Other than flounder, and I think they are gone. What else is good to catch right now?

Whiting and pompano in the surf.

Big speckled trout. Wade fishing. Before or preferably after a strong cold front. Using mullet immitaion lures; topwater, suspending, and sinking. Working them SLOW. As well as shad imitation soft plastics.

As far as places to wade fish, West Bay would be at the top of my list this time of year. Not just for speckled trout but nice sized flounder and redfish too.

Best winter fishing I have done is in West Bay. Wade fishing the south shoreline of East Bay too but West Bay is a great place for winter wading.

Fish eastern facing shorelines with muddy bottoms for the warmest water.

hey aj was wondering if you wouldnt mind giving away some details as to where in west bay.. i have never fished the winter time went wading fishing a few times in november a couple years ago at the dollar flats in texas city did ok with trout then. Was wondering if you knew if that area is still good in the winter, or if wading off in the sportmans road area, or off of the south jetty would be any good.

dont know many places to wade fish and would really appreciate it

Sheepshead are a good winter time catch as well. Just spent the weekend in the rockport area and caught over 60 sheepshead. Allot of them were undersized but we caught our daily limit each day in a few hours.

Trout man.. They are still out there, we landed 12 the other day all medium but they were nice..

Do u mind if I ask where would u recommend to fish for trout this time of the year? Do u think San Luis pass produces at all?

Hi justin, yes fishing off of Sportsman Road is a good place. Confederate Reef (which is accessible from Sportsman Road if you don't have a boat) in West Bay is a good place to fish on a moving tide and winds from the south, southeast. It is a good protected area from the south winds so you can find good protected waters for wading there and the south or southeast winds and east winds help to push water into the bay and on an incoming tide with consistent east to southeast winds you have higher incoming tides than normal sometimes.

Plus the bottom is good for wading there and remember in the winter time shallow water heats up faster than deeper water during the day as the sun comes up. So no need to wade really early in the morning during the winter right now, let the sun heat up the water and start wade fishing between 9-10 AM. Sleep late or eat a big slow breakfast or whatever.

What is good about Confederate Reef is that first of all it is a big reef, about 1 mile long. And there is close access to deeper water and guts where fish can easlily move from shallow to deep water and back to shallow water. And reefs hold baitfish and therefore plenty of trout. In the shallow water speckled trout like to burry their bellies in the mud since mud attracts heat form the sun in shallow water. A good technique is to fish right around the reef in the winter and let the lure drop and work it slow. Trout will always be around the outskirts of the reef waiting for a baitfish to make a meal out of. And sometimes you can get onto some really nice trout right now in the 5-7 pound range or more.

Another good place to fish in West Bay are the reefs around Dana Cove and also Carancahua Cove. I've caught a lot of good fish there and it's a great place to wade fish. In winter time right now there are plenty of trout and redfish and flounder. Further east is also Starvation Cove. Good flounder fishing right there along the sand and grass flats outside of the cove in winter time while wading.

One good thing about West Bay is that no matter what time of year, even when the flounder run is slow in places like Rollover Pass or Seawolf Park, etc. there is really good flounder fishing in West Bay. Whenever I fish West Bay in the winter I always catch nice flounder. Not just wading in the coves on the south shoreline but drift fishing too all around the bay and arounf Greens Cut. Good place too.

Another place I have done excellent in the winter time is Offatts Bayou. You need a boat though since it is a deep but I always give Offatts Bayou a try whenever I fish West Bay and it is a great place for flounder all winter long. The flounder have a really nice dark color too when you catch them in the deeper water there in Offatts. I tend to have most of my luck on the south shoreline on Offatts Bayou. And catch flounder on soft plastics worked real slow in about 10 to 20 feet of water.

Another favorite place of mine to wade, but you need a boat to get there, is wading on the south shoreline of West Bay further west than Carancahua Cove and that's Bird Island Cove. Wade fishing around the reef there right off of Shell Point and the reef further out called Shell Island wade fishing the south side of Shell Island reef on a moving tide and south wind.

On a north wind I focus more towards the north shoreline. Light north winds are good but strong north winds really blow the water out of the bay and on consistent strong north winds you have have some really lower than normal low tides. That's a good time to go out there and mark some places with the GPS.

