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Almost that time of year!!!! (2 Viewers)

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chellflower

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Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum....I joined last Fall and so far have only been reading the forums, this is my first time posting.

I live in Tyler but I go near houston every so often and have collected shrimp, etc a couple of times last summer around Surfside Beach.
I plan to visit Surfside again sometime this March and was wondering if anyone knows of any good spots there for collecting. I have a 40 gallon breeder that I'm building into a lagoonal reef for non aggressive critters and a couple of smaller tanks (10-25 gal) for 'nems and stuff.


I'm interested in finding:

macro algaes
sea grasses
seaweeds
pods
shrimp (peps and grass)
pipefish
seahorse
blennies
puffer
a sea buscuit/sand dollar if possible
micro stars and any other cleanup inverts


I can only collect during daylight since I have to get back home the same day (appx. 4 hour drive each way) so I only get an hour or two for collecting.
Any info anyone can give for good collecting locations is greatly appreciated.
 

Mpolasek

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wait i can catch shrimp at Galveston ( not just oil that looks like shrimp ) im surprised you can catch anything in galvastion i normally go look at the water but if there is shrimp to look at that makes it so much better
 
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Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum....I joined last Fall and so far have only been reading the forums, this is my first time posting.

I live in Tyler but I go near houston every so often and have collected shrimp, etc a couple of times last summer around Surfside Beach.
I plan to visit Surfside again sometime this March and was wondering if anyone knows of any good spots there for collecting. I have a 40 gallon breeder that I'm building into a lagoonal reef for non aggressive critters and a couple of smaller tanks (10-25 gal) for 'nems and stuff.


I'm interested in finding:

macro algaes
sea grasses
seaweeds
pods
shrimp (peps and grass)
pipefish
seahorse
blennies
puffer
a sea buscuit/sand dollar if possible
micro stars and any other cleanup inverts


I can only collect during daylight since I have to get back home the same day (appx. 4 hour drive each way) so I only get an hour or two for collecting.
Any info anyone can give for good collecting locations is greatly appreciated.

I’d say wait till mid to end of summer. Go on a night with almost slack wind. Make sure you check the web cam for clean green water. Then make the drive. Ohh and mid to low tide seems to be better for walking on the jetties which is where you will find the most life. It’s like the reef of Texas unless you can ride out to the Flower Gardens. :)
 

chellflower

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Thanks for the pics, they bring back memories...

I used to live close to Galveston on/off as a child, I climbed all over those granite boulders at the Dyke and Jetties back then.

Nowadays when I head down South, the dates are set about a month in advance, and are a one-day trip there and back, so I can't really plan my collecting adventures by the weather and I won't have time to go over to Galveston, so I only go to the closest beaches- in Freeport. This allows me to have an hour or two at the beach and still have time to make the 250 mile drive back home.....( mainly a chance to stretch out/walk before the long drive, as well as find possible goodies for my tank)
I hope to take a long weekend off this summer with my family, that's when I'll definitely head to Galveston ....and collect!!

This upcoming trip will be in late march- so a beach visit will simply depend on if its raining or not, but I had seen where someone had posted about collecting at Surfside Beach.

Would a marsh possibly be better than a jetty that early in Spring for finding much variety, especially if the wind/waves are choppy, or if it has rained/stormed pretty recently???

Thanks.
 

wdickenson

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Hello everyone - New to the forum and this is quite a find !

I am coming down to Galveston the June 22/23rd. We are going fishing with Texas TailChasers on the 23rd and we plan on pulling his shrimp net for 1/2 the time. We always catch interesting stuff but this time I can keep a lot more ( I just upgraded to a 420gal tank). But we will be down there on the 22nd early enough to do some night fishing and possibly some night collecting.

June isnt optimal and I am presuming that the Covid-19 chaos will be a bit behind us, all of which are assumptions on my part. But given that the fish dont seem to be wearing masks, where are my best options for collecting ? Looking for rays, puffers, spadefish, blennies, small flounder, sea robins, etc etc. Pep shrimp end up being live food usually ( even big shrimp) and I usually cheat and get mullet so the top of the tank is active. We head back right after so our survival rate is darn good.

That said, I would like recommendations for a 1/2 day collecting madness. I'd even pay a guide if someone feels like collecting AND collecting.

Thank you
 

BenL

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Hello everyone - New to the forum and this is quite a find !

I am coming down to Galveston the June 22/23rd. We are going fishing with Texas TailChasers on the 23rd and we plan on pulling his shrimp net for 1/2 the time. We always catch interesting stuff but this time I can keep a lot more ( I just upgraded to a 420gal tank). But we will be down there on the 22nd early enough to do some night fishing and possibly some night collecting.

June isnt optimal and I am presuming that the Covid-19 chaos will be a bit behind us, all of which are assumptions on my part. But given that the fish dont seem to be wearing masks, where are my best options for collecting ? Looking for rays, puffers, spadefish, blennies, small flounder, sea robins, etc etc. Pep shrimp end up being live food usually ( even big shrimp) and I usually cheat and get mullet so the top of the tank is active. We head back right after so our survival rate is darn good.

That said, I would like recommendations for a 1/2 day collecting madness. I'd even pay a guide if someone feels like collecting AND collecting.

Thank you
Hey whats up, that trip still in your plans? I've been apart of a few trawls in the Galveston bay area and you definitely catch some cool critters. I'll be following to see how your trip goes. Sounds fun

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wdickenson

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Nice ! Yes I am although I had to switch to the 29th for work. Got my traps all set, just got oxygen tanks refilled, and I am looking forward to bringing some interesting things home ! I am excited

Thats a heck of a big blenny ! wow
 
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I was out in Galveston last night. Water wasn’t clear. Swells

Was on the East end and saw a couple anemones in the rocks. Never seen them there before.

IMO, if you can catch a light N or NW wind under 5mph including gusts or no gusts at all with green water...that is the most epic time to go. Or it w/o wind at all, which is very hard to catch it like that. I use an app called Windy along with weather bug and I can pin point those perfect nights. It usually happens in the middle of summer.

I’ll post a pic of the app.
 

BenL

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Wow check out what this family caught in Galveston recently. Anyone come across these while looking for critters in Galveston?? Would be sick in an aquarium, granted you could get it to eat. 8ebaa63a3feab3bed1ec20c584acf72e.jpg

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