Bolivar pocket This is located at the base of the north jetty. Take the ferry across and drive approximately 3.6 miles to Rettilon Rd and turn right onto the beach. Turn right and drive south on the beach until the end of the “drive on beach” zone and park. There will probably be lots of vehicles on a weekend morning, but don’t despair. Head down the beach toward the jetty 400 yards and start fishing. Fish back towards the base of the jetty. The water is shin deep with guts to thigh deep. Redfish and trout travel in the guts. Use chartreuse clousers and poppers. If the Spanish mackerel are present, a 30 lb. bite tippet should be used. Almost all the conventional fishermen will head straight out until neck deep or towards the boat cut. You will have the large pocket to yourself. Best at dawn and dusk.

North Galveston Jetty boat cut Located on the Bolivar peninsula. Take the ferry across and go 1.8 miles and turn right. Follow road until it dead ends at the jetty. There is a store and bait shop at the base. Walk/hike for 40 minutes until you reach the boat cut at the end of the walking area. Walking is generally easy and I do it in tennis shoes. Fish as close as possible to the cut itself. Outgoing tide is better than an incoming, but tide must be moving. Sinking flies like a clouser are best. Do not attempt if waves are breaking on the jetties making the rocks wet.

Jones Lake shoreline The closest and easiest to get to. I’ve caught reds, speckled trout and ladyfish at this easy to get to destination. Take I-45 south and exit at highway 6/ Bayou Vista and stay on the feeder road until it ends and loops back north. You are actually just across the bridge from Fatboy’s Marina at this point. Walk the railroad tracks about 100 yards and enter the water and start fishing. The bottom is semi hard mud and shell and is definitely wadeable. Stay within 30 yards of the shore (less than thigh deep) and work the shoreline for up to 1.3 miles. Clousers and poppers are effective. Avoid west or southwest winds. Take mosquito dope.

Cold Pass On the Freeport side of San Luis pass. Cross over San Luis Pass bridge heading to Freeport and go about 0.5 mile and park on the right. There is a sandy parking area. If water is high, walk; do not drive through the salt marsh or you can get stuck. Walk/wade to Cold pass and fish the shoreline and/or the pass itself. Avoid the back lake on your right; you will sink to your waist in bottomless mud. You can fish the shoreline down to the old pier to the south (approx 0.9 mi.). This area also provides comic relief as you cannot fish for 1 hour without seeing 4 boats run aground in the middle (the shallowest) of the pass. Trout, reds and flounder are possible with clousers. This is a popular kayak spot. Take mosquito dope.

Christmas Bay Further on down the road toward Freeport from Cold Pass. This bay has the clearest water and the most grass of any in the Galveston Bay complex. It is very popular with kayakers. There are many access roads leading off hwy 332 to the bay. Some of the smaller ones may require 4 wheel drive; use your common sense and you will not get stuck. If you park by the hiway, the worst is a 10 minute walk to the waters edge. Wade in shin deep water or shallower water near the shoreline and try to avoid others. If conventional fisherman are off the bank, a good strategy is to fish the bank (i.e. wade within a cast of dry land) behind them. The bottom changes from easy to difficult wading. If you are in a mud area, keep going and the wading will get easier. Take mosquito dope.