Another favorite area of mine to fish is the Port Mansfield jetties, probably the smallest set of jetties in Texas. But they’re fun to fish, and they’re productive -- if you can hit ‘em when the wind isn’t howling. You usually can find good numbers of reds along those jetties in some fairly clear water. For trout I’ll fish the little cuts and coves off the channel leading up to the jetties.

The coves and cuts in the pass leading up to the Mansfield jetties are just off the channel; anchor and wade-fish these areas. The ones that usually hold the most trout are loaded with mullet. Lots of jumping mullet will quite often indicate the presence of trout.

While fishing out of Getaway Adventures Lodge one day last summer, a couple of buddies and I worked one small lagoon right near the base of the Mansfield jetties; it was loaded with mullet. We beached my Pathfinder and made a wade up the shoreline. The trout were stacked up. I caught several on a 7-weight TFO fly rod attached to a No. 1 Skitter Bug in white with a chartreuse tail. I think we ended up catching about 18 trout at that one spot. Unfortunately, the good action slowed with the outgoing tide.

After that we headed to the jetties, and found schools of redfish moving up and down the Gulf side of the north jetty. Those reds were all over streamers and Skitter Bugs fished on 8 and 9 weight TFO fly rods. Talk about a hoot! That was it.

One of the best manmade passes you’ll ever fish is on Bolivar Peninsula about 25 miles east of Galveston on Highway 87. It’s about 100 feet wide and 200-plus yards long. Cut in 1956 to improve fishing on East Galveston Bay, it’s small -- but it’s definitely one heck of a great place to fish. And it’s done a great job of maintaining the excellent fishing on East Galveston Bay.

At Rollover Pass, you won’t need a boat; in fact, you’re better off without one. You can either set up a lawn chair and fish between the concrete bullhead walls or wade-fish the back bay. And if you just have to escape, you might opt to bring a kayak along and paddle away from other anglers.

Rollover is a very popular spot to fish. It’s free, has handicapped access and is open 24/7. On one end of the pass you’ve got the Gulf of Mexico. On the other you’ve got Rollover Bay, the Intracoastal Canal and East Galveston Bay.

If you’re looking to catch big trout there, you might want to make long casts into the surf with mullet imitation plugs. Some anglers wade-fish that area, but it’s definitely a risk with some awfully strong currents. The west side of the pass, right where it meets the surf, is a good place to fish big Super Spooks or slow-sinking MirrOlures. There, trout upwards of 8 to 10 pounds were caught last summer. Some of the heaviest trout are caught at night under the lights on an outgoing green tide.