Reports & Forecasts: January 2022

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com – 409.935.7242
For the last couple months, James has had good results when fishing in a variety of places, but he cautions all, “It's not bad fishing, but it's hard fishing. In many places, a few fish can be found around most any hump or grass bed or patch reef, but it's normally not a big number. This means people with patience and perseverance and drive will do best. In many cases, I catch a couple, maybe three or four fish in one place, move to another, catch one or two, do that several times, then circle back and start over. When you add up the numbers at the end, it's fine, but it feels like work to some people. We've had stretches where the fish will only bite soft plastics, usually when the water has some color to it. When the water clears up, we're catching better on hard baits, like 51 and 52M MirrOlures, Leles and MirrOdines. No really good topwater bite lately for us. We do have a few birds working in some places, but not as many as normal for this time of year. And the schools of fish under the birds have been dink trout, sand trout and bull reds.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service – 409.996.3054
Jim says a few more cold fronts should take the duck hunting to another level soon. “We have had some good shoots and some mediocre ones. We really need some more cold weather to push the bay ducks on down to us. Hoping for better shooting as it gets colder, and January usually provides such weather. Fishing has been good for numbers of both trout and reds lately. In January, we do a lot of fishing in the bayous and marshes. On the warmer days, when the tide is up, we catch 'em pretty good in the shallower parts of the marshes adjacent to the bayous. On those days, throwing small topwaters often works well, especially for the reds. We've been catching plenty in the slot and a few oversized ones recently. The trout are mostly smallish, with a good percentage of keepers, most about two and a half or three pounds. They bite pretty well in the shallows during warm spells too, but we catch more in colder weather, after the wind blows the tide out. Then, the deeper holes in the bayous can produce big numbers. We throw quarter-ounce heads when the tide is ripping, eighth-ounce when it's weaker.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 – 979.864.9323
Randall mentions the weather as a key to figuring out the best way to fish in the area around San Luis Pass in the dead of winter. “Right now, the tide's still high and the water's warm, with the balmy weather and onshore winds. Our shrimp have not left the bays yet. But, by the time this report hits the shelves, they likely will have. Once we lose the shrimp and the working birds, we wind up fishing out in the middle of the bays, in depths of three or four, sometimes six or seven feet. Out there, we like to throw Norton Sand Eel Juniors this time of year, in natural looking colors like bone diamond, cayenne red and tequila gold, rigged on three-sixteenth ounce heads. We'll use any kind of predatory activity we can see to figure out where to fish. I don't ignore terns, cormorants, pelicans or gulls when I'm on the water. They find the fish for me on lots of days. Of course, when warmer weather settles in, we'll do some wading along area shorelines , throwing slow-sinking twitch baits mostly, topwaters if it's really warm and we see lots of active bait on the surface.”

Matagorda | Bay Guide Service
Charlie Paradoski – 713.725.2401
Charlie says January is historically one of the best months to fish in the Matagorda area, especially for folks looking to catch some of the big trout which made the area famous. “We've got some tournaments coming up, and I expect some big trout to come in. Lately, we're catching plenty of trout and redfish in the Colorado River. As long as we don't get some big flooding rains between now and Christmas, this should hold up through January. The action in there can really save the day when it gets windy. On calmer days, when the water in both main bays settles out, the fishing has been great out of the boat, throwing soft plastics and bumping them off the bottom in places with a mix of shell and mud on the bottom, usually not too far from one of the big reefs. Of course, wading in the coves and along the spoil banks can also be great this time of year. When we're doing that drill, we like to throw topwaters if the weather is really warm for winter, slow-sinkers and tails if it's colder. The key to catching in January is often to find concentrations of bait, usually mullet.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com – 979.240.8204
Lately, fishing has been excellent in all our local rivers. We've been fishing all of them, the Tres Palacios, Colorado and Lavaca, with good success catching good sized trout in the slot. We're normally throwing three-eighths ounce jigheads with DSL lures in colors like chicken of the sea and magic grass, working the ledges and sand bars. Our best bite has been on outgoing tides, as this brings the bait out of the marshes and dumps it into the rivers, where the predators are waiting. Slow-rolling the lures along the bottom, around structures has accounted for most of the bites. Fishing for reds has been great too, with plenty of opportunities for sight-casting in the clear, cool water. Best method for catching the reds has been to use the trolling motor to creep slowly along shorelines until the fish are spotted, then to stay out in front of them. They've been eating three-inch Gulp! shrimp best, with white working well. The harbor and turning basins should come more into play in January, which is normally our coldest month. During prolonged cold snaps, the deep holes hold bait and predators, especially when tide levels also fall to really low levels.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service – 361.983.4434
With the cold season starting off with lots of warm days, and Cedar Bayou being opened again, Lynn plans to be fishing south of town much of the time, come January. “Opening Cedar Bayou should be good for some of the shallower areas around Mesquite and San Antonio Bays. On warm afternoons in particular, the wading should be great down there on the south shorelines, either throwing topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits around the grass beds, or working soft plastics around some of the reefs in the chains of islands. If the weather gets somewhat colder, and the tide goes out, the pattern based on mud and shell usually works better. In either case, moving water after the middle of the day is helpful, especially if it's been sunny. In some cases, an outgoing tide pulls warm water out of the shallow back-lakes and coves and dumps it into the main bays. When this happens, fishing around the mouths of the drains is usually great. If the fish are holding on the reefs and on mud and shell close to them in the chains of islands, either direction of tide movement normally makes for a good bite.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake will still be immersed in cast and blast season throughout the month of January. “Duck hunting has been really good for us this year. And we should still have another push or two of ducks to come. We also have a late dove season opening in December and running through much of January. I'll be looking to take advantage of that too. When fishing, I spend lots of time in the back-lakes and on shorelines adjacent to the drains leading into them this month. We target reds in the lakes, mostly, in places where I see plenty while running the air boat. Mostly, we throw soft plastics at 'em, but we also catch our share on slow-sinking twitch baits and occasionally small topwaters like Baby SkitterWalks. Last year was a really good year for catching 'em on those. When targeting trout, we do better working the grass beds in water about up to our waists on main-bay shorelines, throwing the same kinds of lures. Every now and then, I'll wind up working some of the mid-bay reefs this time of year too, when we're after trout. That works best when winds are light and the tide is moving.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata – [email protected] – 361.563.1160
January provides plenty of quiet time on the water for anglers in the Baffin Bay area. It's still deer and ducks seasons, so the hunters are still hunkered down in the brush and blinds on many days. The rest of us are busy looking for the monster trout of a lifetime. If we catch one this year, we'll be sure to handle it carefully, take a few pics and measurements and release it, getting a replica mount if appropriate. As water temps decline during the middle of winter, the trout often retreat to deeper water, in places with muddy bottoms. A couple days after a cold front passes, the sun heats up the shallows, and the bait moves there to warm up, with the trout following close behind. Soft plastics work as fish finders for me this time of year, in depths of three to five feet early in the mornings, a bit shallower as the days heat up. I like to rig four-inch Bass Assassin Sea Shads in colors like salt & pepper/chartreuse, plum/chartreuse and opening night on an eighth-ounce Spring-lock jighead. Wading is most often the best approach for anglers targeting big trout in shallow water.

