Democrat Fishing and Outdoor Report 3/2
Posted: March 2nd, 2007, 8:28 am
Trout fishing advice comes just in time for start of season
Outdoors column by Jerry Gerardi
Ty Smith is considered by many to be an expert when it comes to spotted seatrout fishing in Apalachee Bay. His success is well known in local seatrout tournaments.
Smith recently shared some (the emphasis on some) of his secrets at a seminar held at Jerry's Bait and Tackle in Crawfordville. It was a program attended by both novice and experienced anglers.
Just about everyone in attendance learned something about trout, and just in time. The season reopened Thursday.
"March is a great month for fishing the bay," Smith said. "The fish fan out from the river and creeks, where they've spent most of the winter."
He said the first thing they do is look for food. They've spent the entire winter crowded in with hundreds of other fish competing for a limited amount of food.
But once the flats warm enough for them to survive comfortably, they go on an eating frenzy that would make a Weight Watcher proud.
The trout are looking for anything edible. Shrimp are a favorite. Millions of them will be pouring out of the rivers and onto the shallows.
"Look for the shrimp boats," Smith said. "That's where the food is, and that's where the trout will be."
Rocks also attract trout, and just about everything else. Smith said if you go east of the St. Marks Lighthouse, you will find Cobb Rocks, Gray Mare rocks, Black Rock, the Rock Garden, Stony Bayou and hundreds of other unnamed "secret rocks."
The trick is to find the rocks . . . before they find you. Go slow, use a trolling motor, and have a towing service on speed dial. Many boaters find out the hard way that it doesn't take much to wipe out a prop or lower unit.
If you go west of the lighthouse, you'll encounter sand and mud bottoms. They're easier on your boat but don't hold as many fish.
However, Smith said it is possible to score as you make your way toward Shell Point in 1-2 feet of water. Curiously, very large trout are taken from very shallow water.
As a top predator, the big fish don't worry about being plucked from the sea by a hawk, and in shallow water sharks can't get to them. So they just swim merrily along eating anything tasty they encounter, including small trout and Ty Smith's lures.
Grass is another great haven for trout. Smith said anything that casts a shadow will hold fish, and grass is perfect for hiding in the shadows. He likes to cast perpendicular to the grass as he drifts along (he doesn't like to anchor). But you first have to know which way the current is flowing.
Don't go by the direction the boat is drifting, as that could be wind-driven. He said it's better to look at the grass itself and see which way the blades are leaning. You might need your trolling motor to move along with the leaning grass to cast properly. The goal is to drag your lure across, not with or against, the leaning blades.
As for lures, Smith is a tackle manufacturer's nightmare. For a guy who fishes as much as he does, and is as successful as he is, you would expect him to draw from a tackle box that comes with a trailer hitch. Not so. Everything he uses fits neatly into a Ziplock bag.
"I have a few lures that work for me," he said. "I have confidence in them, so that's what I use."
One of his favorite go-to lures is a 7-inch white Gulp! or Assassin soft jerk bait. He hooks it lightly through the nose (not threaded) on a 4/0 Gamakatsu offset freshwater worm hook.
"These hooks are so sharp the fish usually hook themselves," Smith said. "The hooks don't last as long in saltwater, but they really work."
The secret is the offset. By hooking through the nose and not burying the hook, the lure is pulled straight, darts from side to side like a real baitfish and casts well. If it were threaded in the traditional Texas rig, it wouldn't cast nearly as far.
Smith uses no additional weight, and said the rig is surprisingly weedless. He retrieves this lure in a variety of ways. He reels it steady, twitches it, and sometimes jerks it. Whatever works.
If he's after exceptionally large fish, rather than the tastier barely legal ones, he's even fished with a 15-inch eel lure. He fishes ones without a curly or paddle tail in a slow, steady retrieve.
Another go-to lure Smith uses is the ever popular grub-and-jig combination.
"I prefer to use the pink 1/4-ounce Cotee Jig with the eyes that bulge out a bit," he said. "The jigs with just a painted eye tend to chip off and they just don't look natural."
There are several other brands of jigs with eyes that stick out a bit, and Smith said they work too.
"I have good results with the Assassin Bone Diamond and Root Beer grubs. I work them about 6 inches off the bottom," he said. "Either that or I work them across the top of the grass."
The last thing Smith emphasized was tide. Very simply put, you can fish any tide . . . as long as it's incoming.
More crappie news
Last week, we told you about the results of the Crappie USA tournament on Lake Talquin and inadvertently missed mentioning Shirley and Ed Allen of Quincy. They came in fifth in the Amateur Division, with a catch totaling 12.97 pounds. They also finished first in the Male/Female Division.
Tournament results
Jeff Suber said the Forgotten Coast Kayak Anglers ( http://www.fcka.net) had their February Kayak Fishing Tournament, sponsored by Capt Dick Enterprises, under some very adverse conditions. The temperature was 24 degrees, the barometer was falling, but at least there was no wind.
The anglers paddled out to the mouth of a creek and picked up one nice redfish of 21 inches before moving out on the flats, when the tide finally brought in enough water to float their boats. Once on the flats they found that redfish surrounded schools of baitfish and kept them on the move.
