RED FISH ON ARTIFICIAL LURES

Goose Island Parking Lot at Noon

1-29-10--Today was the first day of a cold front. With winds gusting to over 35 MPH and tides falling I expected redfish to be stacked up in back lake entrances. When we got to the Goose Island State Park boat ramp at 8:30 AM the parking lot was empty. When we returned at noon there was only one other boat trailer besides mine. While on the water we saw no other boats. With misting rain and high wind the fishing was tough but very rewarding. We limited easily on redfish using soft plastics and released several.

We're still enjoying excellent fishing for redfish and black drum. This past week I only had customers two days. We limited one day on black drum using shrimp and one day on redfish using artificial lures. A third day I fished with a friend since I had no customers and wanted to fish for trout with artificial lures. Trout were mostly small but I did catch and release a 24" trout. Most years a 24" trout wouldn't be worth mentioning but this year we've not had good trout fishing weather. We've experienced lots of cold and windy weather the last 2 months but as soon as the weather warms for a few days I expect trout fishing to be great. I know many potential customers are put off by cold windy weather but we've actually had our best catches of redfish and black drum during cold fronts with strong north winds rather than the pleasant days. February is big drum and big trout time. The black drum have to be released because it's not legal to keep a drum over 30" in length but they make great photographs. Often we have children catch black drum so big they can't lift them. These fish generally range form 30" to near 50" in length. I normally find the biggest trout in the upper Laguna Madre/Baffin bay area. My two scouting trips there recently didn't give me reason to take customers there yet this year but that will change any day now and when it does I want to be there with someone who wants to catch a lifetime personal best trophy trout.

If you are interested in trophy trout, big black drum or slot size redfish now is the time to go fishing. If larger quantities of trout are desired I'd recommend waiting for April.