The Things You Can’t Change

FISHING IN DECEMBER reminds me of the Serenity Prayer, especially the part about the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. Lord knows we can’t change it when December coughs up snotty front after snotty front that can roil up the Lower Laguna Madre.

You get out of a warm bed and drive down to the ramp. For the first time in weeks, the weekend weather is actually mild, with sunny skies, temperatures starting in the mid-50s and promising to creep into the 70s, and even if the wind is still out of the north, it at least is a soft five to eight miles an hour.

You stop at White Sands Marina and you’re happily surprised to find that they have live shrimp (Which can be hard to come by in Winger) and you get yourself a quart. You gas up, putter your way out of the finger channels and turn your boat north to find some trout and redfish.

Three hours later, you’ve whipped the water into a lather. You still have a quart of shrimp, less about a dozen or so. There are no fish in the box, and you’re starting to smell the skunk that is hiding somewhere on the boat.

Now what?

A nice January day like yours is not a complete loss, especially if you’ve used the gas to get up north. If the trout and redfish are not cooperating—as is their wont this time of year—you can turn your attention to the schools of black drum that are prowling around the spoil islands in winter.

Large numbers of slot-sized uglies patrol the drop-offs and flats around Unnecessary Island (N26 12.522, W97 16.334). These are three to eight pound fish, and they provide some great and underrated sport on trout and redfish tackle.

Much like freshwater carp, drums have often been looked down upon as fish that lack the sophistication and erudition of their spotted contemporaries, However, these fish can be quite wily. Fishermen who want to catch more than a single fish here or there, have to exercise the same care and attention to strategy as they would for trout or redfish.

On calm, clear days, a pod of feeding drums is easy to spot. This is especially true if they’ve been grubbing around on the bottom feeding on crab, shrimp, and worms (they’ll leave mud boils as their calling cards).

Anglers can’t simply blast their boats up onto the pod, however. A smarter strategy would be to circle the school and set up a drift that will bring you within easy casting range.

The same baits that you brought along for trout and redfish will always work with drums. The venerable shrimp/popping cork combo is more than enough. Fish it a little more slowly than normal, with an occasional jerk to get the cork to pop. Drums are more gustatory and olfactory-oriented than audio, and will “smell” themselves to your bait. The cork merely serves the function of keeping your shrimp in the drum’s face.

Because drums are more scent feeders, artificials such as the DOA Shrimp and Gulp! Shrimp also work. You can use either under a cork like live shrimp, or you can bottom bounce them.

Use a ¼-ounce round jighead with the Gulp! Shrimp for best results. Cast ahead of the feeding drums, and bounce it along the bottom when the fish gets close. If he sees or smells it, he’ll eat it.

If you didn’t make the run north, but you’re still finding some tough fishing, you may want to focus your attention on the old causeway. Winter means sheepsheads are holding to the pilings.

These fish hold around the concrete through the winter and into their March spawn. They are fairly aggressive, and will take either a live or fresh dead shrimp.

Many fishermen prefer to freeline the bait around the pilings, but savvy anglers use floats to suspend the bait to act as strike detectors. As I’ve written earlier, if the bait moves off to the side or toward the pilings, set the hook hard.

Sheepsheads are also very plentiful around Dolphin Point during winter’s occasional calm days. The great thing about Dolphin Point is it is provides access to boat and shorebound anglers, both. Access the latter via Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island. The fishing can be very productive for ground-pounders.

Many fishermen focus on the visible structure of the jetties around the point. However, fishermen who back their boats up and fish deeper rocks or the drop-off find some larger fish in greater numbers.

The standard shrimp/cork combo works well here, too, especially if you want to keep your bait off the rocks. Fortune, however, can favor the bold.

On one trip my wife, son, and I fished live shrimp with ½-ounce egg sinkers in 20 to 25 feet of water. It was a snotty, drizzly day, but we ended up with a triple limit of sheepsheads ranging from four to nine pounds. At one point the three of us each had a good Borrego on the line, which made for a real fire drill.

Trout and redfish will take a winter nap, occasionally, but that doesn’t mean that fishing is over. If you want to have a pole bent and a line stretched, there are other more accommodating fish that won’t let a little bad weather get in the way. After all, they’re already cold and wet.

 

 

Email Calixto Gonzales at ContactUs@fishgame.com

 

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