# bolivar pocket



## charbonpark (Jun 14, 2004)

has anyone fished the pocket this weekend? planning a morning wade there

tomorrow, would like to know what it looks like right now. not that it will keep

me from going but.......


----------



## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

I havent fished the pocket but i have a question about it. Where do you enter the water? I tried to wade it once and entered off the jetty but didnt go 10 feet because i was sinking in mud to my knees. whats the secret? I just got a kayak so if i do fish it soon, which i plan on doing, I probablly wont be wading. I just have been wondering ever since my mub pit experiance. thanks


----------



## Catn' Around (May 21, 2004)

You go about 2 miles down the road and hang a right at the bird sanctuary sign. Go to the beach take a left and head towards the poles sticking out of the ground, and your at the pocket.


----------



## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

cool, thanks for the info... and no reason to believe I should have a hard time launching a kayak there eh? thanks again


----------



## jamesf888 (May 21, 2004)

bet that sinking feeling can scare you a bit.


----------



## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Look at Ray's Honey Hole book. Beach launch and go to pocket.


----------



## baitkiller (May 21, 2004)

*Fishing the Pocket*

I have fished there many times. I have entered from the Jetty, but more often from the Bird Sanctuary. Entering from the Jetty can be an ordeal. Sinking in the mud is no fun, but if you can endure it., once you get about 50' from the jetty the bottom hardens. Also it helps to walk further out on the jetty before entering, though the bottom is still soft close to the jetty. I mostly go to Retillion Rd., take right and RIGHT again when you hit the beach. Go until you hit the bollards, usually there is a line of trucks parked there. It's a long walk from there to to the jetty but you can fish the entire way there.

Peace


----------



## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

How deep is the deepest part of the pocket?


----------



## Catn' Around (May 21, 2004)

Catn' Around said:


> You go about 2 miles down the road and hang a right at the bird sanctuary sign. Go to the beach take a left and head towards the poles sticking out of the ground, and your at the pocket.


Sorry I ment take a right at the beach.


----------



## troy merrill (May 21, 2004)

*Some spots are deep*



ArtificialOnly said:


> How deep is the deepest part of the pocket?


And probably over your head. But most of the area is pretty shallow. Chest deep or less. It's usually as easy wade with hard sand bottom over most of the pocket. But, like the rest of the beach, it has bars and guts, so be aware.


----------



## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

sounds great, cant wait to try it out in the kayak. thanks again.


----------



## poppincork (Jun 28, 2004)

*Bolivar pocket*

So, do you take the ferry and unload or do you run over there by boat? Where exactly at Bolivar is the pocket?


----------



## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

take the ferry, you dont really need a boat to fish the pocket. it is on the gulf side of the north jetty.


----------



## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

The Pocket as I know it is across from the litehouse just east of Ferry. What you guys speak of is what was called the garbage dumps and Bolivar flats. Maybe I'm wrong but thats what we called the areas around Bolivar, I'm 50 now and fished there as a teen, mostly across form Litehouse, and did VERY well on freelined shrimp, and most of fish cought were 24"+ last time I fished there was a cpl yrs back and it was loaded with small trout. The area just east of noth jetty was called Mexican beach and Mexicans seined the area regular with 1000ft+ seines and absolutley killed the big trout. This was a show to see and looking back it ****** me of of there catch, they would load a cpl of trucks down with specks and leave all by-catch to rot on beach. They would line there truckbed with a tarpolion ice and pile fish in and cover and go sell. If you were to take first road past jetty and turn left (north) and go till you come to a cut that drains into gulf and fish south of this cut you will tear there __s up when the water is rite. Once again mite be wrong on names but that is what we called them 35 yrs ago. LOTS N LOTS of good memories were made here. Good Luck WW


----------



## Catn' Around (May 21, 2004)

Bolivar pocket is what you are calling Mexican Beach Only difference is they use cast nets now.


----------



## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

WD - you got it right. Us old timer Bolivar bums have a different idea of what the pocket is. The "old" Bolivar Flats is now the pocket. The pocket is now "Fisherman's Cove" or "Ft Travis cove/flats"

My understading of Mexican beach was that it was a little further east of the flats...maybe a mile or so. My father told me stories of the seines as you described. Everything would get picked up by those sienes and what could not be sold was left to rot on the beach. He used to tell me about all the huge trout they (not my dad) would catch while seining. Sickening.


----------



## JimD (May 25, 2004)

Troy- You did not tell him it can be a great place to shark fish too. If you can get out toward the cut.


