JANUARY FISHING!!!

Clearwater Fishing has been good between the fronts. Lots of trout as expected this time of year. Live shrimp has been my main bait of choice but certainly a variety of artificials have worked well also. Any jerkworms or smaller patterns that mimic the color and shape of shrimp have been best. Slowly retrieving along the bottom, with an occasional hop or two will usually get a strike if a trout is nearby. Sometime I’ll use the artificial to find a group of fish and then concentrate live shrimp in that area. They are ranging from 16 to 24 inches.
After catching the trout, we’ll move to redfishing. Docks have been holding high numbers of small reds. Cut pieces of shrimps can get bitten quickly if the fish are there. If no bites come within the first 10 minutes or so, it’s on to the next dock. Some potholes on the flats have held some bigger fish. Focusing on the mullet schools will usually result in a redfish or two. Snook are being caught every once in a while, if the conditions are just right and usually in the backcountry canals. All in all, it has been pretty good although cold fronts and winds will be coming every 5 – 7 days over the next month or so. Getting out in between and catching some fish is always the name of the game in January.