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Reports & Forecasts: February 2008
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
February is the month of the flounder run here on Calcasieu Lake. It usually starts around Valentines Day. All cuts leading from the lake into the marsh around the estuary are potentially good spots. Productive colors include glow, avocado with red tail, purple and chartreuse, and black and chartreuse. February is also a great month for catching trophy speckled trout both by drifting and wadefi shing. They can be found on flats from the north end of the lake all the way into West Cove closer to the gulf. When fishing for giant trout, look for a presence of mullet and use lures that look like mullet. Best lures to use are the Corky, Corky Devil, Catch 2000, Catch 5, and large sand eels with the lightest jighead you can stand. Redfish can be caught on these same flats using the same methods. If water temperatures fall into the forties, the Industrial Canal north of the Intracoastal Waterway will be a great place to try. Any other deep holes will have potential to produce trout in excess of twenty seven inches as well when the water is at its coldest.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James says the fishing has been good recently, particularly prior to the big front that hit around the turn of the new year. "We had lots of limits and decent fish too throughout December. It's been a little slower so far in January. Best bite lately is in the upper reaches of Trinity Bay. It's unusual for the water up there to be so clear this time of year. Fish aren't really stacked on the reefs lower in that bay because of that; most of them are closer to the river mouth. Key over there is to find the bait, which often means keying on bird activity, brown pelicans or any other birds that can give away the location of the bait. East Bay is good too; the shoreline fishing over there should be excellent in February, especially if we continue to have warmer than normal weather. West Bay has a few fish, but it's nothing spectacular. Too much salty water elsewhere to make it great in that bay this year." He continues to catch most of his fish on 51 Mirrolures, but says his clients have fared better with Bass Assassins. Natural colors work well on most days, given the clear water.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim was winding down a busy and productive duck season when we spoke. "The duck hunting was good. Of course, like the fishing, it's weather dependent. Productive patterns to fish in February will largely depend on how cold the weather is. If we get some more strong fronts like we had around New Year's, there will be more fish deep. In that case, I'll spend time in the bayous, working deep bends and holes out of the boat, using the trolling motor. When working that pattern, soft plastics are most productive. However, if we get into a warmer pattern, where the fronts are lighter and the cold weather doesn't last as long after each one, the fish will pile up on shallow shorelines in East Bay. In that type of weather, I'll do a lot more wading. I'll still throw Bass Assassins and Stanley Wedge Tails, but the Corkies and especially Catch 2000s will get more play. It's hard to beat the Catch 2000 for hookup and catch ratios. You just don't miss many fish on it. I'm not a big believer in colors; it's more about finding the fish and using the right type of lure."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall reports excellent fishing in his corner of the world this winter. "We are boxing limits with good regularity, not every day, but it's really good. Actually, the fish we're catching are holding on shell reefs, and I think this pattern of lots of quality fish on open water reefs should hold through February. The size of the trout is predictably on the upper end of the scale right now. Had a couple of six pounders the other day. Those we caught on the old Mega Ghost topwaters. They are really loud and large. They aren't available anymore, but a He Dog or an XRap would be a good substitute. Of course, our best numbers are coming on the soft plastics, especially the Norton Sand Eels in both red and black magic. By the way, Norton is coming out with a new color series which will have colors injected into the core of the baits around a clear outer layer with glitter in it. They are really impressive. I also really like the new Inshore Series rods from Laguna. They have a little more backbone than the rods I normally use, making them great for topwaters."
