Saltwater Fishing the Texas City Dike

[Pferox]

I don't know how to exactly describe saltwater fishing the Texas City Dike.  What would you call 5 miles of road with shoreline on both sides and in front of you.  A Pier, or a Jetty?  I know, a Bull Redfish magnet.  But that description understates this piece of man's marvel.

The Dike was actually built to protect the Houston ship canal and the associated docks and ports from the forces of nature in Galveston Bay and the Gulf.  But it quickly became a saltwater angler's paradise.  And a popular summer place for many others as well.

At one time there were bait camps, boat ramps, and fishing piers dotted all along the shore line of this wondrous place.  It was also free to get on.

Then came hurricane Ike, and it almost destroyed the dike, but thanks to the importance of the dike, and man's ingenuity, it was rebuilt in the matter of a couple of years.  The City of Texas City, and the others who are involved with the Dike looked at it as a clean slate, a way to make something that can be enjoyed by everyone for years to come.  And it is still a work in progress.

The two lane, paved road is brand new, one side of the dike is covered in large square boulders, making a fantastic place for sheepshead and other devourers of crusty critters, there are wadeable flats, non wadeable flats, beaches, boat ramps, and even deep shelves.  Just about any thinkable means of saltwater fishing is obtainable, except pier fishing, and I bet that will crop up too eventually.

One side can be so rough that it looked like a washing machine, the other almost as smooth as glass.  On the deeper end you will find an array of heavy lines and short to long rods, poised waiting in anticipation of that next state record Bull Red, or Black Drum.

At another spot, you will see waders in knee to chest deep water with lighter gear trying for a limit of spots or slot reds.

Go to the beach area and you will see the members of the surf crowd with their long rods, heavy weights, and tough baits whipping out in anticipation of one of many Gulf species to take the hook.

Just about everywhere in between you find anglers bouncing jigs, or carolina rigs trying for those tasty flounder.

So you can keep track of where you are fishing at for the next time, the city had put up mile markers, which is actually a fantastic Idea.  It is also so the joggers can tell how far they have traveled.

This place is so popular that people custom make vehicles to night fish it, special lights, generators, just about anything imaginable has been tried.  This is one of the few places around where you can tailgate and fish at the same time with the family station wagon.

Obtaining bait, and other important necessities can be done at one of the 3 or 4 bait shops right outside of the entrance.  The most popular is Boyd's and waiting in line to buy bait is a normal and enlightening experience.  That is the place to go to hear all the skinny about what is going on dike wise, and everywhere else wise for that matter.

Since reopening after the Ike repairs, the City of Texas city charges a $5 per car entrance fee on summer weekends during "daylight hours" it is cash only.  Weekdays and "dark hours" are free.  As of the time of this posting.  If you are a resident of Texas City, you can obtain a sticker that gives you free access.  There is a website that covers all of this information and is probably more current than a posting can be.

For some reason I'm on a one fish limit on the dike, but I'm working on changing that, and like any lake or body of water, certain areas produce abundantly while others only just produce, depending on what day of the week it is, of course. 

I can honestly say, I have never skunked on the Texas City Dike, and that is an impressive record in anybody's book.

[Pferox]

I don't have many pictures of the Dike, so wanted to share this video made by Jason Simpkins with his drone.  I figure it was taken about 3 or 4 miles out on the dike, and gives a pretty good representation of some of the of the Dike.  The drone is kind of noisy, and he has a few other ones on his site, but you can get a pretty good idea of how it is built on this one.



I looked through my pictures and actually only found one picture at the dike, one of Robert, having some fun fishing with a Sibiki rig I tied.



I know I have more of them, but can't seem to find them in the array of pictures on our storage drive, go figure.