered2003

lpzfishinmaniac said:


> i know lings are not known for jumping but we caught a huge ling by the jetty yesterday


not to change the topic, but you got a huge ling at the galveston jetties? i know they sometimes get lost and get caught at the jetties, but how big was this ling? do you git a pic?


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## redhead

SEAHUNT186 said:


> What do you mean porpoises are not common to Texas? Do you think those are dolphin jumping around these parts?
> To answer the original question.... I would have to say shark. Shark are SO thick right now at the jetties and they jump out of the water quite often. We went yesterday and caught 24 shark and several of those jumped a few feet out of the water.
> 
> Steve


They are bottle nose dolphin:an5:


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## MrNiceGuy

How much were you drinkin? I would think tarpon, Although I've never heard of a tarpon coming off the jetties.. hehe. My buddy did have a sailfish break off 30 miles exactily! from galveston about 3 weeks ago. We saw it and so did our buddies on the rig, and they had the best view. 

Warning!!! if you catch trout and eat them you may damage you reproductive system. Keep Eating Trout!


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## SEAHUNT186

redhead said:


> They are bottle nose dolphin:an5:


All dolphins, including the bottlenose, are porpoises. Although some people use these names interchangeably, porpoises are actually a larger group that also includes animals like the orca and the beluga whale.
I got this off the internet so I guess we are both right. Some people actually call them bottlenose porpoises. Either way, I will call them dolphin from here out.


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## SEAHUNT186

Blacktip Reef Shark.
(Carcharhinus melanopterus).



Other Common Names:
Spinner Shark.
Blacktip Shark.
Sorttippet Revhaj.
Svartspetshaj.


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## Captain Dave

*Hooper, Brody and Quint are coming...*

I am meeting em at dark o clock to see whats going on out there.

We advise all to stay in the bay till the research is done...

Stay tuned...


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## catfishcrouch

You know what I mean IDIOT!



James Howell said:


> Not sure how much YOU fish, but a porpoise ain't a fish.


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## catfishcrouch

Porpoises are'nt commone to Texas????????????? How often do you fish here on the coast? Surely you did'nt really mean that!


wading_fool said:


> lol....not to mention porpoises are not common to texas
> 
> Think 2 years ago they caught a small sail inside the jetties in Port Aransas


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## Pope

I have to cue in the dolphin vs. porpoise discussion. We have bottle-nose and frequently spotted dolphins. Porpoises have different shaped teeth, are usually smaller than dolphins and have more offspring which are weened much more quickly than dolphins. Yes, they are all related. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the Order Cetacean. Porpoises belong to the Family Phocoenidae, which is part of the same Order. Dolphins belong to the Family Delphinidae. Apples and Oranges. All are mammals, blah, blah, blah.


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## welder

gcg3136 said:


> chupacabra??


Those only show up in the Sea of Cortez on a full moon .


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## waylayer43

gcg3136 said:


> chupacabra??


haha!!


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## arius felis

tarpoon , seen one about three years ago, biggest fish i have seen in real life.


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## FLATSDADDY

NEMO??


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## CoopDog09

catfishcrouch said:


> Porpoises are'nt commone to Texas????????????? How often do you fish here on the coast? Surely you did'nt really mean that!


I believe they're dolphin... might be the guys point.
http://www.nps.gov/pais/faqs.htm
"
What is the difference between dolphins and porpoises and do you ever see any here?
 

There is much confusion as to what is a dolphin and what is a porpoise. Making matters worse is the fact that while there is a marine mammal commonly known as a dolphin, there is also a species of fish known as a dolphin (also known by its Hawaiian name "mahi-mahi"). Most of the time, however, when people say they are thinking of the marine mammal, familiar to everyone from the TV series "Flipper" and that is what is addressed here. Although the names are often used interchangeably, technically, porpoises always have spade-shape teeth, never have a beak, and usually have a dorsal fin shaped like a triangle (some have no dorsal fin). One of the more prominent distinguishing physical characteristics is that dolphins have a cone-shaped teeth, usually have a beak, and usually have a hooked or curved dorsal fin (some have no dorsal fin). Anything visible from the National Seashore will be a dolphin. During the summer dolphins are occasionally sighted playing in the surf immediately in front of the VisitorsCenter."


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## Van

as far as jumpin sharks goes....

He's behind you!


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## Freshwaterman

King !!


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## Freshwaterman

Watched them off the end of jettys in Port A jump 4 to 5 ft out of water busting bait fish.


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## RBW1984

I am almost positive what you saw was a spinner shark. I have seen them come waaaay out of the water (3-4 feet) slamming bait.


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## thatdoggJake

50 lb trout?


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## capt. stealth

Shark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## thatdoggJake

capt. stealth said:


> Shark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## grandpa cracker

Das Limpet !!!


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