The View: February 2025

February is that month to catch my breath after a long duck season and do all those refurbish jobs at the lodge to get ready for a busy spring; and by all accounts it’s going to be a busy spring.

Hopes for a great 2025 fishing year are very bright, especially with the solid December and January catches we have enjoyed. Our fishery is definitely responding to sound conservation measures. Catches are up, quality is up, and angler confidence is steadily climbing.

It will probably be chilly; however, colder weather narrows down the productive water in the bays. We focus on the guts and sloughs when fishing this month, since February normally hosts some of the lowest tides of the year. I don’t enjoy bundling beyond freedom of motion just to survive the chilling boat ride, yet, if you choose your days and fish between cold blasts, February can be quite a productive month.

We work toward the guts with Bass Assassins, Texas Custom Soft-Dines and Corkys. The slightest twinge on the line signals the bite. Sometimes it’s more like a peck, but the sharp hooks find lips.

I look for the slightest sign of life this month. One mullet in February is like an acre of mullet during the summer months. Find points of sloughs and bayous and anchor within casting distance. These points normally hold the deepest water as outgoing and incoming tidal flows create depressions.

If speckled trout don't cooperate, redfish are readily available in guts and bayous up and down the coast. Some of the lowest tides of the year occur this month, so you can eliminate lots of water. Concentrate on the areas that fall from waist to chest deep during the summer – those same areas are probably knee to waist deep in February.

Know that when there are acres and acres of mud showing on the flats and along shorelines, those fish have to go somewhere, and that somewhere is the adjacent deep water. Remember these areas because you will find the same fish in July when the lowest tides of summer commence.

The Colorado River has been a mainstay thus far through fall and winter. We have not received much rain for the past four months and the river has remained a beautiful emerald color with trout hanging along the ledges. Soft plastics do the trick here.

The river can be a hit or miss locale. One day they bite, one day they don’t. That doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there – they just don’t feed every day in the winter. We always hold to the winter adage: if the bite was slow today, there is the much better chance the fish will bite tomorrow. I guess that’s why optimists seem to catch more fish.

The Houston Fishing Show will run at the George R. Brown Convention Center, February 12-16, 2025. Come by and see us in the Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay booth. Ask us where we go and what we throw. All of our sponsors will be around and we will be happy to walk you to various booths and show you the equipment we use.

Renovations to our Lodge were a hit in 2024. Guests really loved the new pool and putting green and a lot of laughs were had and bets lost over a smoky grill and good company. We hope to see you in 2025.

Sunrise Lodge and Properties is a full service waterfront lodge and coastal real estate company specializing in vacation rentals, coastal homes, and farm and ranch properties.