LOWER LAGUNA MADRE

Reported by CAPT. BRIAN BARRERA

Time to Chase the Trophies

 

 

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY are a great times to be on the water. There are plenty of good opportunities to chase trophy fish, and to fill up the box with good eaters as well!

This young angler and his father were fishing the flats with Capt. Barrera in the Holly Beach area when the lad hooked this big overshot trout on a popping cork and live shrimp.
(Photo: Brian Barrera)

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I like to spend most of my days in January chasing big trout and snook. If I’m fishing the flats in search of that trophy 30-inch fish I’m usually drifting over potholes, long weed lines, or sand flats bottom bouncing jigs with D.O.A. 4-inch jerkbaits or 3-inch shad tails. If the weather is good for it, I love to throw topwater lures with single hooks. With the right clients we will wade fish in deeper areas and pick them apart slowly using soft plastics and suspending jerkbaits. During live or dead bait situations we will drift with cut ballyhoo or live shrimp on a cork. These live bait tactics usually work best for “eater” box size fish.

Snook fishing in January/February can be almost quite the opposite as my flats trips. I am fishing heavy jigs in 16-25 feet of water or using slow sinking twitchbaits for fish that are suspended in the thermocline. Post cold front hard jerk bait/twitchbait bites can be some of the best and the only ways to get them to eat during those periods of tough (post cold front blue bird skies) fishing. I use zero live bait for snook during the winter months.

As February gets going the sheepshead start showing, and that means it’s a boat party and any kind of medium depth structure you can find close to the inlets will be loaded with great tasting sheepies for everyone to enjoy. The numbers are unbelievable, they taste great, and the fishing is very easy for them. This is one of the only times of the year I encourage my clients to fill the boat up with family members to go load up the boxes and enjoy some easy fishing and good old family fun. We like to use live shrimp on a heavy short shank jig head or a drop shot style rig with a small/strong circle hook to get the biggest ones from the bottom of the schools to bite. But the live shrimp at the stands go quick this time of year so get there early or keep a couple packs of frozen shrimp in your cooler as a backup in case “livies” cannot be found.