PORT ARANSAS, Texas — Surf fishing during the months of January thru March can be a little trying at times. You have to really watch the conditions and go when its good.  I look for winds under 15 mph, little to no overcast, blue/green water with a little surf, between one and four foot waves.

Of course you can fish in any condition, this is just our ideal perfect weather fishing days.  I like to use the Magic Seaweed app on my phone to get the times of the tides and swell info.

Right now through March the pompano will still be biting.  Look for blue water, flat day, and cast a shrimp, ghost shrimp, flea, or Fishbite into the first and second guts.  Pompano have small mouths so anything from a 2/0-5/0 circle hook will work great.  There’s no size limit and no bag limit on pompano in Texas.  They are excellent table fare and can be cooking multiple different ways from pan fried, scored and grilled whole, fried, and even smoked.  If you are looking to catch some or try some for eating, now is the time.

Redfish are still biting as well.  Plenty of bullreds still in the surf.  I have found some of the biggest reds can take even the smallest of baits.  They love shrimp, crab, Fishbites, live/dead mullet, and even cut bait.  There isn’t much these brutes won’t eat.  Right now I have been catching them on shrimp in the first gut.  Closer to March they will start becoming more and more slot sized being caught from the surf.

Plenty of sandbar and blacktip sharks are being caught.  Finetooth and bull sharks can be caught this time of year as well.  Match the hatch, if pompano are running then use that.  Kinda hard to see yourself using such excellent eating fish but that’s what they have been biting on.  For smaller sharks they are eating cut whiting casted anywhere.

Black drum can be caught using peeled shrimp or ghost shrimp just after the first wave.  They put up a good fight and are super fun to catch.  You may accidentally land you a stingray as well, using this method.

It is still wader season.  The water has been brutally cold.  Especially on windy days after walking out to cast a bait.  I haven’t seen much mullet in the surf.  Shrimp has been my go-to bait.

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