Fishing for seatrout in cold water means looking for the deepest holes in the river or creek. Trout will head for these deep holes and school. In a lot of cases, if you can find that school, you can catch a lot of fish - I mean a lot.
Some old timers say that the trout actually burrow into the muddy bottom and lay there when the water gets this cold. I don't have any statistical stuff that says that, but I do know they will be deep and somewhat lethargic.
This is when you need to put a live shrimp down just off the bottom under a float rig and allow it to drift through that hole with the tidal current. When you put the bait on their nose, they will tend to eat it!
So that's what I'm heading out to do - find some deep holes, locate a school of trout, and float a bait right to them! Here kitty, kitty, kitty...
Comments
How right you are!
I was fishing from a dock in a creek off Cumberland Island early this week. Our Captain said the trout were hitting good over the weekend. On Tuesday after the cold front had moved in, I tried my luck. The fishing was dead. I tried my normal jig method with a 2″ copper penny gulp shrimp with no luck. I then tried just dragging slowly on the bottom. Again, no luck. Knowing that the cold weather dulls the senses, I tried a lighter color. Slowly dragging a white 2″ gulp shrimp on a 1/8 jig produced results. I caught trout in the same spot I had just previously jigged with a copper penny. Not a lot, but enough to make a meal…
Thanks for your column.
I read it and it constantly produces results.
Trout, Flounder, Reds, whether fishing tips or filleting tips, your insight is great.
Mark