By Ed Snyder/Outdoors
Rollover Pass, Gilchrist, TX.
With recent trout activity keeping night-anglers busy running generator lights to catch a massive run of speckled trout, a patch of nearby water is being ignored and left almost untouched. Rollover Bay, on the western end of ‘fish pass’ has been mostly vacant of wading activity, even though rollover bay harbors the very trout, flounder, and redfish that anglers crave to catch.

Wade Angler landing a nice Speckled Trout.

Although rollover bay is but a minute drop in the pool when considering the vast saltwater expanses of East, West, Trinity, and Galveston bays, it‘s still a major fishery. In fact, Rollover Bay is so small I often refer to it as the ‘kiddy pool‘ because of its miniature size. But this is a blessing in disguise for most anglers who find that when fish are grouped in smaller areas they are actually easier to locate and catch.

Rollover bay has everything that anglers could want for wade-fishing. Mud flats for flounder, grassy banks for tailing redfish, oyster reefs for speckled trout, redfish, flounder, and sandy islets nestled along a sea channel for all other species such as drum and croaker. And, unlike the Gulf, which at times can be on rock & roll due to ruff surf, the bay almost always is calm, clear, and very fishable, rippled only by the changing tides.

Calm, predawn waters show the riffles of feeding fish so stealth anglers can sneak up on them for early fishing action. Mid-day breezes often waft the watermelon scent of specks on underwater feeding sprees where drifting trout slicks become targets for angler spoons and soft plastics. And the evening darkness becomes a playground for flounder anglers who light up bay waters

This wade angler nets a nice flounder for his dinner

looking for the flatfish.

Easy access is also an inviting factor for wade-fishing Rollover Bay where either side of the Pass’s parking areas have ample space for all vehicles. Or, if you’ve a mind to keep dry you can launch at the nearby Yacht Basin boat ramp and come around to the bay area.

Kayakers can also take advantage of this by launching their craft at Rollover pass off the bay side bulkheads or along the sandbar peninsula jutting out into the bay, where they can fish rollover, the intra-coastal, or the East bay areas. Rollover bay provides prime fly fishing opportunities as well for specks or those tailing reds.

At times, the Rollover Bay holds some of the hottest fishing action found anywhere in the in Galveston Bay system where anglers can enjoy loading up coolers with everything they could want for those family fish fries -OR- for those catch & release only anglers.

Redfish Tailing on the grassy edges of a saltmarsh.

So, if you like wading belly deep, ankle deep, or sandy toed dry, Rollover beckons you to give it a try. Where the water is always nice, the fish are always biting, with peace and quiet are always at a premium.

Rollover Bay is located on Hwy-87 on the Bolivar Peninsula between High Island and Crystal Beach, TX. Call Miss Nancy’s Bait Camp for daily weather and fishing updates. 484-560-9323