Happy New Year, All! Its real winter by now and unless we’re having odd weather patterns you can bet the cold fronts are lining up. The biggest key to fishing the cold season is timing your fishing trips between the cold fronts.
Head to the water once the temperatures begin climbing and try to fish every day until the next front slams us and the temperatures back down again. This simple concept isn’t perfect, but if practiced enough it will result in successful catches.
Think small if you’re using artificial lures, especially if your lure imitates a fish and not a shrimp or crab. I’d rather imitate a mud minnow than a mullet at this time when targeting slot sized redfish on the flats. Of course a shrimp imitation will get the job done for reds, trout and black drum, so I keep a rod rigged with an Exude Fan Tail Shrimp or Banks Lures Pimpin’ Shrimp at all times!
Don’t be shy about tossing hardware. An Aqua dream weedless spoon and a small top water plug can and will catch plenty during winter’s reign. I like the Fender Walker in 3.5 inch for my go-to walking plug and we’ll throw it until well into the next spring.
If natural bait is your thing your fishing life is about to get easy. Keep your rig simple. A 1/0, 2/0 or 3/0 circle hook with two feet of light fluorocarbon leader attacked to your mainline is all you’ll need to offer a live shrimp, dead shrimp, crab or chunk of fish to any of the usual suspects on the shallow. If you prefer to “set” the hook when your quarry eats you might consider using a Kahle style hook in place of the circle. Also, a split shot can be of benefit if it’s windy or the water deeper than two foot.
Capt. Mark Wright
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