Matagorda | Tommy Countz
Bay Guide Service | 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037
Tommy mentions a variety of areas and patterns that should work in the Matagorda bays in February. "We'll be in the river on the colder days. Best lures in there are soft plastics with a lot of wobble, like Norton Bull Minnows and the Hogie split tail shrimp. Chartreuse is the best color, period. We'll drag them along the bottom behind the boat on three eighth ounce heads. When it's warmer, of course, we head to East Bay for the big trout bite. Drifting mud streaks over scattered shell is the key to catching them out of the boat. We like soft plastics and the conventional Mirrolures, the 51 and 52 series. The key is to keep the lures ticking off the shell in the muddy streaks. We also wade some mud in East Bay this time of year. Fish will be shallow from the middle of the day on. Corkies work best there for some of the best trout of the year. In West Bay, it's more of a redfish thing. We'll target the marsh drains after fronts with low tides. Using Sand Eels on light jigheads works great. It's usually a subtle bite on a low, slow presentation."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing has been very good lately all around Palacios. The Colorado, Tres Palacios, and Carancahua rivers have all been holding fish when the water's cold. Trout have been ranging up to nineteen inches and redfish have been small to medium slot fish. Slowrolling heavy leadheads (three eighth) off the shoreline drop has accounted for most of the river fish. Hot colors so far this winter have been Norton Bull Minnows in morning glory, salt n' pepper, and cayenne gold. Berkley Gulp shrimp in new penny, nuclear chicken, and pearl have also been working. Night fishing has really taken off with the cooler weather. The Pavilion and Turning Basins one and two have been holding some keeper redfish and specks. Splittail beetles in glow and lime have been productive down on the bayfront. We had a run of big trout with nine caught between twenty five and twenty eight inches on mud flats in a back bay over the last two weekends. They hit pearl/black and chartreuse Fat Boys. The bite was not fast and furious, but persistence was rewarded.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn's February plan will be to target muddy area with a nice mix of grass and shell in them. "I like to fish pretty shallow, but stay on flats that are adjacent to some of the deepest water in the general area that I'm fishing. When fishing for big trout this month, I stick with Corkies much of the time. I like to thoroughly cover any bottom features, whether they be potholes, grass edges or other likely ambush points for the trout. Corkies are great for working stuff like that. They can be worked slowly enough to stay next to whatever the contour or feature is for quite some time, giving the fish a chance to home in on them. Of course, if we see lots of jumping bait and the water is warm, we'll switch over to topwaters, particularly the She Dogs, Skitterwalks and Super Spooks. I like to offer the fish something large, going by the old theory of big bait/big fish. Mostly this month, we focus our fishing on the warm part of the day. We don't get up early and run out at the crack of dawn; we like to wait for the sun to warm the flats for us first."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake is finishing up the cast and blast season, but expects to be fishing hard in his new 24 foot Haynie High Output come February. "We've been really catching the redfish after shooting at the ducks," he says. "Had some exciting days on the trout too. I'll be back to fishing with full focus next month and targeting big trout on most days. Wading with Corkies and topwaters will be the preferred plan, of course. I like to stay mostly in our back bays during late winter, spending a lot of time on and near soft muddy bottoms, especially in areas where there is a good mix of scattered shell and soft grass in addition to the mud. Transition areas between the open bays and the marshes is always a good bet. Some of our biggest trout of the year usually bite in February. It is one of the best topwaters months of all, too. Last year, we caught them most every day on top, even with fronts blowing in and the wind howling. When the water does get super chilled, I'll go back to the Corkies and of course the Sand Eels, as I always do. Big trout like them too."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
February usually sees a carbon copy of January's surf fishing along Padre Island National Seashore, with Florida pompano and whiting being the most commonly sought species. Slot and oversized redfish, sheepshead and black drum are available in varying numbers from one year to the next. There is typically a flurry of shark activity around Valentine's Day, but for some reason it is most often a short term event. Fresh dead shrimp and Fishbites fished on bottom at the end of a leader will work well on all the species except the sharks. Pink colored shrimp Fishbites have been the most productive baits of all so far this winter. The dead sheepshead and whiting will work to get the attention of the sharks. For the past several years, winter surf fishing for speckled trout has peaked in February. Best lures for these fish will be natural colored soft plastics, 51 and 52 Mirrolures, and of course topwaters on days when the bite is really active. Beware of strong northeast winds which will stack water onto the beach, making driving treacherous.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The upper end of the Laguna Madre has still been producing more fish than the lower part, but like a friend of mine use to say, "Things change." With the water being clearer in the upper end of the Laguna, it has been easier to catch numbers of both speckled trout and redfish, but I believe that because the water temperature has been dropping, this has in turn caused the water in the Baffin Bay area to begin to clear up slightly. With the water clarity improving in Baffin Bay, we should be able to start seeing the structures that had been hard to see because of the brown tide. The month of February is going to provide very good opportunities to catch trophy trout. I'll be looking for the warmer, sunny days that will warm up the water along shorelines that have mud and shell bottoms because these areas will heat up quicker and attract the fish. This will be a good time to fish the Mirrolure Catch 5 about three feet below the surface, or Exude RT Slugs and Bass Assassin Slurps on quarter ounce jigheads bounced on the bottom.