TexasKayakFisherman.com

It's been a while since I've been on the water and have a pretty good idea on where to find them, just curious as to see what has been working for you guys. Headed out this weekend

Not much. After seeing trailchaser's video on fishing marsh drains, I went out yesterday to a marsh drain, with obvious tailing reds, and my first cast with a purple/chartreuse paddletail resulted in a 19" red. I thought: "Wow this is gonna be a great day!" Well, I never got another bite in four hours! The fish were everywhere, but not wanting to bite the following:
my original purple paddletail, root beer/yellow Gulp shrimp, chrome/blue Spook, Jr., red/chrome She-dog, blue/chrome rattletrap, bone diamond TSL grasswalker, bone spook Jr., gold spoon, DOA shrimp, maroon/yellow assassin. Water was usually a foot or so, but when deeper, I tried many of the above with a popping cork. Very frustrating to be surrounded by reds, and they wouldn't bite.
Later, I got out about four issues of Saltwater Angler magazine and went through and highlighted the guides' Go-To lures, and tallied their favorites:
Down South XL Shad, mostly Plum/Chartreuse 12
KWigglers Willowtail and Ball Tail Shad, mostly /Bone Diamond 6
Paul Brown Original or Soft Dine, mostly Pink/Pearl 4
Gulp Shrimp, Swimming Mullet, both dark and white 4
Matrix Shad, Glow/Chartreuse 4
Homewrecker twitching mullet 3

So, if you believe the guides are objective and not biased by sponsorship, freebies, etc., the Down South lures are their favorites. I suspect that satisfying their customers would be the main goal, even before other goals and objectives.

This is not a scientific survey, but something to do rather than watching the Super Bowl Halftime (un)show.

Maybe it's time to order some Down South plastics? What works for you guys, and does it vary day-to-day?

Good luck, TexasJim, looking at my empty freezer.

A very comfortable chair in front of a warm fire place. Cup of hot tea on the side coffee table and the latest Ken Follett novel opened in my hands.

Lot of fish still locked into a deep pattern right now... Lavaca river, colorado river, diversions.. anything like that has been good for keepers.

there are a lot of good plastics in that category Jim.. DSL is alright... Chicken boys new whippin chicken, and K wigglers willow tail are also just fine. Even the Egret Wedgetail Eel is a good choice. Winter time darker colors work a little better fishing deep but if the water is super clear a light or natural is fine too.

Last time out in the salt, it’s been almost a month, DSL kicking Chicken out fished DSL Chicken of the C. Both were good, though. The kickn chicken did better on trout and the chicken of the C better on reds. H & H Mardi Gras is another that’s been good. This was fishing deep edges in river channel areas.

I had a good but strange day with some picky trout. I was fishing open bay along the edge of the intercoastal. The trout were in a very specific spot and only ate one of the 3 things I threw. I found spots with deep dark colored grass slightly deeper than the edge of the normal grass line. The fish were hanging out in about 5 feet of water just outside those spots. I'd catch 3-4 in a row on a cock of the walk colored jig fished slow. Then I'd throw a corky 10 times without a strike and a popping cork with a gulp swimming mullet a few times without results. Pick up the jig, throw it back to the same spot and catch several more in a row. Once I had a couple casts without a bite on the jig it was time to find another similar spot and repeat. Caught close to 30 at 4-5 spots along the drop off. None anywhere else and all but one on the same jig. No size, almost all between 14 and 16 inches.