Our speckled trout and redfish populations in the Laguna Madre are in good shape! I have been coming in with very good numbers of trout, up to 27 inches. The redfish have also been so plentiful that we have been catching limits of them on almost every trip. Most of the reds have been slot sized, with quite a few being oversized, some up to 33 inches. The air temperatures, water temperature and level will drop this time of the year. This is one of my favorite times of the year to fish for trophy speckled trout. With the wind blowing hard from one direction and then turning and blowing hard from a different direction the next day, dead grass will be suspended or brought up to the surface, creating problems with some lures. One solution is to rig a “Kwik Cork” or Cajun Thunder with a quarter ounce jighead and a Bass Assassin Blurp four inch shrimp or five inch shad in pearl, new penny or electric chicken. “I’ll be throwing a lot of slow sinking lures come January,” Lynn predicts. “Of course, I’m partial to the Corkies, and I’ll be using them a lot. I also like the new baits made by Spro. They have some pretty topwaters and also a killer slow sinking jointed bait. It’s more realistic than a live mullet, I believe! And it’s got an incredible lifelike action to it. You have to see it to believe it. The key is that it comes in a floater, a slow sinker and a fast sinker, so you can cover all the bases that are necessary in winter fishing. Sometimes, the fish are really active, on the warmer days, and they’ll strike on top. Most days, the slow sinkers are the best bet. In the toughest conditions, the fast sinker will come into play, since you can keep it closer to the bottom. Dragging a soft plastic slowly on or near the bottom will often be the best on the really tough days. Low and slow can be the only way to catch the fish on the coldest days.”
duck hunting and then fishing on most days in January. We have lots of ducks already, so it should be good next month. This is one of the best times of year for catching redfish too. The fish get stacked up on the dropoffs and in the deeper holes in the drains, especially when tides are low like they normally are. We’ll also be targeting some of the larger trout, which we seem to catch more often in the cold weather. The drill for the trout is to focus on areas where the drains come out of the marshes into the main bays. Look for potholes with soft bottom in the vicinity of those drains. I also like to fish areas with muddy bottoms and scattered shell mixed in. Suspending baits are best for the trout; I love my Corkies. Topwaters will work at times too, but it’s hard to beat the old Sand Eels much of the time. Same colors as always, dark with chartreuse tail.”
Sandbar sharks should be in good supply with lesser numbers of bull and blacktipped sharks available. Cownose and stingray seem to be prime winter bait and most fish are caught in late afternoons or at night. Kayaked baits will produce best. Pompano should continue in the best numbers of the year with fresh-peeled dead shrimp and pink or green “Fishbites” producing the best. Pick wide deep guts and make long casts for pompano. A cut through the outside bar is a perfect location. The pompano require light wind conditions and green water. Whiting, sheepshead and black drum will be present along with oversized and slot reds. Some days the reds want cut mullet and other days shrimp work best. Shrimp will work on the other bottom species. Some Atlantic bluefish may be present and if the winter speckled trout are going to make a showing January is a prime month; typically using 51M MirrOlure twitch baits and a very www.TSFMAG.com www.TSFMAG.com
Just Keep Five Just Keep Five
of trout and reds biting most every day. “There are birds working up and down the ditch, mostly south of the causeway. Under them, you’ll find a lot of small trout, but the patient and persistent people will be able to cull some better trout and reds out of the bunch. The key is to use a jighead that’s heavy enough to get down to where some of the better fish are holding. Using heavier heads also allows for maintaining contact with the edge and secondary ledges. Sometimes, it’s better to stay away from the main bird activity and work sections where the dropoff doesn’t go all the way to the bottom directly, but where there’s a secondary ledge six or eight feet deep.” Though the birds will likely stop working in January, lots of fish will still relate to the deep waters of the ICW because or their instinctive fear of freezing in the coldest month.
January is the last hurrah for the cast and blast season for Blake. “We’ll be
slow retrieve. Beware of NE winds which will push tides high.
Fishing around the ICW has been very productive recently, with good numbers
Bruce says that recent trips have been productive on big trout in the Port Mansfield area. “We’re seeing some positive results from all the changes in our area, including the dredging of the channel and the lowering of the trout limit. Our fishing has been good already and should be throughout the winter for trophy trout. Tactics in January will be much like the ones we use in December. We’ll key on deeper, muddy potholes in close proximity to drains or other connectors between deep and shallow areas. Slow presentations will be favored; we’ll throw suspending baits like Catch 2000s and the Money Minnow by Pradco. It can be rigged so you can pause it in a likely spot and it will suspend. It has a tail that gives a lot of flutter and vibration and it’s realistic looking. Of course, we love topwaters and will not hesitate to throw them if we see bait jumping. Many days, we’ll leave the dock later and come in at dark.”
We haven’t seen fishing like this since the early ‘80s. The LLM is full of big trout and redfish that are biting even during double tides and calm winds. You’ll just be sitting there in shin-deep, clear water and the fish swim up to the boat begging. We’re still getting the best results with corks and Gulp shrimp. The color doesn’t seem to matter much, unless the wind’s out of the north, pushing brown tide into limited areas, then glow and pearl white are definitely an advantage. Check with Kyle at Johnny’s True Value for the correct way to rig up. We’re fishing shallow, but some deeper pot holes on the East side are holding beautiful trout; the reds are moving around, so they’re a little harder to keep track of, but there’s usually a big herd hanging around south of Gas Well. Freddy says, “Now’s the time to go out and get that personal best trout. Take pictures and release her back to fight again; fish under 25 inches eat best.”
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