Many Texans will spend their entire lives chasing the big one on the Gulf Coast. They’ll traverse marshes and bays in search of a bull red or spec worthy of hanging on the wall or, perhaps more importantly, posting on social media.
I’ve spent my share of afternoons casting but have never had half as much luck as I did in 10 minutes fishing the ponds outside Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson, about an hour south of Houston. That’s because many of the redfish and speckled trout in our state started their lives right here.
Sea Center Texas is an aquarium, science lab and fish nursery. It’s where the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department breeds fish to populate our waters and educates the public on all the amazing creatures of our coast.
What immediately impressed me wasn’t the live fish but the replicas of state-record saltwater fish covering the lobby walls. Let’s just say the great hammerhead specimen still gives me nightmares.
I walked the halls of aquariums, each focusing on a different underwater ecosystem, from coastal marshes to deeper offshore waters. There was even a touch tank where I held a blue crab (pincers removed, thankfully).
I then grabbed a tour of the back-of-house where TPWD biologists raise millions (literally) of reds, trout and flounder. Outside is a wetlands boardwalk and 75 acres of tanks, including some open for public youth fishing. Luckily I had my kids in tow and was able to reel in a speckled trout much bigger than anything I’ve ever caught before. But, hey, I’ll count it.
It’s just one of the many reasons to plan a trip here instead of chasing the big ones all around the coast.
