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WINTER FISHING by Adam Morley |
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When the water temperature drops off so does most of the fish activity. But there is just enough good fish to last
throughout the winter like trout, black drum, blue fish and occasional red fish.
Finding the trout isn't very hard if you know where to look. Don't know where to look? OK... I'll tell you but it is a secret between you and me. So bring your ear close and I'll whisper it. "Spsss sps spss sp spss!" You will find trout at creek bends, in deep holes out in the flats, and under bridge and dock lights at night. Try any of these places during a medium outgoing tide. Now I guess I'll have to tell you the secret lures to go along with the secret spots, but I'm going to be out of secrets by the end of this article. Here they are. The catch 2000 sinking twitch bait by MirrOlure, the pinfish colored rattle traps made by Illusion, the 4" shad, any color, also made by Illusion and the DOA shrimp in any color. Trout have to be at least 15" to keep and not more than 20". Bag limit is five per person per day and you can keep one over 20". Closed season is the month of January but the best trout fishing is the few weeks up until then. Please practice catch and release on the ones that look pregnant. Black drum really come out when the cold water hits. The best places to find drum are near the inlets, deep holes in the ICW channel and holes in the flats. You can catch drum using peeled shrimp, fiddler crabs, small blue crabs and sand fleas. Black drum have to be at least 14" to keep and cannot be over 24". Bag limit is five per person per day and you can keep one over 24". Blue fish you can find almost anywhere, but there are a few places you'll find them in large numbers and sizes, such as the inlets and under lights. Blue fish are very picky eaters, NOT! Blue fish will eat almost anything that moves. They'll eat live bait, dead bait, cut bait, and most any lure especially shiny spoons. They'll also hit jigs, twitch baits, and sometimes curl tail grubs. Blue fish have to be at least 12" to the fork of the tail and the bag limit is ten per person per day. Red fish will be a little harder to find. A few places to look would be way back up in creeks, in shallow water during high tides and around creek mouths. They will hit slow moving baits like the DOA shrimp or the DOA soft shell crab. Both baits can be retrieved at a slow pace because the reds will be sluggish due to the colder water. Well, now you know my secrets. I hope to see you on the water doing a little winter fishing this year. |
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291 Cubbedge Road |
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