The Pleasant Puzzle

Folks dedicated exclusively to targeting big trout with artificial lures rank February right at the top of the list of best months. This statement rings true for several reasons. Mostly, weather-related norms elevate the potential for catching monster trout in the Valentine's month, partly because of the way the average conditions affect anglers and partly because of the way they affect the life patterns of the trout. Up and down the Texas Coast, lure-chunkers can expect to catch more mature trout in February than normal, if they adjust their strategies and locations in response to the changing weather.  

When brisk winds whistle and shrink the mercury in the glass during the second month on the calendar, areas adjacent to north shorelines of our bays offer the highest potential, because of the buffering effects the land masses provide against the chilling consequences of the cold winds. In places like Gladys Hole in the Lower Laguna Madre, Cathead and East Kleberg in Baffin Bay, White's Point in Nueces Bay, Live Oak Bay in East Matagorda Bay and flats adjacent to Stewt's and Sydney's islands in Sabine Lake, water temperatures plummeting into the low-50s and high-40s create the perfect scenario for catching big trout once the weather turns a corner and begins to moderate.  

Most anglers targeting big specks in the aforementioned places would do so by wading.  Others, of course, prefer to fish from the deck of a boat, and could expect to do well in places like Compuerta Pass and the large flat associated with the Point of Rocks in Baffin Bay, also in the basins of both Laguna Madres, East Matagorda Bay, West Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake. When drifting and trying to catch big trout, anglers face a sometimes daunting task, related to finding a way to attract the attention of the big fish, and they more often catch smaller fish.  

Anglers choosing to wade shallow areas adjacent to deeper water in places along protective north shorelines in Texas bays in February need to consider the specifics of the recent weather patterns when choosing the precise times and locations in which to make their efforts. In some places, notably in Baffin Bay and both Laguna Madres, the best flurry of action leading to the catching of really big trout often occurs soon after the harsh weather accompanying the passage of a strong cold front begins to moderate. In such a situation, anglers who have the opportunity to do so would want to time their outing to coincide with a reduction in the strength of the harsh north winds and an associated slight uptick in water temperatures.  

Many people wait too long to make their way to places like these after Old Man Winter makes his presence known in the last full month of our coldest season. Compounding their mistake, many often assume the best bite won't occur until the bright rays of the sun have a chance to heat up the water on the flats atop and near the crowns of shallow rock or oyster-studded sand bars. In fact, these events often happen after the big trout have already gorged themselves to recover from the effects of sitting dormant on the bottom for a while during the most negative hours following the onset of a chilling event.  

So, savvy anglers intent on pulling big trout to hand after strong cold fronts in these kinds of places often arrive on scene to start their efforts while north winds still carry decent velocity.  This necessitates a reaction from these anglers; fishing north winds of more than twelve to fourteen knots when air temperatures hover in the 50s and lower makes most people miserable. At the least, such a plan hampers the angler's ability to operate at a maximal level.  Anyone hoping to grind through the number of casts often required to achieve the desired goal with such conditions in play should always set up the effort so they can cast and wade with the wind on their backs.  

While doing so, wearing a beanie and pulling the hood of the jacket over one's head facilitates both the angler's comfort level and ability to execute presentations, as does wearing the jacket over the waders, rather than tucked into them. When it's cold, staying dry becomes a critical component in maintaining concentration and focus. Jackets tucked into waders offer scant protection against waves splashing over the waders' "gunwales" and seeping through layers to contact the anglers' skin, with destructively distracting effects.    

While staying dry and slowly moving and casting downwind, anglers targeting big trout in cold weather in the negative conditions associated with passing cold fronts do best most often by throwing either soft plastics or slow-sinking twitch baits. Unless I've experienced tremendous recent success using twitch baits, I start any day of winter fishing, especially in post-front conditions, with cold air and water temperatures in play, throwing soft plastics rigged on either sixteenth or eighth-ounce jigheads, presenting them close to or right on the bottom. If and when the bites come often and easy enough, I switch up to slow-sinking twitch baits like Fat Boys and Catch 5s, hoping the act will enhance the odds of attracting the attention of the biggest fish within reach.  