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez | www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe expects some excellent fishing in February in the Corpus area. "I'll be heading to Baffin like most other folks. There have been some big trout caught over there already, and historically, February is one of the best months for that. I target shallow water as much as possible, given reasonably warm water. I like to stick with my basic lures most of the time, the Bass Assassins or Exudes, rigging them on light jigheads when working potholes and shallow flats near deep water. If the weather gets colder, I'll be back working the deeper water along the dropoffs in Baffin and also along the ICW. There, heavier jigheads are necessary to get the lure down to where the fish are, typically hanging out on the secondary ledges. Of course, the King Ranch Shoreline will be a favorite place to try too. Though the water is still a little brown right on the shore, the water in the deeper potholes farther out is clear. I'll focus on those. The water should improve in that area once tides return to normal levels which it usually does in February."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Bruce says the trout fishing in Port Mansfield is already showing signs, and that consistent water temperatures in the fifties, which are common in February, can only help the action. "We aren't really seeing the numbers of redfish mixed with the trout lately, but some of the trout are big. Usually, we fish the muddy drains and it's not uncommon to catch a few oversized reds right in there with the big trout. This year, the reds are noticeably absent. We did have one trout in the thirty one inch class that weighed over nine pounds and several others between seven and eight and a half pounds. We are catching most of our trout on Catch 2000s, though that big one came on a black/chartreuse She Dog. With the Catch 2000s, I like to keep three of each color in my wading box, one with original hooks, one with the same size hooks with a heavier shank, and the last with even bigger, heavier hooks. That way, I can adjust the sink rate and the depth at which I am working the plug. It allows me to work the knee to waist deep waters more effectively and thoroughly."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
The new year started off with some fishing fireworks. If the beginning of '08 is any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the year, it will be the best trout fishing we've seen in a decade. We're limiting on trout with at least two a boat over 25 inches, up to 29. So far we haven't reached the 30 inch class, but it looks to be just a matter of time until the personal bests will fall, because the fish we're catching are healthy and heavy. We're targeting deeper guts, using a combination of a mauler with 3 inch Berkley Gulp shrimp in new penny, glow or molting for trout, flounder and redfish. We're keeping at least one rod rigged for bumping the bottom with a Gulp on a quarter ounce head, but the flounder have hit the maulers too. When the wind kicks up around noon we're moving shallower with the same tackle but a faster retrieve. Freddy says, "Winter fishing for trout is always some of the best of all, but this year we are already catching them like we did ten years ago. It should be a banner year for our bay."
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
February is the month of the flounder run here on Calcasieu Lake. It usually starts around Valentines Day. All cuts leading from the lake into the marsh around the estuary are potentially good spots. Productive colors include glow, avocado with red tail, purple and chartreuse, and black and chartreuse. February is also a great month for catching trophy speckled trout both by drifting and wadefi shing. They can be found on flats from the north end of the lake all the way into West Cove closer to the gulf. When fishing for giant trout, look for a presence of mullet and use lures that look like mullet. Best lures to use are the Corky, Corky Devil, Catch 2000, Catch 5, and large sand eels with the lightest jighead you can stand. Redfish can be caught on these same flats using the same methods. If water temperatures fall into the forties, the Industrial Canal north of the Intracoastal Waterway will be a great place to try. Any other deep holes will have potential to produce trout in excess of twenty seven inches as well when the water is at its coldest.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
James says the fishing has been good recently, particularly prior to the big front that hit around the turn of the new year. "We had lots of limits and decent fish too throughout December. It's been a little slower so far in January. Best bite lately is in the upper reaches of Trinity Bay. It's unusual for the water up there to be so clear this time of year. Fish aren't really stacked on the reefs lower in that bay because of that; most of them are closer to the river mouth. Key over there is to find the bait, which often means keying on bird activity, brown pelicans or any other birds that can give away the location of the bait. East Bay is good too; the shoreline fishing over there should be excellent in February, especially if we continue to have warmer than normal weather. West Bay has a few fish, but it's nothing spectacular. Too much salty water elsewhere to make it great in that bay this year." He continues to catch most of his fish on 51 Mirrolures, but says his clients have fared better with Bass Assassins. Natural colors work well on most days, given the clear water.
