Freeport, Texas

Fishing & Travel Destination

A one-hour drive from either Galveston to the east or Houston to the north will bring you into historic downtown Freeport, proud recipient of an official “Texas Main Street City” designation.  This small, friendly town sits between the banks of the Brazos River and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.  Around the quaint town limits you will find galleries, antique shops, savory local cuisine, and beautiful historic architecture.  However, none of these treats should dissuade you from your chief purpose for visiting:  fishing.  A large shrimp fishing fleet serves as example to this city’s historic commitment to this industry.  Several public boat ramps provide convenient access to the many nutrient-rich local waters, and larger, deep-blue Gulf populations.  Port Freeport is one of the largest and fastest growing deep water ports in Texas, and the fishing is only getting better.

A few miles to the north of Freeport are Christmas Bay along with numerous smaller bays, and San Luis Pass, all encompassing miles of prime shoreline and deeper channels.  These waters support a high diversity of finfish, outnumbering any other portion of the Galveston Bay estuary.  Recreational areas provide camping and boat access to some of the best fishing in the state.  San Luis Pass Fishing Pier is a 1,200-foot lighted pier that puts you over the point where blue waters of the Gulf meet the great spawning waters of the bays.  At Surfside Beach, families and couples can enjoy the Gulf coastline by boating, shelling, beachcombing, surfing and of course, fishing.  Thirty-five miles of sandy beaches along these shores give way to dramatically deep Gulf waters, attracting many varieties of saltwater game fish.  This area is filled with natural bottom structure, coral reefs, and offshore oil platforms, providing an ideal environment for an exceptional number of species.  Less experienced anglers can stay ashore, enjoying wade fishing, bank and surf fishing, along with casting from the long jetty.  Bait and tackle shops are available to provide you with all necessary fishing equipment.  Half-day charters leaving from Surfside reach prime fishing grounds very soon, enjoying great success only 10-20 miles out.  Longer trips are also offered, taking you out much further for bigger game.  Full-day, overnight, and moonlight charter trips bring as much reward as you can handle.

Christmas Bay and the surrounding other bays and estuaries are mostly shallow waters with firm bottoms; perfect for wade and shore fishing away from crowds and in the warm embrace of nature.  The favorite targets here are Flounder, Spotted Sea Trout, and Red Drum.  Casting from the pier at San Luis Pass is almost too easy, with the waters beneath your feet crowded by traffic of Gafftop, Golden Croaker, Amberjack, Pompano, Drum, and many more choices.  Fishing from dry land at Surfside Beach puts you in easy casting distance of Flounder, Redfish, and Speckled Trout.  Kids can try their hands with these relatively easy sizes, while adults and more serious anglers can board a boat to go offshore where the water gets deeper quickly.  Charters can get you into excellent conditions for Red Snapper, Ling, Bonita, and Kingfish in no time.  These trips will visit offshore structures where all the big fish hunt and school, like oil platforms, wrecks, and reefs.  Other popular areas include tide rips and shrimp boats.  In these Texas Gulf waters, home to Tarpon, Amberjack, Bonita, Jack Crevalle, and Grouper you can spend hours on end hooking up again and again.  Larger species, like Tuna, Bull Reds, Sailfish, Marlin, and even Hammerhead Sharks are lurking further away from shore.  Overnight trips can reach these depths and provide you with enough time to land more than a few separate beasts.

At first glance Freeport may seem like nothing more than a small fishing town on the Gulf Coast.  Getting there, instead, will deliver an entirely different perspective.  So much water surrounds this friendly town that loves its fishing; and so much history only adds to the attraction.  In addition to such easy access to the regional favorites of Redfish, Flounder, and Trout are many heartier ocean predators native to the same Gulf waters so many other people share.  Yet the difference in Freeport, Texas is clear.  Proximity to the Gulf Coast and uniquely quick, easy access to deep water, almost guarantees you’ll be hooked up within an hour of leaving dock.  That makes Freeport well worth the extra trip.