Corpus Christi / Joe Mendez—www.sightcast1.com—361.877.1230
January is a great month for catching a variety of fish, at least for people who understand how to target them in different types of weather, Joe says. “When it's cold, the fishing along the edges of all the channels can be great for targeting eating-sized trout and redfish. Using a trolling motor to keep the boat in the depths and casting lures along the edges usually works best. In the coldest weather, the fish will often retreat to the deepest parts of the channels, so casting soft plastics and retrieving them along the muddy bottoms of the ditches is best. As temperatures climb, the fish often relate better to the edges of the channels, so casting lures toward the shallow humps beside them and pulling them off the ledges works better. On really warm, sunny days, lots of trout and both red and black drum move onto the grassy flats to warm up. When they do so, sight-casting for them works great, since the water this time of year usually runs crystal clear. Days with moderate winds allow for the best opportunities, as the wind breaks up the glare on the water's surface and allows us to see the fish.”

P. I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361-877-3583 | Oceanepics.com
One of the biggest pleasures this time of year is being in the hot pursuit of Florida Pompano. These pomps are some of the tastiest fish around. If conditions are ideal, they may be around in good numbers this month! The best pompano leaders I have used are the Coquina Sunrise varieties available at Catchsharks.com. I have simply paired these attractant leaders with Fish-bites, usually green or pink. Pompano love clear green water, usually found a couple days after a cold front blows through. Launching your bait far out with a medium sized surf rod and a three to five-ounce weight works best. Also, expect the oversized bull reds to be running, especially at night. Cut whiting or mullet prove irresistible to them. Winter trout may also be in the surf, taking slow-sinking twitch baits. Sharks, including sandbar sharks, will be around in the shallows feeding on whiting, sheepshead and drum, as long as water temps remain above 60. The sandbar sharks top out around 7-1/2' and can weigh over 200 pounds. Fishing on warmer days during the winter should be great. Just be sure to keep an eye on approaching cold fronts, as they sometimes hit with a vengeance.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000
In January, areas north of town produce some of their best catches of the year. The fronts blow the water in and out of the shallows, making for some really aggressive bites and concentrated fish, at times. The west shoreline works best on light wind days, and most of the fish bite in depths about mid-thigh to knee-deep. Another productive area after fronts blow through is the northern section of Peyton's Bay, and all of West Bay. It's best to focus efforts in shallow water in those places, no more than knee-deep, for best results. If the tide gets really low, the middle parts of West Bay can be better than the shallower fringes. One of the best spots in that area is slightly north of a duck blind, on a big grassy hump with scattered potholes. Fishing along the the ICW in areas near the Saucer is also a good idea this time of year. The trout tend to feed along the grassy edges when they're hungry. Topwaters thrown at the sand bars adjacent to the channel work well. One of the best lures this time of year is a KWiggler Willow Tail rigged on an eighth-ounce or lighter jighead.

Lower Laguna Madre—South Padre—Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com – 956-639-1941
Aaron says the fishing has remained consistently productive for some time now down south in the Lower Laguna Madre. “We have been finding trout and reds by locating large schools of mullet. The best trout bite has been happening in water about two to four feet deep, over a mix of sand, mud and grass on the bottom. We're catching best lately on KWiggler Ball-tails in plum with chartreuse tail rigged on eighth-ounce screw-lock jigheads. The percentage of keepers out of the total catch has been good, though we are catching some undersized fish. The best retrieves have been slow and steady ones, keeping the lures close to the bottom. We're finding more reds in shallow places with mostly grass on the bottom. They've been schooling and feeding aggressively when the tide movement is good. When tides fall to low levels, the reds become concentrated in some of the deeper sandy potholes, in about three feet of water. In such a situation, they're biting small topwaters like Spook Juniors well early in the mornings. Rigging these lures with single hooks helps us cope with floating grass. As the sun rises higher in the sky, KWigglers in lagunaflauge rigged on quarter-ounce heads work better.”