Reports & Forecasts: January 2025

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James mentions several historically productive patterns for targeting trout and reds in and around West Galveston Bay in the middle of winter. “We generally have really clear water in West Bay this time of year. Catching trout and reds in super clear water is tough, to say the least. We do best by focusing on areas with some color in the water. Most of our best fishing occurs out of the boat in January. We often catch easy limits if we find some dirty streaks of water between Mecom’s Cut and Carancahua Reef, in water around four or five-feet deep. Out there, Bass Assassin Sea Shads in bright colors work best if the sky is bright, darker colors if it’s cloudy. Old school 51M and 52M MirrOlures work well too. With them, we like to keep the rod tip pointed down at the water and reel ‘em in slow. A bit of rhythmic twitching can be good, but too much twitching of the rod tip is counterproductive. If the weather warms up, we might have some decent wading opportunities around the big reefs and spoil banks in parts of the bay close to the Causeway, especially late in the afternoons on warm, sunny days.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim will still be hunkering down in the blinds to hunt ducks during January, and fishing some too. “We normally have some days with good conditions for duck hunting this month. Cold, nasty weather makes the ducks fly low, so it helps us pull ‘em into our spreads. Those kinds of days aren’t the best for fishing, but cold weather does make the fish somewhat predictable. When water temperatures dip down into the low-50s and stay there for a while, the holes in the bayous usually fill up with trout and redfish. In there, we target them on soft plastics mostly, matching our jighead size to the amount of current. The more current we have, the heavier the heads need to be in order to keep the lures down in the water column, where the fish are. Cold weather can also make the fishing better on main-bay shorelines adjacent to drains connecting the backwater areas with the bigger bodies of water. In this situation, which often occurs in the wake of a strong front, warm water gushing out of the marsh creates ripe potential for catching. In such situations, slow-sinking twitchbaits often work about as good as soft plastics.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall says the big temperature swings in January cause the fish to move around a lot, but also that he enjoys the challenges such things present. “We mostly fish out of the boat this month, focusing on places with some kind of change in the water, either a temperature gradient or a color change. Some of our best fishing happens where we find a seam between clear and murky water, or streaks of murky water in clear water. Generally, the fish will be found in the dirtier water. If the water’s gin clear, it usually needs to be over eight-feet deep in order to produce many bites. When we’re making long drifts, we throw mostly Norton Sand Eel Juniors in various colors, rigged on quarter-ounce Norton Screw-lock jigheads. During the prolonged warm spells, if they occur, the wading can become better. In those situations, we like to focus on small reefs and pockets of coves with a mix of soft mud and shell on the bottom and throw slow-sinking twitchbaits like Paul Brown Lures and Catch 5s. On some of the warmest afternoons, if we see lots of bait at the surface and/or jumping, we’ll break out the topwaters.”

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging
Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460
www.glennsguideservice.com
As we get into January, winter sets in and trophy trout season is in full swing. Wading shallow shorelines and reefs with slow-sinking twitchbaits, soft plastics and topwaters is the name of the game. Best bet it to key on marsh drains and reefs holding mullet. Once it gets cold, any sign of mullet activity in a likely area is enough to justify some exploration. Paul Brown Lures are kings in the winter, but tails like Bass Assassin’s 5” Shad or Coastal Brew’s Darts will also produce bites from big trout. MirrOlure MirrOdines and Soft Dines, and Texas Custom’s Double Ds are also great options. Redfish action should heat up in marsh drains and deep guts on the shorelines this month. Gulp! lures dangled under corks are a great option for them, but live bait will work great too. The Colorado River is always a wintertime favorite for locals, so long as the water is relatively salty and clear. Look for trout and redfish in deeper holes when it’s cooler and up on shallower sand bars when it’s warmer. Soft plastics on quarter to three-eighths ounce jigheads are generally the best producers, though live shrimp work well too.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
Cooler weather and lower tides have kicked off our winter fishing in the Palacios area. We’ve had lots of good trout action in several locations, creating hope for the coming months. The three local rivers (Colorado/Tres Palacios/Lavaca) have been on fire recently. We’ve been trolling shorelines working ledges and bends throwing DSL lures in Magic Grass and White Ice rigged on three-eighths ounce jigheads for best results. The Palacios Harbor has some good fish in the deep holes, and we’ve been free-lining live shrimp on small split shots and slow bouncing Berkley Gulp! three-inch shrimp in the pearl color for best results. The redfish have finally come out of the backwater areas, with the low tides. They’ve been gorging on grass shrimp, which have also been flushed out of the marsh. We’ve been targeting the reds with DOA shrimp and eighth-ounce gold & silver spoons. Pier fishing on East Bay/1st Street pier has been fantastic since the weather cooled. The key to catching on the piers is timing. During the week, extremely early and late hours work better than crowded times. When fishing during January, it’s best to work holes with muddy bottoms, in places close to the deepest water around.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
In January, Lynn likes to play the percentages related to the weather and also where the trout and redfish like to stay during the coldest month of the year. “This time of year, I like to wait until late in the morning to leave the dock, then fish my way through the warming trend of the afternoon. On most days, the fish bite better in the shallow water once the temperatures rise to their high point. This can happen right at dark on some days, since water warms up slower than air. One of the best patterns to fish during January involves a warm, sunny afternoon after a cold front has passed a day or two earlier. In this situation, the shallow water in the coves and back-lakes heats up faster than the deeper water in the main bays. When we have outgoing tides late on days like that, the warm water spills out of the lakes and coves through the drains connecting them to the bigger bodies of water. So, the bite is often great in places like that. Overall, most of the trout and reds we catch in January are found in spots with muddy bottoms and scattered shell.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
January is the last month of Blake’s favorite season of the year: the Cast-n-Blast season. “We’ll still be spending long days on the water this month, hunting during the early-morning hours when the ducks fly most, then fishing our way out of the marshes into the main bays. The best part of this is the fact that something is likely to be good, no matter what kind of weather we have. Windy, rainy weather can make the duck hunting better, while bright, calm, warm weather can make the fishing good. We have lots of reds in the back-lakes and other parts of the marshes this time of year. When the tide is high, they tend to roam around in the shallows, chasing bait along the shorelines. When the tide falls out, they become concentrated in the holes in the drains connecting the marshes with the main parts of the bays. Dark soft plastics with bright tails are by far the best lures for targeting the reds. On the toughest days, we sometimes resort to pulling out our Gulp! split-tails. Chartreuse and white seems to be the best color in those. Trout fishing is best around reefs in deeper parts of the bays.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] - 361.563.1160
January is one of the best months to hunt for a trophy whitetail buck on the ranches of South Texas. Because this is so, many outdoor enthusiasts spend lots of time stalking through the bush or waiting for a big buck to walk within range of their blind. For those of us who love to target trophy speckled trout, this means relatively light traffic on the water. If the weather’s really cold this time of year, the trout and reds aren’t too active during the morning hours. They spend most of the long nights in water too deep for wading. But, sometime towards the middle of the day, they tend to move closer to the shorelines and the shallow parts of the famous rocky sand bars in the ULM and Baffin, and we’re able to catch them on slow-sinking twitchbaits and soft plastics. On the best days, with warming weather, topwaters like She Dogs work great too. Most of the time, the bite is best on Bass Assassin Die Dappers in natural colors rigged on eighth or sixteenth-ounce jigheads fished slowly, close to the bottom, in places with a good mix of rocks or gravel, grass and mud.”

