Fishing with Bay Flats Lodge
We have experienced some great weather this fall, and some really good fishing to go along with it. As air and water temperatures continue to drop this month and next, many anglers will store their rods and reels until springtime when things begin to warm-up once again. Others will pick-n-choose the days they fish during cold weather in an attempt to spend only the absolute nicest days out on the water. And then there are the die-hard anglers who could care less about the weather conditions – they simply want to be out on the water fishing. Regardless of which type of angler you may be during the wintertime months, you need to know that some of the year’s nicest trout (and redfish) are often landed in cold water conditions. Your decision to fish during times of colder temperatures doesn’t have to be all or nothing. By making just a few minor adjustments to the way you normally fish can often spell success at the end of a cold day along one of your favorite salty shorelines.
Being warm should be a prime focus for anglers venturing out into cold weather, so changing the way you dress can make all the difference in the world right now. Listen to weather forecasts and attempt to dress for the occasion. Dressing in layers can most often provide ample warmth for even the harshest of conditions, while at the same time allowing the angler to adjust the amount of clothing to satisfy any comfort level. Remember, you can always take clothes off if you get too hot, but you can’t put clothes on if you don’t have any to put on. Carrying an extra set of dry clothes is also not a bad idea for wintertime angling, as staying dry in the cold is a very good thing!
During the hotter times of the year, and depending on what kind lure is being used, artificial bait enthusiasts may vary the action at the tip of their fishing rod as they attempt to draw a strike, but the speed of the retrieve generally remains quick. However, such a speedy retrieve in cold water will most often only leave your arm extremely tired and sore with nothing to show at the end of the day for your hard efforts. Cold water temperatures signal to the fish that it’s time for their metabolism to slow down because there is going to be fewer chances at eating food until things begin to warm again, and their bodies automatically go into power-saving mode as a direct result. Generally speaking, this means that just about all of the fish’s actions usually slow down considerably – their swimming motions, their reaction speed and movements, and even the force at which they strike at their prey. What does all of this mean to lure anglers? It means that you need to adjust the retrieval of your lure so as to make it as slow as possible whenever searching for big trout in cold water. When you think you’re reeling-in really slow, slow it down even further. The strike that you feel at the end of your line may feel like nothing more than a brief bump. These fish are laid-back in these colder conditions, and they usually aren’t going to exert any effort that isn’t absolutely necessary in order to sustain life.
Also, adjust the manner in which you cover an area when wading this winter. Try anchoring the boat in a little bit deeper water, and then begin your wading session by heading directly toward the bank of the shoreline, all the while making casts out in front of you from the nine o’clock to the three o’clock positions. As you approach the bank, turn in either direction and walk along the bank the distance of one of your casts, then turn and start heading back out to deeper water while walking perpendicular to the bank. This type of zig-zag wading pattern can allow anglers significant coverage of a massive area, as doing so essentially leaves no part of the immediate vicinity unexplored. Coverage of this magnitude can often mean the difference between catching and fishing, especially in cold water situations.
There is one constant, however, that anglers should practice no matter what time of the year it is, and that is the fact that they should always attempt to locate a bait presence in the area they are planning to spend time in. Making this a common practice can separate failure from success, especially right now when things are beginning to get really cold at times. This is not to say that you shouldn’t stop the boat unless you witness the presence of abnormally large herds of mullet swimming along the surface of the water, as this generally will not be the case in cold water conditions. Instead, next time you are idling along in cold water while scouting for a place to set anchor, look for that one, lone horse mullet that may set sail into the air as it gets chased from the water by a big predator fish. Seeing such action on a cold day should influence your decision to get into the water and search for whatever it was that forced that mullet skyward. While you’re wading the area, stay in tune with what may be going on in the water around you. If you happen to see another mullet jump, even if it was only a single jump, attempt to make a few casts directly atop the place where the mullet exited and entered the water. As we touched on earlier, cold-water fish will often sit motionless in one spot as they wait to lunge at their next meal, so try to place your lure as close as possible to where you saw the mullet jump.
If there’s one thing that’s certain in life, it’s the fact that change is inevitable. From an angler’s perspective this means that all of the many, many variables that are associated with the act of sport fishing will, at one time or another, undergo change – things like the wind, the water conditions, the air and water temperatures, the bait, the structure, etc. Coastal anglers who can visualize the possibility of approaching changes and who are then able to properly prepare for adapting to those changes will be the ones who will probably be able to recognize the highest level of success this winter while fishing for cold-water trout and redfish.
Until next time, tight lines to all!
