December, the last month of the year, the month that brings us our first day of Winter, and during this month in the Lowcountry, you will find brisk outdoor temperatures and continuously lowering water temperatures.
But, for experienced Lowcountry inshore anglers, this means big Winter Seatrout. This is one of the months in the Lowcountry when anglers again fire up artificial lures.
After all, there’s nothing like the excitement of tricking a small to Gator-sized Spotted Seatrout into striking your artificial bait after you have vigorously casted, twitched, jerked and reeled in with every method you know to make your fake bait look real and alive.
No, a Gator Trout does not look like an Alligator
It really brings a sense of accomplishment to the angler when a successful strike, fight and landing of a fish takes place.
I have been asked on more than one occasion by fishermen whether or not Seatrout will bite year-round.
In the Lowcountry, the answer is yes! There are schools of Seatrout that will migrate, but there are other schools that will stay behind in the harbors, deeper rivers, and on sunny days, shallow creeks.
Some large schools of Spotted Seatrout will be made up of young, unseasoned Trout, who just don’t know any better yet and stay behind because they have not learned their migration patterns.
This may make a great afternoon of fishing for an angler, but for these younger schools of Trout, if the water temperature drops too low during the Winter, this could cause a devastating fish kill for this species in the vicinity.
But, what most anglers are really looking for is a Gator Trout. No, a Gator Trout does not look like an Alligator. It is a nickname a Trout gets when it exceeds around 22 inch es long and becomes thick around the mid-body and it has darkened, yellowish coloring in its mouth.
These Gator Trout will stay behind. They usually do not school together. They will be loners, moving slowly along the bottom, acting territorial toward others, trying to make sure that they are the ones that obtain the hard-to-come-by meals that they are lurking for.
But, please don’t get me wrong, this does not mean you will not find four, five or six big Trout in the same vicinity. After all, if seasoned, adult Trout have annually visited a location where in the past they have found food through the Winter successfully, they will gather together in that area but create their own separate space and each individual Trout will come and go as it pleases. After all, Trout are creatures of habit.
Many anglers, including myself, have experienced going to one familiar Trout spot and casting for an hour, then all of a sudden landing a 21- to 23-inch Trout, then casting the same spot for another half hour and finding nothing, but after moving one-half mile away to your next secret hole, finding three of them at that size.
But, now that you know what to expect, a question would be—do we fish for them the same way we do in the Spring or Summer? Well, the answer is yes and no.
You will use similar artificials that you have used during warmer seasons. Some of these artificials will
be used more than others, like artificial Shrimp, Paddle Tail Grubs and Curly Tail Grubs.
The colors to be used will be up to the angler and where they are fishing. Some locations, Trout prefer golds, reds and browns, where other locations, Trout like purples, silvers and white.
The trick will be to fish closer to the bottom. Slow down your retrieve, accompanied by slow jigging or twitching in short strokes.
This is necessary due to the decrease in water temperature, the cooler the water, the slower and less, aggressive the Trout become, as far as their feeding habits. But, man, after setting the hook on one, they really let loose. It’s like someone took a needle full of adrenaline and shot them up!
Their headshake is vigorous. They will roll. They will jump. They will skip across the top of the water. Anything to spit that hook loose.
You may also enjoy reading Charleston December Fishing Forecast
So, this Winter, don’t think because it’s cold outside and Jack Frost is nipping at your nose that fishing is done for the year.
If you bundle up, stock up on your lures, grab a rod and head out on the water to try to target yourself one of those Gators, you might just land a holiday gift that you can only give yourself.
Like I always say, good luck out there and have fun fishing! To view some fishing adventures, go to my “Fishing with Jiggin’ Jerry” Channel on YouTube or go to www.jigginjerry.net.
