The past couple of weeks have been hot and cold on the catches for me. It has all been driven by the weather which is no secret this time of year. Days of blowing cold rain and wind followed calm warm sunshine has been the norm of late. Texas weather is usually like this in February with some years being much colder and others being unusually pleasant. The fish respond to these changes by yo-yoing from shallow hard sand to deeper soft mud bottoms in order to roll with the water temperature changes and survive it day by day.
Wade fishing with lures has been the ticket to success more days than not. Catches of solid Speckled Trout have almost been a given while Redfish have made an appearance too. I have personally caught more redfish lately that were a bit less in length than the legal minimum of 20” and I have enjoyed the battle these though young fish have provided. The other thing about the wading has also been the variety of lures the fish have been preferring. Whereas a month ago I could only do well on slow sinking soft plugs, the fish have been preferring other baits, almost any that you throw at them. The topwater bite has been very good as well as both soft plastics with paddle tails and those with straighter tails. The difference in the two is dramatic under the water as you will see the paddle tails are more straight swimming lures with a greater vibration from the tail which is in contrast to the straight tails that dart erratically from side to side and up and down while being tugged along. It’s been fun to experiment with the different types of lures that I have in my wade box and it’s satisfying to have the fish respond well to all of them. Makes that purchase of THE LURE you gotta have seem like the best idea in a long time!
As we turn to the middle of this month more of our trips are beginning to be ones where we are in the boat and using bait. Those trips have been successful too and they will get more and more fun as the weather continues to warm towards Spring. Soon we will change over from dead shrimp and crabs to live shrimp under popping corks and cut mullet it will go wide open. By the time Spring Break rolls around we should be in the middle of some of the best action of the year. Speckled trout and redfish will hold strong in the foreseeable future. The question is will you be a part of the action.
The groundhog was right I believe and it will be an early Spring! Signs have been there for a couple of weeks and it’s time to make that transition out of the winter blues and into a warm state of mind down here on the middle coast of Texas. See ya soon I hope!
Capt Stephen Boriskie,Bay Flats Lodge, 888-677-4868