In such a situation, when the weather first turns the corner after bottoming out in response to a frontal passage, anglers should pay close attention to any bait activity around them, and cast toward all signs of predators on the prowl. In most cases, this means seeing mullet swirl and/or jump. In some of the best scenarios for catching monster trout in cold weather in February, scant signs of life present themselves, so the best anglers don't ignore even meager signs of life.  

Conversely, abundant signs of life and predatory activity often present themselves to anglers fishing the opposite kind of weather this month. After winds calm and begin blowing onshore during a warming trend, bait activity rises at a rate basically proportional to the expansion rate of the mercury in the tube. When this happens, wise anglers look for concentrations of bait, which they can see at distance, when choosing exactly where to fish.  

Prime places in such situations include the shorelines of famous ranches on the west side of both Laguna Madres, the flats near the Land Cut, grassy humps in the Badlands and Alazan Bay, south shoreline coves in East Matagorda and West Galveston bays, and stretches of the south shoreline like Garrison Ridge in Sabine Lake. Anglers intent on targeting big trout in these locations on the Upper Coast often prefer late-afternoon outings, sometimes extending them into the dark hours, especially on days when strong incoming tides flood the shallows with rising, warm water in the gloaming.  

Water temperatures in many of these situations range from the upper-50s to 70 degrees or more. Such values increase the potential for catching big trout on topwaters. Large plugs like Super Spooks, Skitter Walks and One Knockers often produce best. This partly results from the way these lures effectively mimic mullet and baby trout, the primary food sources of big specks during the transition from winter into spring. Topwaters don't work equally well at all times, of course, so the most productive anglers keep plenty of slow-sinking twitch baits on hand and deploy them when the frequency of blowups runs low.  

On February outings made to target giant trout, especially in the second half of the month, lures like Fat Boys, Catch 5s and Catch 2000s often produce better than all other offerings, if presented by people familiar with the fundamentals essential to maximizing their utility. This means, at a basic level, using rhythmic twitches of the rod tip while turning the reel handle slowly, so the heads of the lures will wobble from side to side enticingly under the water, with the same pattern known as walking the dog with topwaters. In water over about eighteen inches deep, Paul Brown's original Fat Boys work great. In shallower water, floaters often work better, allowing for more stealthy presentations, and for retrieving the lures at a reasonably slow pace, without hanging the hooks in the grass or shell on the bottom.  

As is the case with the cold weather scenario, the direction of the effort does affect its potential for productivity. But with light or moderate southeast winds in play during a warming trend, casting and retrieving lures sideways to the wind makes more sense than casting and retrieving them straight downwind. And, of course, turning and casting into the wind makes more sense in calmer, warmer weather. Even when warming weather and rising tides make the bait and trout more active and elevate the potential for catching fish on topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits, urging strikes from the trout can remain difficult.    

After big trout gorge this time of year, ingesting two or more fish in a short span of time, they  become really difficult to catch for a while. In order to cope with this, any serious angler should remain ready to deploy soft plastics if the other lures don't work well for extended periods of time. When fishing extremely shallow water with soft plastics, rigging the worms on super light jigheads makes perfect sense. Employing shank-weighted hooks and rigging them weedless can prove necessary in some places.

In both these types of situations, the timing of the effort plays a big role in determining the outcome.  Paying close attention to tide charts and to the time of the rising and setting of the moon, also times when the moon is straight overhead or underfoot, helps anglers identify peak periods with the highest potential for catching.  Down south, this might mean fishing early in the morning, despite the fact the weather and water remain cold after the passage of a front, to maximize the potential associated with a full moon hovering close to the horizon as it sets while the weather takes a positive turn.  Up north, it might mean waiting until late-afternoon to head out, especially when a strong incoming tide floods the flats right about the time darkness falls and the moon begins to rise.  Solving the pleasantly potent puzzle in February results in some of the best catching of the year, for anglers committed to catching picture-worthy trout without using live bait.