Reports & Forecasts: January 2019

Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268
January is one of the best months to catch the trout of a lifetime. The weather conditions can be frustrating at times, but on warmer days trout usually eat well. Most of these fish will be found in water over sandy bottoms or oyster reefs. Look for them in four feet of water or less. On chillier days, try water over a mucky bottom with scattered oysters. For whatever reason, trout are usually drawn to this type of bottom on colder days. Wading is often the method of choice to fish for big trout, simply because it is stealthier and allows fishermen to fish an area more thoroughly no matter the weather conditions. Catching big trout while drifting is more difficult, but it can be done effectively. Using mother nature to your advantage when drift fishing is imperative. Use the wind and tide to fish an area. Only use the trolling motor when necessary and never run it on high speed. Picking your days to fish in February is often crucial. If that is not an option, redfish will still be thick at the weirs and along the banks adjacent to marsh drains.

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James reports excellent fishing lately, and he expects it to continue, especially for people targeting bigger than average trout in January. “We have had such a wet fall and early-winter, so some areas are inundated with freshwater, while others have salty water and plenty of fish. As usual, when the rivers run high, fishing in Lower Galveston and West Galveston Bays gets good. In the middle of winter, West Galveston can be a great place to target big trout. If the weather's cold and tides are low, we do best throwing 51 and 52M MirrOlures and soft plastics out of the boat in places around Green's and Mecom's Cuts. Wading will work better when tides are higher and the wind is blowing over the island. We also catch some really good trout wading around the sand bars and reefs along the shoreline. When we're wading, we like to throw slow-sinking twitch baits like Catch 2000s and Catch 5s, or the Paul Brown Lures. SheDogs and ShePups works great on some days too, when we see lots of bait at the surface and the weather is warm.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim has had good fishing on some recent trips, and excellent duck hunting too. “We've got a good variety of ducks, and the shooting has been fast and furious on lots of hunts. The hunting should remain excellent through January. Fishing has had its ups and downs, but it's been good lately. We're catching both trout and redfish in the marsh when tides are up. We've been trolling around and catching best on soft plastics. When winds are fairly light, the fishing around deep reefs in the middle of East Bay has been productive as well. We're keying on areas adjacent to some of the main reefs and working long drifts. This time of year, we aren't able to key on slicks and bait as much. On the shorelines, on days when the fish want to be shallow and customers want to wade, finding lots of jumping mullet is the key to finding trout. In January, wading is usually best when warm onshore winds push the tide up some and the weather's warm. We like to fish incoming tides in the afternoon hours, right up to dusk at times. On the best days, topwaters work well, but the MirrOlure twitch baits and soft plastics produce better most days.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall reports he recently established a good working relationship with the folks who started the Salty Texan brand, and that he appreciates their support. “Those are some good people. They encourage the coastal fishing lifestyle,” he says. In spinning his own fishing tales about recent outings, Randall relates some details about fishing shallow and some about fishing deep. “We had a hot bite on day glo Paul Brown Lures the other day, wading a flat with scattered shell over a mud bottom. Caught quite a few really solid trout working that plan. On other days, we're finding the bite better in water running from about eight to fifteen feet deep. Again, the bottom in the best areas is muddy, with some shell scattered around. We've been catching well on a Norton Sand Eel in a new color, called sand shad. We're using fairly heavy jigheads, at least three-eighths ounce, sometimes heavier if the wind and current are strong. January fishing should be much the same, with some warm days favoring wading and a steady bite in deeper water when it's colder.”

