Like many of you I used to fish a lot of good trout water and wonder why I wasn’t catching big fish, knowing that they were in there. It wasn’t until I started fishing with my good friend, John Q, that I really understood how to read water and find bigger trout. I see a lot of anglers casting Corkys and Down South Lures in a long flat stretch with little current, medium depth, and no structure. Like I said, I used to do the same thing. You may catch fish in these stretches, but usually the big one is in a deep hole with lots of cover and a good current flowing into it. The most important things to look for are depth, current, water temperature and structure. After this look for bait. Some of these keys we all know but sometimes we tend to overlook some of the obvious. Another key is water clarity. Another key is not fishing high traffic areas, high traffic areas can create high stress on fish. You maybe closer than you think if you just make a few adjustments. Don’t over think certain situations read the water. You also need to adjust your drag don’t try to horse the whopper in, let her run a bit because depending on what lure you use she may be barely hooked. Trout are a different type of fish and you cannot fish them as you do reds. They will spook if you try to net them to early as well. I as many friends have lost some nice trout due to this. Also watch your approach to the shorelines when you attend to wade an area.
As I attempted to prefish for an up and coming tournament I watched the weather. I noticed that it was going to change thru the week. John and I reviewed certain areas and agreed to prefish and area that we have fished before and caught some solid trout. The day before the tournament we landed a few solid trout and released them all in wake that they stick around for the following day. On tournament day the water changed as did the overcast. This is opposite of what the weatherman had predicted again. So the colors that we were catching them on the day before we could not get a bite so we went from tossing true plum to tossing Red shad as well as Pink original corky. As we approached the first spot things looked very promising as bait was active and not many other boats. We stuck our fish big trout and biggest of the day within our first hour. We then decided to make another drift and as we did the wind started to pick up which changed the water and pushed them off the shoreline. We kept grinded another hour and a half until we decided to make the move to the second spot. As we approached we noticed a lot of active bait and the water looked a lot better as it was protected. We stayed there 2 hours with no bites until we made a decision to move to our just in case spot. As we approached it notice a lot of birds as well as bait was very active. On our third cast we hooked another solid trout. Things were looking better but we knew we needed one more with the competition we were fishing against we had to weigh in at least 15 pounds. So we made another two drifts and 15 minutes later we hooked our second biggest trout of the day. We continued on the drift to get off the fish before heading back in. So if you decide to fish a tournament don’t get discourage however you do need to do your homework and study the areas you intend to fish. And remember have fun, the release is as good as the catch.
If you are in the Galveston/Houston area and want to book a trip, look me up on FB at Acosta’s Guide Service or visit my web page at www.acostasguideservice.com.
Rippn Lipz n Bendingrodz
Remember to send in your pictures for the brag board, see you on the water