UPPER LAGUNA MADRE

by Capt. Richard Thompson

Not Out of the Woods

 

WHO SAID WE ARE OUT of the cold months? We aren’t quite out of the woods yet, as we still have these late season cold fronts pushing through interrupting the Spring time transition, allowing us to stay on our winter time patterns stalking trophy trout.

One of the key strategies I focus on after a northern rolls through is windward shorelines and or shallow water flats. If you have access to these areas this is probably my top recommendation when planning on staying focused on catching a good fish or even your PB. Upon arrival, I want to encourage you to be patient and wait until these big girls are going to eat, which will be during the Major and Minor feeding periods especially after the front blows through. The payoff to having patience will be rewarded.

During this time of year, anglers feel it’s necessary to slow their lure presentations down to a crawl in order to land these trophy trout. In my opinion this is only true when there is a drastic drop in temperature over a short period of time. However, once the temperature remains steady, the fish will acclimate to their new environment and continue to feast as usual. Your main focus should be not as much on presentation and speed but  understanding where the fish are staged in the water column.

Here are a few lures that make it to my wading box this time of year. First, one of my favorite lures I use is a slow sinking plug like a Corky FatBoy, XL Soft-Dine, and last but not least, a Corky FatBoy Floater. Depending on where these fish are in the water column will determine how I adapt my type of Corky’s from a slow sinking to a floater. So let’s put this into a scenario. On our first stop of the day, we were fishing in an area where the fish were about waist deep, so the Corky FatBoy was my choice and did phenomenal. Once the area played out, we decided to move locations as the temperature warmed up a little. We moved up onto the flat where we were fishing in a little above knee deep water and at this time I changed to a Corky Floater to keep the lure out of the grass, allowing me to use a more aggressive retrieve which happened to entice several good bites.

Let’s flip the script for a moment. Much like the show, MythBusters, where one must use a Corky or a slow sinking plug to catch a trophy trout has been proven time and time again not to be true any longer. My wife, Krystal, is a solid big trout angler, and her go to lure is a dart bait ranging from Coastal Brew Baits to MirrOlure Lil Johns. But, the one thing that remains the same consistently is she always has her hot pink lead head from Salty Head that I am certain catches their attention and creates a reaction strike. Besides my wife, some of the heavy hitters on the Gulf Coast also stay with that selection of lure all winter long achieving the same outcomes.

To summarize, we are going to be transitioning into Spring time patterns.

The wind will start to be a prevailing SE wind and will be pushing the bait into or along these shorelines.

There are two types of anglers, one that fights the wind and one that embraces it, understanding the environment in which it creates and utilizes it to their advantage.

Be on a lookout as well on the different types of bait entering back in the bay system. Pay attention to pelicans especially as they are typically on point following the influx of the menhaden. In my opinion, this is where you are going to locate your Springtime trout as they are also keying into this underwater transition.

We also have a big announcement, as we have opened our Laguna Shores Lodge in Corpus Christi which sits on the Upper Laguna Madre with very easy access to Baffin Bay. We are welcoming your Spring reservations as we will provide an all-inclusive custom coastal fishing retreat. We look forward to seeing you.