Doctrine · not a honey-hole list

Seasonal fundamentals

When a coast, a type of water, and a fish actually line up. If you elected Texas on the list, this page opens on Texas — Seychelles stays off the board until you ask for it. Filter by region, method or habitat, and species. The year bar is peak versus present. Limits cite TPWD and FWC — verify before you keep one.

Louisiana

Louisiana — river, marsh, and the birdfoot

Wind and the Mississippi move more water than the printed tide.

Venice is the birdfoot — South and Southwest Pass, ponds on the west bank, bulls in the throats, school reds and trout inside, tarpon in the heat on the south passes. Grand Isle is a different desk: one inhabited barrier island, Caminada, Barataria, a state-park surf. Calcasieu is the Texas-border cousin under LDWF rules — same fish, different bag, not Sabine Lake. Reds are 4 a day, 18–27, none over 27. Trout are a slot. Flounder typically close Oct 15–Nov 30. Do not put a Texas tag on a Cameron fish.

February. Last of the winter ponds. Reds start to show. Trout still want the remaining water. A front is a plan.

Type

Spin

Spin is not a consolation prize. It is what you do when the wind, the depth, or the fish does not allow the fly. Gold spoon in grass. Soft plastic when they will not come up. Live crab for a Keys permit that has refused every merkin. A 30-pound black drum in a Galveston channel is a day that does not owe you a strip-set. Carry both. Decide on the water.

Venice Grand Isle Calcasieu

February · peak

What is actually on

Black drum

Sheepshead

Peak Present Off

Closures

No coast-wide harvest closure on the board. Still verify before you keep a fish.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

Present FebruaryLouisiana

Thermal window

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52–88°F · best 62–82°F

Texas and Louisiana main event. Tails in flooded grass, wakes on shell, winter schools on mud, bulls in the passes. Keys: backcountry only, not oceanside. Boca Harbor yes. Jupiter is a snook desk.

Fly. 8-weight. Crab or shrimp on bead-chain for tailers. Gold spoon when the wind wrecks the fly. 20 lb near oyster.

Spin. Weedless gold spoon, paddle, or soft plastic. Heavy spoon or big paddle for the fall jetty bulls.

Leads the brief on Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: 4/day, 18–27 in slot. None over 27. No harvest in federal waters. Charter captain/crew bag is zero. Verify LDWF.

Official source

Speckled trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

Present FebruaryLouisiana

Thermal window

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48–86°F · best 62–78°F

Same bays as the red, a foot deeper. Birds are GPS. Heat drives them off the flat at midday. Cold drives them to guts and mud. Louisiana lives on this fish.

Fly. 7–8 wt. Baitfish and shrimp. Gurgler when they are up. Soft mouth — strip-set, do not trout-set a trout.

Spin. Topwater at dawn. Soft plastic on a light jig the rest of the day. Slow down after a front.

Leads the brief on Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: 15/day, 13–20 in slot, no more than two over 20. Charter captain/crew bag is zero. Verify LDWF.

Official source

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

Peak FebruaryLouisiana

Thermal window

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50–84°F · best 55–72°F

Winter/early spring. Schools with reds on Galveston mud. Roots — look for puffs and a thicker, darker tail.

Fly. Crab/shrimp a size bigger than the red. 8 wt schoolies, 9–10 for shoulders. He will eat a fly that sits.

Spin. Crab, light jig, or dead shrimp. A 30-pounder in a channel is a day that does not allow the fly.

Leads the brief on Venice, Grand Isle, Calcasieu.

Louisiana. Louisiana: check LDWF coastal finfish before you keep a drum.

Official source

Sheepshead

Archosargus probatocephalus

Peak FebruaryLouisiana

Thermal window

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52–80°F · best 55–70°F

Winter and early spring on jetty granite and pilings. Midday better than dawn. He faces the tide and picks.

Fly. 7–8 wt, short 16–20 lb leader, ugly small crab. You are putting food on a post, not presenting to a cruiser.

Spin. The honest tool. Light jig or fiddler, 15–20 fluoro, watch the line. The bite is a tick.

Louisiana. Louisiana: check LDWF coastal finfish.

Official source

Florida pompano

Trachinotus carolinus

Present FebruaryLouisiana

Thermal window

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62–82°F · best 66–76°F

Surf and clean sand. Texas and Florida beaches in the cool months. Not a permit. Not a jack.

Fly. 8 wt. A small crab or Clouser in the wash. He wants sand, not grass.

Spin. Jig in the surf and on the first bar. The honest pompano tool is a pompano jig.

Louisiana. Louisiana: verify LDWF.

Official source

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