| January brings us into full swing of winter weather | | | | occasional speckled trout! |
| patterns. Frigid temperatures leave you with fewer | | | | The final option is to head north! The creeks and |
| options when it comes to fishing the Orange Beach | | | | tributaries that feed into the Orange Beach area are a |
| area. The gulf is typically great for red fishing! Look for | | | | great place to hunt speckled trout! Look for deeper |
| the hard north winds to lay the beach waters down | | | | holes with a dark muddy bottom to find these sluggish |
| slick as glass! Fishing the birds and bait are a great | | | | fish! The cold water slows the fish's metabolism and |
| way to catch bull reds! | | | | makes them feed more lethargically. Dead-sticking |
| Another option is to fish the Perdido Pass area. The | | | | Berkley Gulps! is a great method of tempting these fish |
| sheepshead are beginning to congregate around the | | | | to bite. A popping cork rigged above a live shrimp can |
| jetties and bridge for their annual spring spawn. Look | | | | also be deadly for catching speckled trout! Just |
| for these fish to bite around tide changes. Live shrimp, | | | | remember the fish are slower moving this time of |
| Fiddler Crabs, and Sand fleas are great baits to entice | | | | year. Moving a live bait or artificial bait to quickly can |
| a sheepshead bite! With warmer weather between | | | | determine whether or not you catch fish! My rule of |
| the fronts, look for some slot sized redfish to | | | | thumb for the winter months trout bite is "Dark water, |
| periodically show up around the bridge, jetties, and piers | | | | Dark bottom!" Darker colored waters combined with |
| close to the pass! The inshore reefs in Bayou St. John | | | | darker muddy bottoms hold water temperature much |
| and south of the Intracoastal Waterway will typically | | | | more consistently than a sandy bottom in gin clear |
| produce some big numbers of white trout and the | | | | water! |