Fishing in the colder months of the year can prove to be a challenging endeavor. Often strong winds and rain before and during the fronts tend to make putting a pattern together difficult, lacking any sort of consistency. However, if you time it just right around those fronts and on a warming trend, the fishing can be phenomenal.
For most of the month the slot sized redfish remained thick and would eat just about anything that was thrown in front of them. Most were caught on Fishbites and smaller whiting chunks although I did pick off a few with lures. Easy limits every outing and made for fun on lighter tackle. Bull reds and black drum remained fair on large whiting chunks and crab fished out in the second gut, some of them being absolute tanks. One of the bull reds hit the 50” mark. Bait was harder to come by than it normally is as the whiting all but disappeared for the first half of the month. I always brought plenty of bait with me so that solved that problem but I always prefer fresh bait if possible. Lots and lots of stingrays out there right now, some days it was like trying to navigate my way through a minefield. Brought home several 10-15 pounders throughout the month to stock up on shark baits and landed one that was pushing the 100# mark. Once they get that big they get a free pass and get to be released.
Beach driving conditions were excellent for the entire month which was great. A couple of times it was a little soft at the very entrance but after that it was smooth sailing. No seaweed to deal with and not too many beach goers out there right now so it’s a good time to get out there and bang out some nice fish. Overall it was a solid month with some good fish in the mix. Time to go get ready for February, the adventures never stop.
thanks for the post on cold weather fishing......I have been wanting to go down but had never fished the surf except for summer months. I am taking in all the tips so when I go again to MB I will catch a few
thanks for the post on cold weather fishing......I have been wanting to go down but had never fished the surf except for summer months. I am taking in all the tips so when I go again to MB I will catch a few
Definitely give it a try during winter, it is one of the best times of the year for surf fishing. Fish around the fronts and catch a warm day when the barometric pressure is slowing moving in either direction and you should be able to hammer the fish. Feel free to message me if you ever have any questions and I’ll be more than happy to help you out!