Coastal Focus: GALVESTON :: by Capt. MIKE HOLMES
Here We Go, Again!
F
EBRUARY IS GENERALLY A good time of year to plan fishing trips in warmer weather—or climates. Closer to home and current conditions, there will be some days when it is more productive to use your fishing tackle, rather than to repair and update it. These days are few and far between, normally. So, it’s wise to do a good job on that equipment to have it in top shape when the opportunity to use it does arise. The upper Texas coast is fortunate to have fairly mild winters, so we see mostly the same species of gamefish that we do in the warm summer months—just in different numbers and exhibiting different behavior. This necessitates a difference in our fishing techniques. Live bait, more specifically shrimp, will be more difficult to obtain. If it is available, however, the effort to obtain it and keep it active will usually pay off. Dead bait is probably the number one choice, simply because it will often be the only choice, or nearly so. Dead bait doesn’t move very much without help, but it does give off a natural smell and taste in the water that will always attract something. Because the fishing will probably be slow this time of year, putting more effort into making your bait more attractive is worth the effort. Baitfish that were frozen in a fresh condition, retain more juices to attract fish by smell and taste in the water than bait dried out in the sun before being bagged for the freezer. Good artificial lures normally attract by the way they move in the water, but a flashy spoon puts a little more visual attraction in the game than just movement. Top water lures, under the right conditions do the same, just don’t fish top waters when the water conditions prevent these movements from being seen from below. Lures are best when their movement imitates the bait they are supposed to resemble. In
T E X A S
TexasOutdoorNation-1902-DIG.indd 39
fish, but when a sunny and fairly warm day does come along in February – and it will— fishing can be good. Such times help us to hold on for warmer, more pleasant days that we know (or at least, hope), are coming in the fairly near future.
winter—even more than in warmer seasons— a soft plastic lure is especially attractive. In winter, a fish will take a lure slowly and be more aware of how it feels. In cold weather fishing with natural bait, it is often more effective to react slowly to a fish. This lets him have time to get the baited hook where it can secure a good hook-set. Neither a spoon, nor a hard plastic lure allows this, and demands a faster hookup. If fishing a large enough piece of water, such as an open bay or offshore, chumming can be very effective in cold water, as the temperature makes an easy meal even more attractive. Chumming with small bits of fish or shrimp creates a trail of “smell” as well as a visual incentive to get hungry fish moving—and feeding. Rainy and cold days are not a lot of fun to
F I S H
&
G A M E ®
THE BANK BITE LOCATION: February fishing will probably be slow, and “hit-or-miss” about anywhere, but deep waters have more potential than shallow haunts – largely because of temperature. This puts a premium on deep passes and channels, as well the waters of the Gulf from just past the third sandbar to far beyond. A rare warm and sunny day, however, will trigger action CONTINUED ON PAGE
|
F E B R U A R Y
2 0 1 9
|
41 u
39
1/16/19 3:47 PM
