Capt. Casertas Winter Fishing Tips

The tide was falling quickly when we decided to fish the cuts on the backside of San Jose Island, where the lakes drain into the Aransas Bay. It was a Saturday that I had picked up 3 clients and, as I figured, there were some redfish sitting around the cuts.

While I drifted in front of the cuts, the clients fished from the boat using some different lures before settling on the ones that worked the best, Devil Eyes in Gold Rush and Pink Hologram with a 1/16 oz jig.

It was one of those days when you really had to let the fish have it; they weren't just choking it down. The other thing we found was the water was a little warm yet the fish were holding on the shell mixed with mud. If you didn't see much bait you didn't catch.

3 limits of keepers and a lot of undersized redfish were caught once we got the pattern down regarding areas to fish. Mud bottoms mixed with shell are also where you will find the bait food until Spring, so these are the areas you need to look for and you should catch fish.

You really need to take about 10 or 15 minutes to check if you see any bait activity before you pass any area up. You can end up getting into a good mess of fish that way. Most people will not see bait right away and pass up an area that is holding bait and redfish which are not constantly active.

Remember, it is cold, the fish are cold and they are not going to move around like they do in the fall or summer. Also, there are not as many fish, so seeing a couple of flicks here or there could make your day.