# Galveston Surf this morning (7/10)



## Lord of the Salmon (Feb 17, 2008)

I went out about 7am and cast netted a few finger mullets and shrimp in the vicinity of Stewart beach for bait. The catch was panfish, one 17" trout, a chicken flounder and a KINGFISH out of all things that I'm estimating at around 15-20lb (I didn't weigh him). I thought it was a shark attacking something small that I had recently hooked until I saw it near the surface.

I have heard of kingfish being caught in the surf but i have never seen one. Any thoughts?


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## 2madmax7 (Apr 10, 2007)

They catch them of of the fishing piers occasionaly. First I have ever heard od in the surf, way to go


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## Silverspoon (Jun 1, 2005)

Seen plenty of them in the surf too crashing bait like a freight train, but like you, never seen one caught. I have heard fo them being caught from piers though so it doesn't surpize me at all.


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## boat_money (May 21, 2004)

you sure is wasn't spanish. if not, and is was a king, pretty cool from the surf...


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## Instigator (Jul 6, 2004)

At 15-20 lbs, if it was a smack it was a monster.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Actually, if it was a Spanish and 15-20 lbs it would be a new State record. The current State record for Spanish Mackerel is 8.74 lbs caught back in 1976. I would assume it was a King as well. Good job!!

Oh, water still pretty freakin' sandy??


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## Lord of the Salmon (Feb 17, 2008)

It was a king mackerel. I have caught enough kings and spanish to know the difference. The last big spanish mackerel I caught was offshore of freeport about 30 miles on kingfish gear (the balloon tied up as a float above the live pinfish on a brightly colored jig). That guy was about 4lbs.

I will be grilling said king mackerel this evening. I don't know why the general population around here doesn't like these things. As long as you ice them down and bleed them properly they are excellent. I'll post my brine recipe for smoking them like salmon in the next few days...


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## Dredger (Jun 16, 2005)

Fresh king mackeral properly taken care of, grilled and topped with saute'd pico de gallo is awesome.


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## surffan (Oct 5, 2004)

Lord of Salmon what did you catch the king on/with? They can be caught off the Port A jetties. I have seen one caught as far up as Roberts Point Pier in Port A (that is almost to the ferry crossing). Something else to hope far from the surf now---COOL.


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## Roby (Jul 12, 2005)

Catching a King in the surf like that must have been a blast. I have caught enough Kings to know they fight a whole lot better than they taste, Fun though..... I have cooked kingfish 20 different ways and none of them came close to a dioxin or PCB tainted trout....................And there are much better tasting fish in the bays than trout...


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## bigscale (Jul 16, 2007)

kings in the surf arent uncommon anytime from april thru october, i have caught quite a few over the years in the surf, off the piers, and off the rock groins , even one at midnight at galveston fishing pier. and have also seen many, many more caught by other fisherman, but usually the surf is in pretty good shape as far as water color. if the water was off color, especially if it was real sandy then that would be the unusual factor in your catch,not that it cant be done but it is not the norm.


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## bigscale (Jul 16, 2007)

here is an example of a beach king caught just before dark at slp.


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## bigmex (Aug 12, 2005)

all i see is male camel toe


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## dbarham (Aug 13, 2005)

bigscale said:


> here is an example of a beach king caught just before dark at slp.


 circa 1970


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## WorkingTops (Jul 2, 2008)

Lets keep those eyes on the prize bigmex. Or maybe they are.


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## bigscale (Jul 16, 2007)

bigmex said:


> all i see is male camel toe


that is funny coming from a ball gazer.


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## grouper150 (Oct 24, 2006)

*king in surf*

one time in the 1980s West beach surf near the pass speck fishing with shrimp under a cork - we hooked into a sailfish - scared the bezesus out of us


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## Cylinder (Oct 8, 2006)

My son caught a 30 pounder on a whole whiting fished on the bottom for sharks. The funniest thing was that it had a stingray barb stuck in it's mouth, like it bottom fed all the time.
Roger


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## Poon Chaser (Aug 22, 2006)

bigmex said:


> all i see is male camel toe


LOL!!!!


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## texhost (Jun 29, 2006)

bigmex said:


> all i see is male camel toe


THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST POST I HAVE SEEN ON HERE IN MONTHS.


