Lots of anglers are waiting patiently, or at least as patiently as possible for the more than welcome consistent warm temperatures that will begin to prevail in the not too distant future. I can’t say that I blame them either because even though we fish in just about anything Mother Nature brings to the table, if I had my druthers, I’d much rather be out there in somewhat tolerable conditions.
I’d be willing to bet that the majority of the people feel the same way. The reality of it though, is that it is February and we’ve pretty much got to make the most of what is given us if we want to catch fish.
The good news is that there are fish to be caught, even on some of the coldest days. Although limits of speckled trout are not unheard of on Sabine Lake in February, it’s still more the exception rather than the rule.
I was however, recently reminded by one of my favorite fishing partners, former Bassin Gal, Mrs. JK Toler, that February is Prime time for catching both quality and quantity while making long drifts off the Louisiana shoreline in whitecaps. Both she and I have on numerous occasions done exactly that. This is one of those right place at the right time scenarios, but it is good often enough that it’s definitely worth a shot. In fact, I devoted an entire column to this subject in a February article a few years back.
The winning combination for us has been 20 plus mph SSE wind, high tide and green water. Making long drifts, from the bank to about 5 1/2 feet deep will ensure that you are in the zone if the fish are in a cooperative mood.
Use a drift sock or two to slow the boat down a bit and stay with the fish for a few more casts. Paddle tailed assassins in red shad limetruse and glow/ charetruse are definitely hard to beat when rigged on a 1/4 oz. lead head. If this isn’t working for you, there are other options that will put supper on the table.
Deep holes and channels will hold fish when there’s a chill in the air. The slight variance in water temps will hold the fish and you should have little problem getting the pole bent.
If you can get your hands on some live shrimp, use it. Use your sonar to locate drop offs and guts and fish with live or dead shrimp, mud minnows, or cut bait.
You should have little problem throwing a few drum, whiting, croaker and maybe a bonus flounder or two in the ice chest.