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Jim was winding down a busy and productive duck season when we spoke. "The duck hunting was good. Of course, like the fishing, it's weather dependent. Productive patterns to fish in February will largely depend on how cold the weather is. If we get some more strong fronts like we had around New Year's, there will be more fish deep. In that case, I'll spend time in the bayous, working deep bends and holes out of the boat, using the trolling motor. When working that pattern, soft plastics are most productive. However, if we get into a warmer pattern, where the fronts are lighter and the cold weather doesn't last as long after each one, the fish will pile up on shallow shorelines in East Bay. In that type of weather, I'll do a lot more wading. I'll still throw Bass Assassins and Stanley Wedge Tails, but the Corkies and especially Catch 2000s will get more play. It's hard to beat the Catch 2000 for hookup and catch ratios. You just don't miss many fish on it. I'm not a big believer in colors; it's more about finding the fish and using the right type of lure."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
Randall reports excellent fishing in his corner of the world this winter. "We are boxing limits with good regularity, not every day, but it's really good. Actually, the fish we're catching are holding on shell reefs, and I think this pattern of lots of quality fish on open water reefs should hold through February. The size of the trout is predictably on the upper end of the scale right now. Had a couple of six pounders the other day. Those we caught on the old Mega Ghost topwaters. They are really loud and large. They aren't available anymore, but a He Dog or an XRap would be a good substitute. Of course, our best numbers are coming on the soft plastics, especially the Norton Sand Eels in both red and black magic. By the way, Norton is coming out with a new color series which will have colors injected into the core of the baits around a clear outer layer with glitter in it. They are really impressive. I also really like the new Inshore Series rods from Laguna. They have a little more backbone than the rods I normally use, making them great for topwaters."
Matagorda | Tommy Countz
Bay Guide Service | 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037
Tommy mentions a variety of areas and patterns that should work in the Matagorda bays in February. "We'll be in the river on the colder days. Best lures in there are soft plastics with a lot of wobble, like Norton Bull Minnows and the Hogie split tail shrimp. Chartreuse is the best color, period. We'll drag them along the bottom behind the boat on three eighth ounce heads. When it's warmer, of course, we head to East Bay for the big trout bite. Drifting mud streaks over scattered shell is the key to catching them out of the boat. We like soft plastics and the conventional Mirrolures, the 51 and 52 series. The key is to keep the lures ticking off the shell in the muddy streaks. We also wade some mud in East Bay this time of year. Fish will be shallow from the middle of the day on. Corkies work best there for some of the best trout of the year. In West Bay, it's more of a redfish thing. We'll target the marsh drains after fronts with low tides. Using Sand Eels on light jigheads works great. It's usually a subtle bite on a low, slow presentation."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
Fishing has been very good lately all around Palacios. The Colorado, Tres Palacios, and Carancahua rivers have all been holding fish when the water's cold. Trout have been ranging up to nineteen inches and redfish have been small to medium slot fish. Slowrolling heavy leadheads (three eighth) off the shoreline drop has accounted for most of the river fish. Hot colors so far this winter have been Norton Bull Minnows in morning glory, salt n' pepper, and cayenne gold. Berkley Gulp shrimp in new penny, nuclear chicken, and pearl have also been working. Night fishing has really taken off with the cooler weather. The Pavilion and Turning Basins one and two have been holding some keeper redfish and specks. Splittail beetles in glow and lime have been productive down on the bayfront. We had a run of big trout with nine caught between twenty five and twenty eight inches on mud flats in a back bay over the last two weekends. They hit pearl/black and chartreuse Fat Boys. The bite was not fast and furious, but persistence was rewarded.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Lynn's February plan will be to target muddy area with a nice mix of grass and shell in them. "I like to fish pretty shallow, but stay on flats that are adjacent to some of the deepest water in the general area that I'm fishing. When fishing for big trout this month, I stick with Corkies much of the time. I like to thoroughly cover any bottom features, whether they be potholes, grass edges or other likely ambush points for the trout. Corkies are great for working stuff like that. They can be worked slowly enough to stay next to whatever the contour or feature is for quite some time, giving the fish a chance to home in on them. Of course, if we see lots of jumping bait and the water is warm, we'll switch over to topwaters, particularly the She Dogs, Skitterwalks and Super Spooks. I like to offer the fish something large, going by the old theory of big bait/big fish. Mostly this month, we focus our fishing on the warm part of the day. We don't get up early and run out at the crack of dawn; we like to wait for the sun to warm the flats for us first."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake is finishing up the cast and blast season, but expects to be fishing hard in his new 24 foot Haynie High Output come February. "We've been really catching the redfish after shooting at the ducks," he says. "Had some exciting days on the trout too. I'll be back to fishing with full focus next month and targeting big trout on most days. Wading with Corkies and topwaters will be the preferred plan, of course. I like to stay mostly in our back bays during late winter, spending a lot of time on and near soft muddy bottoms, especially in areas where there is a good mix of scattered shell and soft grass in addition to the mud. Transition areas between the open bays and the marshes is always a good bet. Some of our biggest trout of the year usually bite in February. It is one of the best topwaters months of all, too. Last year, we caught them most every day on top, even with fronts blowing in and the wind howling. When the water does get super chilled, I'll go back to the Corkies and of course the Sand Eels, as I always do. Big trout like them too."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