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## scubaru (Mar 28, 2005)

bigscale said:


> here is an example of a beach king caught just before dark at slp.


Is that Joe dirt catching Kingfish in outer space?


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## combscw (Jan 9, 2008)

> _THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST POST I HAVE SEEN ON HERE IN MONTHS.[/_QUOTE]
> 
> 
> > _all i see is male camel toe_
> ...


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## roundman (May 21, 2004)

bigmex said:


> all i see is male camel toe


 and you were looking there ,,, WHY? lmao


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

bigmex said:


> all i see is male camel toe





roundman said:


> and you were looking there ,,, WHY? lmao


Oh man! bigmex saw the oppurtunity for a funny comment but totally overlooked the fact that it gave away his secret......how funny is that? LMAO


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## fishingchef (Jun 13, 2008)

I believe the proper term is Mamel toe. LOL


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## pkpaul (Jun 18, 2008)

When the surf is right, Kings are common in the galveston surf. My brother caught a 52" approx 40lbs off the Galveston fishing pier 2yrs ago with a live piggy perch under a float.

http://www.ccamembership.org/


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## Lord of the Salmon (Feb 17, 2008)

surffan said:


> Lord of Salmon what did you catch the king on/with? They can be caught off the Port A jetties. I have seen one caught as far up as Roberts Point Pier in Port A (that is almost to the ferry crossing). Something else to hope far from the surf now---COOL.


I was fishing a shrimp on the bottom and got a small fish bite (I suspect a little whiting or something) and promptly received an explosive bite. I'm guessing the king was hanging around the area and went after the small fish. I'm thinking a live 6" whiting under a balloon might work...


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## scm (Apr 27, 2006)

About 10 years ago I caught 13 kings in 2 hours time at the 91st street pier ( a.k.a. Gulfcoast pier) All were caught on a slide line rig with any large live bait I could get my hands on. Before and after that I have caught a king here and there from the beach front. They will and do come in close.


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

kings on the beach, wow


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## hilldo (Jun 25, 2006)

I grilled some fresh king skin down with garlic and lowry's on the 4th and it was GREAT!

Enjoy!


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## SEAHUNT186 (Dec 24, 2004)

King meat stinks REALLY BAD to me. Nice catch, but no thank you on eating that thing. Anything I have to work so hard to get it to taste right.....bleeding, cutting up right, seasoning alot...... just ain't worth it. Might as well eat any fish as long as you do all those things to it. LOLOL!!
But, like I said,"NICE CATCH FROM THE BEACH!"
Steve


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## Lord of the Salmon (Feb 17, 2008)

SEAHUNT186 said:


> King meat stinks REALLY BAD to me. Nice catch, but no thank you on eating that thing. Anything I have to work so hard to get it to taste right.....bleeding, cutting up right, seasoning alot...... just ain't worth it. Might as well eat any fish as long as you do all those things to it. LOLOL!!
> But, like I said,"NICE CATCH FROM THE BEACH!"
> Steve


Honestly, I'm an ex-northerner. That is how we initially prepare ALL of our fish...immediate bleeding (or as immediate as you can) and preferably soaked on ice mixed with sea water. I figured when I moved here that given the climate, people here would have refridgeration down to an artform. I was mistaken and have seen things done here even in fish markets that scare the hell out of me. I generally do a light seasoning on all my fish...if it needs for than that (ie redfish) it becomes gift fish. Kingfish meat when not properly dealt with stinks worse on the grill than sheepshead. I'll chalk this up to the same thing I see around with salmon haters....they just haven't had the fish taken care of properly or received old fish.


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## scubaru (Mar 28, 2005)

SEAHUNT186 said:


> King meat stinks REALLY BAD to me. Nice catch, but no thank you on eating that thing. Anything I have to work so hard to get it to taste right.....bleeding, cutting up right, seasoning alot...... just ain't worth it. Might as well eat any fish as long as you do all those things to it. LOLOL!!
> But, like I said,"NICE CATCH FROM THE BEACH!"
> Steve


I'm sure this is exactly the kind of input this guy was looking for when he posted his report.


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## redfishflyfisherdds (Mar 16, 2005)

Looks like a little frog in a wet paper bag.......


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