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
During the dead of winter, one of the best plans for fishing in the Upper Laguna Madre includes staying on the water until the end of the day. “When the water is super clear in the lagoon, the fishing can be difficult during the day. The trout and reds become hard to entice into striking lures when they can see them so well. So, when the weather’s cold and the skies are clear, one of the best ways to cope with this is to fish late in the afternoon and into the early hours of night. This works especially well on the days when the coldest temperatures created by passing fronts begin to rise just a bit. Normally, this happens along with calming winds. In scenarios like this, the fishing for trout in the shallows on the west side of the ULM can be great right around the time the sun dips below the horizon, and the action often lasts for a while after nightfall. On the other hand, when the weather’s warmer and skies are cloudy, with medium southeast winds, fishing can be better during daylight hours, especially if we’re have heavy cloud cover and light rain.”

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
January and February bring the coolest water and air temps of the year. On ultra-cold days, the surf may seem dormant, but on the nice bluebird days, there could be some welcoming action. The Florida pompano run should be in full effect. Any warm day with green water close to the sand should produce numbers of pompano. Trout bite best in the surf with the same conditions in play. It’s possible to catch some real monsters on slow-sinking twitchbaits or slow-worked MirrOlures. Reddish of all sizes will be in the surf. Mullet is the best bait for them this time of year, but cut whiting works well also. Black drum will be around pending any extremely cold water temps. The largest available sharks are sandbar sharks, and the smaller Atlantic sharpnose and bonnetheads also provide some fun action. Water temperatures of at least 60° should provide the best potential for those hoping to catch some sharks. Any major cold front that drops the water into the 50s will push the sharks and many other species away from the beach and into deeper water. January can be peaceful and relaxing on Texas beaches. Light crowds make things enjoyable, and the bite can be rewarding.

Port Mansfield, Texas | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
In January, it’s important to keep three things in mind when heading out on the water to fish: cold fronts, water levels, and water temperatures. I continually see boats trying to fish areas they would in summer and fall months, but with the low winter tides, some end up running aground. Everyone should check the water levels at the boat ramp and think about how this affects their plans, especially when the water is cold after a strong front passes. In mid-winter, the mid-section of the Saucer is often an ideal location to try. Fishing is also good right by the edge of the ICW between the cabins. The deeper parts of the Pipeline area to south of the East Cut is another productive stretch. West Bay and the submerged bars north of Bennie’s Shack also produces plenty of reds and trout in post-front conditions with cold water and low tides. The area north of the East Cut around the Weather Station up to Butchers Island produces lots of fish too. Places with lots of potholes and water depths ranging from middle-thigh to belly-deep are best when it’s cold. Topwaters can be productive, but KWiggler’s Ball Tail Shads rigged on light heads work better on average.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Cool weather trends make both the people and the fish more comfortable. As long as we don’t get extremely cold weather, the fishing in January is often excellent. Lately, the trout fishing has been great. We’re finding the fastest action in water ranging from two to about four-feet deep. Grassy flats adjacent to deep water have held plenty of trout on most days. To figure out where exactly to fish, we’re keying on active bait and popping slicks. ZMan Big Ballerz four-inch lures in plum/chartreuse rigged on eighth-ounce Trout-Eye jigheads have been productive, especially when worked low and slow. The redfish bite has been good and only getting better as tides fall out for the winter. We’re finding the best numbers of reds on flats covered by less than two feet of water, mostly along main-bay shorelines fairly close to creek drains. ZMan DieZel MinnowZ in redbone rigged on eighth-ounce Texas-Eye weedless jigheads have worked best over the grass in the shallows. As temperatures cool more and the tide drops to its low point, the fish will become concentrated in holes with muddy bottoms, and they’ll be easier to locate. Making fish bite this time of year is often harder than finding fish.