Wade fishing in the winter is an effective method to target speckled trout and redfish that return to the flats during warming trends between cold fronts. Between cold fronts, as large, dense, cold air masses move off our areas and allow barometric pressures to decrease, tides will slowly increase and push water back onto flats. With the return of water back on the flats, speckled trout and redfish won’t be far behind and it’s good to have your Fish and Hunt ‘Walk N Wade’ wade belt handy and ready to go along with your waders.
Understanding the wind shift and how large, winter air masses move is the first key to when water will return to the flats. To do this, begin to think of these high-pressure systems as dense air masses. Typically, as the front, or leading edge, of the dense air masses approach, winds will shift from the south to the west. As the wind shifts northwesterly and north and increases in velocity from light to gusty, that condition is what we typically refer to as the frontal passage. One caveat to the westerly shift in wind direction is when large cold air masses move in from the east. This is a more gentle change in barometric pressure and it will not typically have the associated gusty increase in winds. Also, since the high-pressure differential is moving in from the east, the wind shift will tend to move from south, to easterly, and finally to northeast. With it being a high-pressure mass, it will have some effect on fishing. Typically high-pressure masses will cause fish to feed less aggressively.
As high-pressure masses move off to the east (their typical path in the northern hemisphere), the wind will slowly shift from north, northeasterly, east, and finally to a more southerly direction. The reduction in barometric pressure tends to have less wind velocity and in many areas the southerly direction will again cause tide height and current to increase. Once the tide height increases sufficiently water will then force back onto the flat and with it, the fish will follow.
Redfish tend to be the first fish we notice up on the flat with the return of the water. The brutes really don’t seem to care as much about water temperature compared to trout. They can be found feeding aggressively all winter and some great top-water action can occur at this time according to Capt. Steve Soule of Galveston.
While a few trout will move up with the redfish, more tend to ride in with each tide shift as the warming trend between each cold air mass continues. And with the increase in water temperature, the bite can become more and more aggressive.
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