Wow! Christmas is over until next year. All there is to do now is worry about taxes or fish. Some choice…I’m going fishing. January fishing can be the toughest fishing of the year. Most often it's cold, water is low, bait is hard to find, the wind is blowing hard from the north and it's hard to find friends that want to go with you. All of these problems can be good things except for the fair weather friends.  When it's cold, specks are "hold up" in the deepest parts of our creeks and rivers as well as all the inshore bayous and bays. When the water is low its easier to find deep holes in new areas and when the wind is hard from the north, it helps move more water out of the creeks and rivers which expose edges and tips of oyster bars and tops of submerged stumps, logs, and other underwater structures.  When bait is hard to buy, it's hard to locate on the water, too. When you do locate it, you can bet that all the game fish in that area are under the bait fish looking for a meal.

 The real key to cold weather trout is to remember that you need to fish very slow this time of the year, and fish at the bottom. Specks will stay deep when its coldest and move to shallower water to feed when the sun heats it up some. Look for "dark" water on the clear water bays and rivers and creeks, next to anything that may hold bait. Adjust your lures to things that look like the bait that is present at that time. I almost always use live bait or plastics on popping corks or slip corks in deep water. Sometimes I use larger plastics with 3/8 ounce jig heads, fished very slow on the bottom of deep rivers as I drift down current. I use my trolling motor to keep me straight and let the river current move me down stream.

 If your friends are fair weather fishermen, get them some serious cold weather gear. Fishing is great fun with a friend. Keep in mind that red fish travel our rivers and creeks often so be ready for the 25 pound red to take that Gulp Bait attached to your 12 pound test. If the wind is O.K., then January is a great time to hit the close in off shore rigs in search of sheepshead, red fish, white trout and ground mullet. If you can’t find live shrimp you can use salted shrimp. To salt shrimp you’ll need 3 or 4 pounds of good shrimp. Peel them and remove the heads. Spread the shrimp out on some news paper on you counter and then cover them well with table salt. Leave them until the next morning. They’ll be as tough as leather and will work very well on sheepshead, white trout, ground mullet and red fish.  Fish on the bottom next to the rigs stands. You may also find some large red fish on the Dixey Bar this month. I always drop my hook and use cut mullet for bait. Red fish will follow a scent trail. Use large chunks of bait on the bottom. All in all, January can be a productive month on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Always be careful, but if you fish alone, be especially careful. Enjoy what we have to offer on the coast. Stay safe, stay dry. For more, visit backbayfishingwithdon.com.

Capt. Don