Advantages of Sharing Observations with Wading Partners

Winter months are always my favorite times to write for the magazine. Winter trout fishing just gets me going and every year for about two months I feel like I am 20 years old again. Now, I don’t feel 20 at the end of a cold  and long fishing day but I sleep well and typically feel great when I start to wake around 5:30 each morning. I am that person that has the boat and all tackle pretty much ready to rock in the morning, so I don’t normally have to rise too early in order to be ready to go. I find that being well prepared for each day allows me to rest better at night and prevents me forgetting something critical for the day that a rushed early morning can create. Anal, I know, but it has worked for me in my career and in my life. All this said, let’s get into what I think has enabled me to be able to continue to build a knowledge and skill level to find and catch trophy class fish.

There is no substitute for time on the water, but it is not just time that aids in your development as a better angler. It seems like a waste to me when I see anglers overlooking many factors that are encountered during the average day on the water. Obvious factors are tidal levels and movement, moon phases and how they relate to tides, solunar table, wind direction and velocity and, of course, water temperature. These factors alone are a lot for many young anglers to take in. I am old school and have dock and shoreline references that tell me tide levels, flags around town that indicate wind direction, weather apps that provide wind velocity, air temperatures, and major as well as minor feeding periods for the bay system I am fishing. My GPS measures water temperature as well as navigation. I preach to my clients that they need to let the conditions of the day dictate where and how they will fish. I also advise that they be in tune with the changes during the day in the weather pattern so that they can adjust to these changes. It is beginning to sound like there is more to the fishing game that one might think. Well, there is and like I have said many times, if one is good at something they will work even harder to become better at it. Anything worth our time doing is worth trying to do well.

 With basics covered now we must work on what to do with the area that many of the basic ingredients to finding fish have led us to. Structure in the area is as important as bait because the bait needs structure the same as game fish. Without any form of bottom structure the possibility of bait holding in the area is unlikely. It is true that bait fish migrate from one area to others and also true that game fish travel at times with the food source. What it boils down to is that structure combined with the presence of bait wins at the end of the day.

With many things in place, I now want and need my guys to listen to my communications with them and encourage them to communicate with me and one another as well. Thinking aloud was just something I did to help myself stay in the game in the early years. Little did I realize that these verbalizations would become the foundation for many of my teachings on the water each day. I was coaching but did not realize it. Over the years I noticed that many of my clients, especially those determined to become higher-skilled anglers, were beginning an exchange of information with me and one another during our times on the water. My want has always been that of becoming the most complete angler that I can become. I learn by watching and listening to anglers I respect, based solely on skills that I have seen from them in the field. I know there are many other highly-skilled anglers out there that I have not had the good fortune to fish with and I look forward to doing that if possible. This past week was the basis for this article because all of what I have presented so far were the ingredients for our days on the water.

My guys were terrific and are longtime clients. Throughout each day, wade by wade our group was in constant conversation about what we were observing. With every departure from boat to water, lure selection was discussed. Most of the time we all tried to throw something slightly different, searching for that lure that the trout wanted most. It is a given that each lure selection comes with its own set of requires as far a presentation. These guys are well equipped in that department so very little coaching was needed but there was a little on a few occasions. Communicating our findings throughout the wades allowed us to the fish the area for that time frame. All were aware of the times of the day, when we expected the feed to increase as well as the periods when we felt the feeding activity would be at the lowest. Lures and presentations were adjusted for each situation. This sounds like a lot, and it is, but all of it is critical every  minute of every day. Throughout the day we were able to relay information to one another about where and how the bite was occurring. At one point one of the guys noticed that his bites were not occurring in white sandy potholes but in areas of short grassy bottomed potholes. It was an observation that changed the course of that wade and led to some very nice fish being caught. With this knowledge, all were able to focus on these types of areas that resulted in higher production for a few hours.

My thoughts are that the trout, due mainly to generally improved water clarity across the area as our wade progressed, had begun to use depths similar to the bright-bottomed potholes, but spreading across a bottom structure of short grass that would still provide cover while allowing the opportunity to eat if that opportunity presented itself. Trout are predators and predators are opportunistic by nature, and seldom pass up an easy meal. I see this in Rockport as well and it is a pattern we go to when fishing over large heavy grass flats and many of our back lake areas.

During periods of the day when feeding intensity was high, we noticed that the trout want to feed higher in the water column and switched to Floating Custom Corkys and Texas Custom’s Double Ds. Someone always had a surface related lure in the spread even though we did not actually throw a true topwater. We wanted a lure that created some surface disturbance but wanted to be able to work slightly deeper columns of water at the same time. I am huge on multipurpose lures that allow me to cover different water depths at different speeds all in one. By communicating our findings throughout each wade of the day, all in the group experienced a higher rate of success. We would even discuss the day’s findings at night and make tentative game plans for the next day’s fishing. Sounds like we were doing some sort of homework at days end, right? I have said many times during a fishing day to my clients that are not listening, “You do know there is going to be a test at the end of the day.”

I love groups like this. Groups that show up with an open mind and a willingness to learn. When you make the day about learning, and you are open to learning, I think you’ll find yourself having more success and way more fun. Learning is best achieved when I can create a comfortable environment for the anglers. I like groups that show up with aggressive attitudes that aid in stirring competitive juices within the group. Competition is healthy and often creates energy that allows me to keep a group of anglers in an area long enough to experience the best the area has to offer. I often split my groups into teams and have little tournaments amongst the group. Trash talking is permitted and encouraged, but we keep it clean; well; most of the time anyway. If you are not a communicator on the water, try it the next time you are out with your fishing buddies. I think you will see that it will help improve everyone’s odds of catching fish and I guarantee that you will become aware of some small things that you might be overlooking. The upshot is that you can honestly come away with a better knowledge of the why, where, when, and how for that day.