The fishermen scored best on DOA CAL series paddle tails and Capt Mike 5â€
Outdoors column by Jerry Gerardi
Ty Smith is considered by many to be an expert when it comes to spotted seatrout fishing in Apalachee Bay. His success is well known in local seatrout tournaments.
Smith recently shared some (the emphasis on some) of his secrets at a seminar held at Jerry's Bait and Tackle in Crawfordville. It was a program attended by both novice and experienced anglers.
Just about everyone in attendance learned something about trout, and just in time. The season reopened Thursday.
"March is a great month for fishing the bay," Smith said. "The fish fan out from the river and creeks, where they've spent most of the winter."
He said the first thing they do is look for food. They've spent the entire winter crowded in with hundreds of other fish competing for a limited amount of food.
But once the flats warm enough for them to survive comfortably, they go on an eating frenzy that would make a Weight Watcher proud.
The trout are looking for anything edible. Shrimp are a favorite. Millions of them will be pouring out of the rivers and onto the shallows.
"Look for the shrimp boats," Smith said. "That's where the food is, and that's where the trout will be."
Rocks also attract trout, and just about everything else. Smith said if you go east of the St. Marks Lighthouse, you will find Cobb Rocks, Gray Mare rocks, Black Rock, the Rock Garden, Stony Bayou and hundreds of other unnamed "secret rocks."
The trick is to find the rocks . . . before they find you. Go slow, use a trolling motor, and have a towing service on speed dial. Many boaters find out the hard way that it doesn't take much to wipe out a prop or lower unit.
If you go west of the lighthouse, you'll encounter sand and mud bottoms. They're easier on your boat but don't hold as many fish.
However, Smith said it is possible to score as you make your way toward Shell Point in 1-2 feet of water. Curiously, very large trout are taken from very shallow water.
As a top predator, the big fish don't worry about being plucked from the sea by a hawk, and in shallow water sharks can't get to them. So they just swim merrily along eating anything tasty they encounter, including small trout and Ty Smith's lures.
Grass is another great haven for trout. Smith said anything that casts a shadow will hold fish, and grass is perfect for hiding in the shadows. He likes to cast perpendicular to the grass as he drifts along (he doesn't like to anchor). But you first have to know which way the current is flowing.
Don't go by the direction the boat is drifting, as that could be wind-driven. He said it's better to look at the grass itself and see which way the blades are leaning. You might need your trolling motor to move along with the leaning grass to cast properly. The goal is to drag your lure across, not with or against, the leaning blades.
As for lures, Smith is a tackle manufacturer's nightmare. For a guy who fishes as much as he does, and is as successful as he is, you would expect him to draw from a tackle box that comes with a trailer hitch. Not so. Everything he uses fits neatly into a Ziplock bag.
"I have a few lures that work for me," he said. "I have confidence in them, so that's what I use."
One of his favorite go-to lures is a 7-inch white Gulp! or Assassin soft jerk bait. He hooks it lightly through the nose (not threaded) on a 4/0 Gamakatsu offset freshwater worm hook.
"These hooks are so sharp the fish usually hook themselves," Smith said. "The hooks don't last as long in saltwater, but they really work."
The secret is the offset. By hooking through the nose and not burying the hook, the lure is pulled straight, darts from side to side like a real baitfish and casts well. If it were threaded in the traditional Texas rig, it wouldn't cast nearly as far.
Smith uses no additional weight, and said the rig is surprisingly weedless. He retrieves this lure in a variety of ways. He reels it steady, twitches it, and sometimes jerks it. Whatever works.
If he's after exceptionally large fish, rather than the tastier barely legal ones, he's even fished with a 15-inch eel lure. He fishes ones without a curly or paddle tail in a slow, steady retrieve.
Another go-to lure Smith uses is the ever popular grub-and-jig combination.
"I prefer to use the pink 1/4-ounce Cotee Jig with the eyes that bulge out a bit," he said. "The jigs with just a painted eye tend to chip off and they just don't look natural."
There are several other brands of jigs with eyes that stick out a bit, and Smith said they work too.
"I have good results with the Assassin Bone Diamond and Root Beer grubs. I work them about 6 inches off the bottom," he said. "Either that or I work them across the top of the grass."
The last thing Smith emphasized was tide. Very simply put, you can fish any tide . . . as long as it's incoming.
More crappie news
Last week, we told you about the results of the Crappie USA tournament on Lake Talquin and inadvertently missed mentioning Shirley and Ed Allen of Quincy. They came in fifth in the Amateur Division, with a catch totaling 12.97 pounds. They also finished first in the Male/Female Division.
Tournament results
Jeff Suber said the Forgotten Coast Kayak Anglers ( http://www.fcka.net) had their February Kayak Fishing Tournament, sponsored by Capt Dick Enterprises, under some very adverse conditions. The temperature was 24 degrees, the barometer was falling, but at least there was no wind.
The anglers paddled out to the mouth of a creek and picked up one nice redfish of 21 inches before moving out on the flats, when the tide finally brought in enough water to float their boats. Once on the flats they found that redfish surrounded schools of baitfish and kept them on the move.
The fishermen scored best on DOA CAL series paddle tails and Capt Mike 5â€