Good places I like on a light north wind is drift fishing Carancahua Reef and wade fishing the north shoreline between the outlet of Carancahua Lake and the outlet of Greens Lake called Greens Cut. You need a boat to get to these places though but it's good wade fishing all along that shoreline. And also to the east of Greens Cut wade fishing that north shoreline and just south of the little islands and shell banks south of the Intracoastal Waterway but northwest of Meacoms Cut. All good fishing there in the winter on a light north wind. It's got a nice mud and shell bottom for wading.

Another great secret place to fish is Greens Lake itself. It's full of trout, redfish, an flounder year round and a good place to catch trout and redfish right now. It's really shallow though like about 1 foot deep average and but it's not that wadeable since the mud bottom is a really soft and sticky nasty mud. Unless you have a small shallow water running boat that can do 1 foot of water. Great place to go with a flyrod and catch shallow water reds and trout.

Some other place I like is wading around South Deer Island and North Deer Island. Again because it has shell and reefs and close proximity to deeper water where fish move especially in the winter.

But definitely give West Bay a try, especially in the winter. Right now is the prime time to hit West Bay. At least it is my favorite bay to fish in the winter because of the excellent and abundant places for wade fishing and the great winter fishing it offers.

Today's front blowing through pretty hard. When would be the best time to get out there when the wind dies down. I am new to inshore saltwater fishing. I have read two to three days after the front but would like to hear from some experienced fisherman.

That's generally true. You want to fish the days before a front comes in and also the days after a front passes through. So 2-3 days after a front comes through would be an ideal time. Or 4 days after a front. Basically as fronts seem to come in regularly you basically just want to fish in between the fronts. Because before and after a front is when the atmospheric pressure changes and this is what helps induce fish to feed and be on the move looking for baitfish to eat. Before a front, the atmospheric pressure drops gradually and during the front as it passes through the atmospheric pressure dips to it's lowest and then it has a small spike upwards, and then once the front has come through the atmospheric pressure starts to rise slowly. And this is why there is the best fishing during that time cause fish sense the atmospheric pressure changing and it makes them move and feed.

And then you want to fish moving tides and pick your areas according to the wind and look for baitfish. Nervous water, mullet jumping, any difference in water color, slicks, birds diving, anything like that you want to pay attention to. Especially slicks. You'll see them on the surface of the water. Small ones are better cause they are fresher. And you can smell them because they smell like watermelon or fresh cut grass. You'll know when you smell it. It's a very distinct smell. And you want to cast near the slicks.

And pay attention to the wind. You want to find protected water to wade in. So take West Bay for instance. Right now a front is blowing through and the winds are a strong west wind. And this makes the bay really choppy. After the front, the winds will shift from the north from the northwest and northeast. So you want to wade fish north shorelines to find more protected water. Fish areas where shallow water is close to deeper water like guts and so forth and fish around oyster shell reefs on a moving tide. And then when the wind shifts from the south you want to focus on fishing south shorelines in West Bay to find protected water to wade in. Again wade fishing near reefs.

The best thing when fishing in the winter is wade fish near reefs. Even if it is a small reef. Cause trout in the winter will hang around reefs and it's just a matter of time before you catch them. It's all about patience and persistence.

And during the winter in protected areas you can find some very clear green water. That's where you want to be throwing chartreuse color baits since it is an excellent color for winter fishing. Like limetreuse bass assassin plastic artificial baits and so forth.

When it's really cold you want to throw mullet imitation lures that suspend or sink slowly and cast them right outside of the oyster reefs and work them slow. Corkys and Mirrolure Catch 2000 is a favorite of mine. And I like to use orange and gold topwaters during the day too as well as bone color. And strawberry and white imitation shad soft plastic baits. Too many lures to name but chartreuse is a good color in clearer water in the winter.

AJ Perez - I want to thank you for all your input. You have been really helpful to a lot of us.

wow thanks for all the info AJ, ill definitely be trying out the deer island and confederate reefs sometime in the next month... i have fished green lake and greens cut with one of my dads friends who has a boat and i remember catching alot of trout and a few reds over there. but again thanks for all the advice will let you know how it goes

man AJ thats some very helpful info, i dont do wade fishing but i think i have to go with you next time you come down here.

That is a lot of info to take in, but I think I can retain most of it. I bought the texas saltwater fishing magazine and it has the tide charts and info in it. I don't know how good their "best" times for fishing predictions are. The only thing I have question left about is the moving tides. Does it matter whether it is coming in or going out?

Thanks for all the info, I plan to go out after the holidays.