Whoever said “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait, it will change.”  was right. I didn’t like last month’s cold windy weather and sure enough, it got worse. The tides are even lower than they were a few weeks ago when the duck season ended. The wind seems to have kicked up a notch and the temperature; well lets just say it got Real Cold. I know most of the country got a direct hit from the last big storm but we don’t normally get sub freezing conditions that last for most of 3 days. When we do get hit this hard, it can often result in a pretty severe fish kill. However, the early reports that I’ve heard have been encouraging with limited accounts of large trout or reds being spotted.


Since the freeze occurred during a period of extremely low tides, the popular theory is that most of the trout and reds had already left the back lakes and shallow shorelines in favor of deeper water. The deeper water, of course, stays warmer and provides the fish a safe place to hunker down until the shallow water warms. The Parks and Wildlife folks announced the closure of fishing at several of the cold water fishing spots along the coast for a few days. Included in the closure was the area around The Army Hole.


Bottom Line, fishing has been on hold for all but the most serious of anglers. I’ve heard a few reports of fish being caught in area canals and rivers. The Lavaca River, Garcitas Creek and the Victoria Barge Canal are probably producing trout and reds. The jetties can be good during these periods of cold water and low tides but the heavy north wind sure makes the trip across the bay a grind.


When the source of this prolonged cycle of north wind and cold weather changes I’m sure we will see some great Winter fishing. I’m really ready for some Bull Reds or Big Drum or Sow Trout, actually I just hope to have a picture of a nice box of fish to attach to my next report!


Capt. Bob Hill  Port O’Connor Charters  (361) 983-4325