Matagorda | Charlie Paradoski
Bay Guide Service - 713.725.2401
January is a great time to target monster trout in the Matagorda area, Charlie says. This year shapes up to be a great one for that. “We've had some cold weather already, so the trout are well on their way into a steady winter pattern. On the colder days, fishing for them around the spoil islands and reefs on the north side of the bay close to the ICW is best. At times, we find them right on the edges of the ditch itself. With low tides, after a frontal passage, fishing for big trout can be really good out of the boat in the middle, in places around Raymond's Shoal and Half Moon Reef, where a mix of mud and shell covers the bottom. Soft plastics on fairly heavy jigheads work best out there. The worm needs to maintain some contact with the bottom. On the warmer days, or right after a front hits, wading the flooded coves on the south shoreline works better. In there, topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits work well at times, especially when lots of mullet are jumping. But soft plastics on light jigheads can trigger strikes from giants too.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
We've had a great start to our cold-weather fishing. Trout have been pretty easy to find in several locations. We've been catching good numbers of small keepers over deep shell on shrimp and DSL lures rigged under a cork. We've also been targeting the local rivers on colder days, hammering trout on the ledges, using three-eighths ounce jigheads rigged with DSL lures in the chicken of the sea color pattern. Our night fishing has been the best it has been in a long time. The whole seawall has produced, from the point all the way around past the new pavilion. Double speck rigs have accounted for best bite. Redfish have been loaded up in bayous and creeks, and when you find the first one, you can work on 'em for a while. Gulp! shrimp rigged about a foot under a cork has worked best. January fishing should remain steady, with colder days favoring rivers and deep shell, and warmers days favoring flats close to deep water. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434
Since January is the coldest month of the year, Lynn likes to leave the dock later in the morning and fish the afternoon hours. “I won't leave the dock most days until nine or ten o'clock. I like to let the sun get up in the sky and start heating up the flats. This time of year, I target the big trout most of the time, and the warmth of the sun helps pull them out of the deep water onto the flats where we're wading. I tend to pick flats with a mix of mud and shell on the bottom, in close proximity to a deep channel, hole or open basin. We look for flats holding decent concentrations of bait. Don't have to see a big raft or anything, but there does need to be recognizable signs of life. We target the trout with soft, slow-sinking twitch baits much of the time in January, meaning SoftDines and of course, the old standby Paul Brown Lures. Working these lures slowly, with subtle twitches and pauses, usually proves best for urging strikes from the big trout in cold water. Of course, the redfish sometimes get in the way, since they prefer some of the same places.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake will still be working his cast and blast outings in January. “Duck hunting has been really good this year so far. It should continue hot, as we've got ducks all over the place. Excellent variety too. We start off most days hunkered down in a blind in a back lake somewhere, after a ride in the air boat. The shooting is normally good in the first couple hours of daylight. After we finish the hunt, we like to fish our way out of the marsh and into the bay. We spend some time targeting redfish in the lakes on some days, if we've been seeing plenty while boat riding on recent trips. Sometimes, we fish for them in the holes in the deeper parts of the back lakes, or in the drains connecting them to the bay. Trout fishing is generally better in the main bays along shorelines adjacent to the marsh drains, where grass covers a muddy bottom. This time of year, Norton Sand Eels work best on most days, since the water's usually cold. We sometimes find the need to throw the Gulp! split-tails, when the bite is slower. I like the chartreuse one best. When the stars align, and the fish are really hungry, we have some great topwater days too.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata – [email protected] - 361.563.1160
The air temperatures have been down, the boat traffic is down and the water temperature is down, but fishing is good. The trick is making the correct adjustments. During cold nights, the fish go into deeper water, five feet or more, with muddy bottoms. As the sun rises and warms up the shallow water, the fish will move into water depths of three feet or less. I will start fishing in the early morning hours along the edges of deep channels, using dark Bass Assassin Die Dappers rigged on a quarter-ounce Assassin Spring Lock jigheads and working them along the drop-offs of the channels. As the sun warms up the shallow water, I will switch to lighter-colored Assassin Die Dappers like sand trout and salt & pepper/chartreuse rigged on eighth-ounce heads in three feet of water or less. On sunny days, I will look for flats with one foot of water and sight-cast for reds and black drum with shrimp-flavored Fish-Bites or Assassin Elite Shiners on sixteenth-ounce jigheads.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
Fishing for trout and redfish in January can be easy or extremely difficult, depending on the day and the type of weather, Joe says. “When the weather is cold, we generally have days when it's difficult to function in January, because strong winds make controlling the boat difficult, and fish tend to become inactive and sit on the bottom, so they're hard to catch. When conditions improve after a cold snap, though, the catching can turn epic in a hurry. For the most part, trout and reds tend to stay in areas without much grass on the bottom, either in the channels themselves, or in holes like Emmord's and Beacroft's this month. Targeting them there means throwing soft plastics rigged on jigheads of the correct size. If winds and currents are light, using the lightest heads possible works best. In stronger winds and currents, and in deeper water, using heavier jigheads will become necessary. The whole key is to find the jighead with the slowest fall rate which will allow for keeping the soft plastic in close proximity to the bottom or drop-off.”

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361-877-3583 | Oceanepics.com
It will be hard to top the spectacular surf fishing we enjoyed in 2018. January and February bring the coolest water temps of the year, and the surf zone can appear dormant on the coldest days. The best opportunity usually comes on the nicest bluebird days. Pompano action is already off to a strong start; a warm day with green surf gives good numbers of these tasty fish. Peeled shrimp and Fishbites on small circle hooks are effective. Calm days with decent water clarity will also produce speckled trout. Slow-sinking twitch baits on slow retrieves will attract bites. Redfish of all sizes will be available. Mullet is definitely the best bait, but cut whiting also gets the job done. Remember that mullet must not exceed 12 inches this month. Anglers can also expect black drum to take pompano and redfish baits. Sandbar, Atlantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks can be available when the surf water is 60° and warmer. January can be a very peaceful and relaxing month on the beach. Catch the weather right and the bite can be surprisingly hot!

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000
Fishing in January can be hit or miss; keep a sharp eye on the fronts as they come through. Generally speaking, the day before a front and the day the front arrives can be killer, assuming the winds allow fishing. The second and third days after the front goes through can also be reliable producers. Bait activity can be tough to spot when the water temps take a dive. Key on a single mullet or two jumping. Pelicans and gulls hovering and occasionally diving, herons and egrets running up and down a shoreline can indicate bait presence. Pay attention to all the birds, even ospreys and grebes. Topwaters get sidelined for Brown Lures and MirrOdines or the KWiggler Willow Tails on their new weedless hooks, especially when targeting bigger trout. I have confidence in colors like Mansfield Margarita and bone diamond. Good post-front spots are The Saucer and The Pipeline areas, Northeast Pocket, and pretty much the whole west shoreline. The ICW spoil humps, both north and south of port, also produce well at times, with bait present.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com – 956-639-1941
Fishing has made an exceptional turn for the better with cooler weather and water temperatures. KWiggler Ball Tail Shads in plum chartreuse on 1/8-ounce jigheads continues to be our go-to trout bait. Best success for keeper-size fish has been working potholes just off the ICW. Don’t let the numbers of small fish discourage you; there’s plenty of good ones with them. Redfish are still hanging on shallow grass flats with incoming tides, and then falling off into deeper pockets as the tide recedes. Reds are loving topwaters but be advised that single hooks on your plugs are still necessary due to floating grass. Hopefully this nuisance will be gone soon. I expect that as fronts become more frequent and colder we will see patterns shifting toward regions that include deeper mud and shell bottoms. But don’t not rule out the possibility of trout and reds alike returning to shallow grass flats during prolonged warming periods. The winter fishing season here in the Port Isabel/SPI area has really only just begun and from what we are seeing thus far it promises to be a good one. Come on out and see for yourself!