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Who loves to go fishing
with the family but the wife and the kids hate waking up
early? Well Winter and Spring is just the ticket,
although fishing can be good in the morning during the
Spring the number of boats on water can actually dampen the
bite (no pun intended). If I had my choice of which 8
hours to fish a customer it would be 8 hours until dark,
especially on a weekend and that means starting the day off
at around 11:00am. |
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2007-4 Saturday sunset and
the fish
still biting, the only
boat on the water! |
I generally start out by
running around and fishing areas that aren't being traveled
over hard by other boats, that aren't as "Fish" obvious or
that may take special knowledge of underwater obstructions
to access. And what is it with a lot of anglers
"now-in-days", it seems if they see a guide boat or a boat
with fisherman dressed with Columbia fishing gear they
immediately put on the breaks and start behind your drift or
right next to you eliminating the possibility of another
undisturbed prosperous drift...then 10 minutes later they
pick up and run down the grass line you were catching all
the fish on. Back in the day boats didn't want to be
stacked up next to each other! So good fisherman always
remember not to pound an area to death, as with Tuna schools
in the Gulf or Trout/Reds in the Bay, give the fish a rest
after a prosperous drift. If you do not make repeated
drifts it will not alert other boats to your prosperity, you
can come back every hour or 2 and find more successful
fishing! |
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During Spring fishing
time I like to fish grass lines, potholes for a mix of Reds
and Trout. Muddy flats on windy days can great for
Redfish action so don't let the wind scare you! If
your using shrimp and popping cork or lures, you will triple
your keeper catch by reaching that grass line or pot hole
when it is far from the boat, so keep your eyes open...fish
like hiding places for ambush! Remember the longer a
bait or lure stays in the strike zone the more fish you'll
catch! |
2007-3 Denver's 20NM windy
Red,
among many others! |
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2007-3 Spring Break Big
Fish! |
In
my next article I'll write about fishing with
your children, Spring time fishing can be a
great time to introduce your kids to the Bay
because of the fast paced action. I have taught
children as young a 5 years old how to cast
Shrimp and popping cork, my own son could do it
effectively before his 4th birthday.
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Don't knock Shrimp and
Popping cork, you can actually make it as technical as a
lure and catch more fish 8 months out of the year!
The cork rig I use is a
Cajun Thunder in various colors, Fluorocarbon leader in
different lengths, various size and color of beads and
number #2 or #4 treble hooks, try to find the combination of
these that are working on any given day.
Hint #1– use a leader
size that will keep the shrimp right above the grass or
bottom and aim for the pot holes with your casts.
Hint #2 – Clear water
small shrimp, use the smaller hooks and beads, just the
opposite for off colored water. Also match up the cork
to the beads.
Hint #3 – Have the
people fishing with you use a different setup until you find
the pattern or if you are alone, rig up multiple rods with
different setups so you can change quickly depending on the
depth or fish in that area.
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Fish
More,
Live Longer!
Capt. Scott
McCune (USCG Master)
FISHNTEXAS.COM
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