February usually sees a carbon copy of January's surf fishing along Padre Island National Seashore, with Florida pompano and whiting being the most commonly sought species. Slot and oversized redfish, sheepshead and black drum are available in varying numbers from one year to the next. There is typically a flurry of shark activity around Valentine's Day, but for some reason it is most often a short term event. Fresh dead shrimp and Fishbites fished on bottom at the end of a leader will work well on all the species except the sharks. Pink colored shrimp Fishbites have been the most productive baits of all so far this winter. The dead sheepshead and whiting will work to get the attention of the sharks. For the past several years, winter surf fishing for speckled trout has peaked in February. Best lures for these fish will be natural colored soft plastics, 51 and 52 Mirrolures, and of course topwaters on days when the bite is really active. Beware of strong northeast winds which will stack water onto the beach, making driving treacherous.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
The upper end of the Laguna Madre has still been producing more fish than the lower part, but like a friend of mine use to say, "Things change." With the water being clearer in the upper end of the Laguna, it has been easier to catch numbers of both speckled trout and redfish, but I believe that because the water temperature has been dropping, this has in turn caused the water in the Baffin Bay area to begin to clear up slightly. With the water clarity improving in Baffin Bay, we should be able to start seeing the structures that had been hard to see because of the brown tide. The month of February is going to provide very good opportunities to catch trophy trout. I'll be looking for the warmer, sunny days that will warm up the water along shorelines that have mud and shell bottoms because these areas will heat up quicker and attract the fish. This will be a good time to fish the Mirrolure Catch 5 about three feet below the surface, or Exude RT Slugs and Bass Assassin Slurps on quarter ounce jigheads bounced on the bottom.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez | www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Joe expects some excellent fishing in February in the Corpus area. "I'll be heading to Baffin like most other folks. There have been some big trout caught over there already, and historically, February is one of the best months for that. I target shallow water as much as possible, given reasonably warm water. I like to stick with my basic lures most of the time, the Bass Assassins or Exudes, rigging them on light jigheads when working potholes and shallow flats near deep water. If the weather gets colder, I'll be back working the deeper water along the dropoffs in Baffin and also along the ICW. There, heavier jigheads are necessary to get the lure down to where the fish are, typically hanging out on the secondary ledges. Of course, the King Ranch Shoreline will be a favorite place to try too. Though the water is still a little brown right on the shore, the water in the deeper potholes farther out is clear. I'll focus on those. The water should improve in that area once tides return to normal levels which it usually does in February."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
Bruce says the trout fishing in Port Mansfield is already showing signs, and that consistent water temperatures in the fifties, which are common in February, can only help the action. "We aren't really seeing the numbers of redfish mixed with the trout lately, but some of the trout are big. Usually, we fish the muddy drains and it's not uncommon to catch a few oversized reds right in there with the big trout. This year, the reds are noticeably absent. We did have one trout in the thirty one inch class that weighed over nine pounds and several others between seven and eight and a half pounds. We are catching most of our trout on Catch 2000s, though that big one came on a black/chartreuse She Dog. With the Catch 2000s, I like to keep three of each color in my wading box, one with original hooks, one with the same size hooks with a heavier shank, and the last with even bigger, heavier hooks. That way, I can adjust the sink rate and the depth at which I am working the plug. It allows me to work the knee to waist deep waters more effectively and thoroughly."
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
The new year started off with some fishing fireworks. If the beginning of '08 is any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the year, it will be the best trout fishing we've seen in a decade. We're limiting on trout with at least two a boat over 25 inches, up to 29. So far we haven't reached the 30 inch class, but it looks to be just a matter of time until the personal bests will fall, because the fish we're catching are healthy and heavy. We're targeting deeper guts, using a combination of a mauler with 3 inch Berkley Gulp shrimp in new penny, glow or molting for trout, flounder and redfish. We're keeping at least one rod rigged for bumping the bottom with a Gulp on a quarter ounce head, but the flounder have hit the maulers too. When the wind kicks up around noon we're moving shallower with the same tackle but a faster retrieve. Freddy says, "Winter fishing for trout is always some of the best of all, but this year we are already catching them like we did ten years ago. It should be a banner year for our bay."