Warm-Cold-Warm>>>>>> that has been the weather around here lately. It can make it hard to catch fish when it’s like this, the fish don’t know what season it is! As fishermen we still get out there and try to catch’em even if they are not biting. So that brings me to my report.
The Trout have still been biting some, not as well as this late Fall but biting. Most fish are around the inlets and beaches; the recent cold snap has kept them out of the creeks. Most fish are hitting live bait “if you can get it”. Live shrimp and small minnows on float rigs have worked the best. Also try working a grub like a Saltwater Assassin Blurp. Work the grub very slow, the colder the water the slower you need to work it.
In the surf there has been large schools of Redfish, these Reds should stay in the surf until spring. The water is very clear here in the winter. The Reds are easy to see in the surf, by boat or walking on the beach. Don’t forget your polarized sunglasses; you’ll need them to see them! The best baits for the surf Reds, Mirrolures and Blurp grubs with heavy jig heads 5/8 and ½ oz.
I headed out to the Gulf Stream on the boat “Work Release”, Saturday (1-5) to do a little Wahoo fishing. Great weather, calm seas, a little warmer air temps. Left the dock at 4:30am got to the first spot around 6:30am and started trolling. We put out the spread, mostly light wire ballyhoo rigs “hot shots” using Blue Water candy skirts. For baits we used Medium ballyhoo and we also had out one horse ballyhoo with a Blue Water candy “Jag” in black and purple. The water was a little to cold for what I like to see in the area we were fishing, 70 dig. We fished for a couple of hours with a few hits on the down rigger, mostly False Albacore. So we turned the boat for deeper and hopefully warmer water. We got out to 650 feet and what do you know the long rigger snapped off like a BB gun. I look back and a small but happy to see Blue Marlin. I could not believe my eyes; I even thought I saw he had a jacket on in that cold water!
It did not last long, he turned over real quick and drop the bait “that’s fishing”. Good to see him tough, sure got our hearts racing on a slow fishing day.
We got out to about 800 feet and decided to do a little deep dropping for some Snowy Groupers. Headed over to a wreck we fish from time to time. Got out the deep drop rod, and made a drop on the wreck. Got a hit right away reeled it up; nice snowy! We caught a few more and headed to the hill “home”. This was one trip I was glad I had other gear on the boat for different kinds of fishing. It can save the day!
One last quick note, I will be at the Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo this coming weekend 1-11 to 1-13. I’ll be there with Ranger boats and Collins Inc. in the Jim Gramham building. Come by and say hello, I will be happy to answer any questions you have about fishing or the boats. I’m going to have some tackle with me and some great tips for ya!
Thanks so much for reading this report, get out there and take a kid fishing!
Captain Jot Owens
Captainjot.com
captainjot@yahoo.com
910-233-4139