----------



## Tail Chaser (May 24, 2004)

*Shark Fishing*

Shoot, you don't even need a rod to shark fish in the pocket (flats), just a few trout on a stringer. I swear I've seen at least one three foot blacktip every time I've been out there. So far I've been lucky enough to keep my dinner, but a few of my friends won't fish there for that very reason. Hey Wet Dreams, I noticed that drain on terraserver back in May and checked it out the last time I was there. Have you ever fished in the drain itself? It snakes back a few hundred yards but then there's a fence keepong anyone walking out. If you had a kayak you could probably make it alot further. I figured fishing around the mouth of that sucker on an outgoing tide would be excellent as it was loaded full of mullet and shad.


----------



## AsianAngler (May 26, 2004)

anyone tried kayakfishing the pocket b4?


----------



## JOKERSWILD (May 21, 2004)

*I must be old*

I was brought up as the pocket was across the lighthouse and the ft travis flats were infront of the fort's sea wall. mexican beach was east of the north jetty over where the sunk barge is... awwww he&& i see water and throw a hook in it and catch fish, it will my secret spot #1 heeeeheee hee
see you down there tomarrow night !!
joker


----------



## JimD (May 25, 2004)

*Terraserver Aerial of the Bolivar Pocket and area*

Yes I have kayaked it from the beach out to about the boat cut or you can wade a lot of it. Just depends if the fish are biting and how big the sharks are chasing them.

ANYWAY
Here is the TERRAServer picture of the area so that you can see what we are talking about. You can enlarge this to see all of the Galveston bay system or down to about 1 meter of resolution. I left it big enough to see the area all around it but you can get a much closer view. Realize these are 1995 or 7 aerial pxs and you can move this to anywhere in the United States for the most part down to about 1 meter resolution..

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=14&x=104&y=1015&z=15&w=2


----------



## MT Stringer (May 21, 2004)

> it has bars and guts, so be aware


I was there a couple of weeks ago drift fishing from my boat. I was well out away from the waders, yet the bottom was only 2 feet deep. I was drifting over a sand bar/hump or whatever you call it.

Hope this helps.
Mike


----------



## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

Hey guys I thought I was right on with the names of this area, some things you just dont forget. I raised 2 sons mostly by myself and tought them what, where, n how and if you were to ask them they also refer to these spots by name as they once were, WHY would anyone change the names of these places afterall they were called that for I know 40yrs. What is odd is that yrs back before they outlawed commercial fishing for trout n Reds these spots constantly produced big trout 6lb+ as well as some spots east (Mcfaddin beach) cant say what they called that as I would probally recieve a tounge lashing for it (N_____ beach). The "pocket'" as I know it was usually good for a bunch of keeper trout, and keeper then was 4+lbs as there was no limit on size or number. Also the pocket (across from litehouse) produced very nice sized flounder if you knew how to fish for them, I have caught them up to 7lbs (my best) and if you can get to the pillings of the old Bolivar pier I will guarentee there are some big flounder waiting. As for as the spot I was refering to for wading east of jetty, turn at Bird Sanctury rd and when you get to beach turn left and go to a "washout" and fish from washout back towards jetty Close to washout as you can get. We caught trout last yr on several occasions in late July n early Aug. Speckle catcher did your dad is excactly right as where he refered to as Mex beach, the flats were to shallow to fish and most activity there was a lot of flounder gigging. Ask your dad if he ever was on the deep end of a 300ft seine, I miss that as it used to be a lot of fun to go down to Mcfaddin with 7-8 close friends and catch a cpl of coolers of trout n reds, we didnt kill em just caught enough for a big fish fry. still think it was OK for recreational seining (300ft or less) but was a good move to outlaw specks n reds for the commercial guys. Now they just moved to deep water n there killing the Snappers n making it hard for the rec. fishers to find keeper size snaps. These memories or precious to me and I hope they will be to my 2 sons and theres. Just my 2 cents keep a tite line guys


----------



## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

don't think my dad ever operated a seine. He was never that interested in fishing. He and I don't speak anymore - so I won't bother to ask him.

Caught the fishing bug from my grandfather on mom's side.

I believe there is a place on Bolivar between Crystal Beach and the Jetty that was called McFaddin beach, but I'm not sure on that. The only McFaddin I know fer sure is between High Island and Sabine. My friends from Beaumont tell stories of the huge trout they used to catch there before dreding spoils were dumped there.


----------



## "Spanish Fly" (Jun 14, 2004)

better yet, what is the coordinates to boliver pocket so i can try out my new Garmin GPS?


----------

