The daily marauding schools of redfish have been dominating the scene on Sabine and I expect that to continue into January with the mild “winter” we have experienced so far. Some will complain about their abundance. Heck, I’ve even had customers cast in the opposite direction of schooling redfish because they didn’t feel like fooling with them.
I suppose I enjoy the tug on the end of my line too much to deny a redfish an opportunity to eat one of my lures.
Personally, I hope I never get to that point. If I do, I should be golfing instead of fishing. If you’re chasing after that new personal best speckled trout those pesky redfish can absolutely get in the way but they are still a hoot to tussle with.
In the coming month I do suspect they will begin to make their transition from chasing bait in more open, deeper water to perusing the flats in Coffee Ground Cove and around the Gator Hole and any shell pad they can find. In my opinion this is the absolute easiest time to target redfish as they become ever so predictable and reliable unlike open water schooling fish.
Try shallow shell pads
These shallow water shell pads and humps should be one of your go-to locations in January as the sun gets overhead. Generally, they will not be picky. If you have some new crazy lure that you have wanted to try, now would be a good time to either build some confidence with it or realize that you should hang it back up on the shelf!
I would recommend sticking with single hook lures if you are on them hot and heavy. It’ll make it easier and quicker to unhook them so you can get back out there and also lessen the chances of hooking yourself. A good day of fishing can go bad real quick when that happens. Using tougher soft plastics that last longer is also advisable. It’s not very fun watching your buddies reel in fish after fish while you are spending more time replacing plastics. Egret makes a pretty good one called the Wedgetail.
The plastics that Down South Lures is turning out hold up pretty good as well. The weight of your jighead will likely play a larger factor in how productive your catching is. As the water temperature falls the rate at which your lure descends will generally need to decrease. This means opting for a lighter jighead in most cases. Using an 1/8-ounce or 1/16-ounce instead of a ¼-ounce jighead may significantly increase the number of strikes that you receive.
As always, be safe and enjoy your time out on the water. Let someone know your float plan as things can change in a hurry on the water during these cold months. While we are out there let us remember one of our own that we lost at the end of October, Capt. Dickie Colburn. He passed away after succumbing to his injuries sustained in an auto accident. Dickie was highly regarded by many in the fishing world and will be sorely missed.
Capt. Adam Jaynes can be reached at (409) 988-3901 and on Facebook at Just Fish Guide Service.