FlyTalk

Have you ever dreamed of fishing where no one has before? Perhaps where no one has for months or years? Got a some money burning a hole in your pocket? Call the boys at Angling Destinations as they are offering a program for the traveling fisherman called Destination X Angling Destinations claims they do not advertise these spots, will not let any magazine articles be published or TV shows filmed with them at these locations and GPS units are not allowed. You might not be sleeping at a swanky lodge, but I guarantee the fishing will be better than if you were. If you do agree to go on one of these trips you really never know what you're going to get... You might be sleeping in a tent one night a live aboard the next. They ask all participants via gentleman's agreement that there be no trip reports published good or bad, no "Angling Reports" be posted when they return and basically just keeping quiet with other people. Heck you can't even view their destinations without proper user logins and passwords. For more information visit the link to Angling Destinations above.

TR

Lake Amistad, Texas
Target species: Largemouth bass
January avg. temps: 56 high, 39 low
Round-trip airfare to San Antonio: $280
accommodations: Camping at $8 per night

Amistad is the hottest bass lake in Texas right now, both for numbers and for size of bass. And because it’s hard on the Mexican border at Del Rio, it’s also one of the warmest in winter. Hire a cheap car at San Antonio (about $125 a week) and drive southwest to your campsite at the Lake Amistad National Recreation Area (nps.gov/amis). That frugality puts a powerboat rental from one of several local marinas (about $125 a day) within your means. Or start with a day’s guided fishing at the area’s going rate of $300 a day for two anglers. It just might be the best bassing you’ll have all year.

--John Merwin

Aransas Pass, Texas
Target species: Redfish, seatrout
January avg. temps: 60 high, 45 low
Round-trip airfare to houston: $250
Accommodations: Camping at $8 per night

Texas redfishing is hot from the Louisiana border all the way west and south through Padre Island National Seashore. The area around Aransas Pass just northeast of Corpus Christi harbors lots of protected shallows for both kayakers and redfish. (From most major cities, it’s cheaper to fly to Houston than to Corpus Christi, and because most rental cars have unlimited mileage, driving the 200 miles from Houston is a better deal.) For kayak rentals and guided fishing, check out the aptly named Slow Ride Guide Service in Aransas Pass (slowrideguide.com). You’ll find the cheapest possible lodging at nearby Mustang Island State Park, where—high-tide levels permitting—beach camping is allowed (tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/mustang_island).

Ocala National Forest, north-central Florida
Target species: Largemouth bass
January avg. temps: 70 high, 50 low
Round-trip airfare to Orlando: $195
Accommodations: free camping

There are literally hundreds of small lakes and grassy ponds in this 389,000-acre national forest about 40 miles north of Orlando (fs.fed.us/r8/florida/recreation/index_oca.shtml). A few are busy places with improved boat ramps, but many offer only backcountry access by primitive sand roads. Rent a canoe or kayak at one of several forest-based concessions, and then use the SUV you hired at the Orlando airport to reach seldom-fished water. Camping at designated “primitive” sites is free. Get a copy of the Forest Service fishing booklet and a map when you check in.

--John Merwin

Southern California Reservoirs
Target species: Largemouth bass
January avg. temps: 64 high, 45 low
Round-trip airfare to Los Angeles: $295
Accommodations: Camping at about $20 per night

Dozens of small lakes and reservoirs in Southern California hold huge bass. Most are in the vicinity of Los Angeles and San Diego, where the weather is warm enough to allow fishing all winter. Many lakes are stocked with rainbow trout, which are like candy bars for the potbellied largemouths. Castaic Lake and Lake Casitas both offer plenty of water (2,500 surface acres each), are famous for lunkers, and have campsites available. For an excellent descriptive listing of these and other regional bass waters, including some fishing reports, see westernbass.com/scalifornia/featured.

--John Merwin

East Cape Baja, Mexico
Target species: Dorado, tuna, roosterfish, marlin
January avg. temps: 75 high, 56 low
Round-trip airfare to San José del Cabo: $513
Accommodations: Lodge room, $701 for two people for four nights, including daily charter boat and meals

This is one of the best deals in all of fishing. The East Cape area near the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula is relatively undeveloped except for a few beachfront resort hotels catering mostly to anglers. The Van Wormer family operates three of these (vanwormerresorts.com), with everything from kayak flyfishing to big-game offshore trolling available. My favorite option is fishing with a local captain from a 23-foot super panga (an outboard-powered center-console boat). You and a buddy get meals, four nights’ lodging, and three days’ charter fishing for about $350 each. (For more on this region, see “Baja by Bike,”)

--John Merwin

Long Island, Bahamas
Target species: Bonefish
January avg. temps: 80 high, 69 low
Round-trip airfare to nassau: $360; plus approximately $150 to Long Island
Accommodations: Beachfront cabana at $150 per night for two people (best for couples; includes meals)

About 4 miles wide by 80 miles long, Long Island is a Bahamian out-island 160 miles southeast of Nassau. Pierre and Anne Laurence opened Chez Pierre (chezpierrebahamas.com) on an isolated beach here in 2002, with six cabanas on the water flanked by a superb restaurant where Pierre does very capable duty as chef. Bonefish prowl the flat in front, where I’ve watched them tailing before I even got out of bed in the morning. And there are enough drive-to flats around the island to make it a worthwhile destination for do-it-yourself (unguided) anglers. I’ve chased bonefish across the Bahamas for a lot of years, and this is the best—and nicest—deal I’ve found. Explorer Chartbooks (explorercharts.com) offers a series of maps that’s very helpful for navigating unmarked secondary roads and locating bonefish flats.

--John Merwin