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Pro Tips: February 2008
Nice redfish like to hang out in trout water too. Notice the sandy green tint of the water. This is “trout green” to me.
It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. It seems only a few months ago we were talking about the upcoming 2007 season. As we age, time passes faster, I believe. I guess it is because we tend to enjoy each moment more and we all know the good stuff happens fast. Before I get into this month's article I would like to compliment Mike McBride on his writings in this magazine last month. You're right Mike, it's not about the fish; it's about the relationships.
My relationship with Cliff Webb and his family started in waist deep 47-degree water on a bitter cold February afternoon. Little did we know that the companionship and respect forged that day would outweigh the double digit heavy-weights that hang on my wall today. I don't remember every detail about the fight those fish gave me, but I do remember the high fives and even a hug from The Master after landing a fish that went well over the 10 pound mark. Thanks Mike for revitalizing the reason I do what I do.
Now let's talk about February fishing. February has to be one of the most anticipated months of the year for Texas trout enthusiasts. I for one love the prospects that February brings for taking a lifetime-class trout.
February is also a time when many saltwater anglers have their fishing on hold. This opens up shorelines and allows those of us willing to brave the colder conditions many more choices. Sure there are plenty of serious trout anglers that crowd in on some of the more popular areas but these are not the only areas that hold trophy size trout.
The purpose of this article is to help you locate some of these areas yourself by recognizing what good trout water looks and feels like. I will tell you up front that the look you can learn, but the feel comes only with time. For me, locating and patterning fish is where I get the greatest joy from what I do.
I made statement 20 years ago on stage at a trout tournament weigh-in that sounded cocky but was not meant to. I said, "trout water is trout water no matter where you find it." To this day I feel the same way.
Trout water has a look and feel to it. For me it is typically about crotch deep and it must contain suitable bottom structure for the given area. Some areas harbor an abundance of bottom grasses that grow in a variety of depths due to above average water clarities. In other areas it may be shell or rocks. For every area there is a predominant type of structure. Once you know that and know where to find it, half the battle is over.
I prefer structure that I can see, maybe not too well, but well enough to cast toward. This allows me to place my lure exactly where it needs to be over and over. I am a firm believer in making repetitive casts to the given structure of the day. Often times the bite comes only after many casts to a single piece of that preferred structure.
The structure I am fishing must possess some bait activity. Lets be clear, not every piece of structure in my chosen area needs to support hordes of bait, but some is an absolute "must see" for me. The bait gives me the confidence to stay and do the slow grind, and slow grinding is something every trophy trout fisherman can do. Show me a track star on a prime big trout mud hole that catches some fish now and then and I'll chalk that off to luck. Have you ever wondered why the same old guys seem to always catch the bigger trout? Chalk this up to trout savvy and the ability to slow grind.
I have to really make myself slow down when I am fishing a new area, especially an area where everything looks good. The Tide Gauge bar is that way for me. The inside and outside look good, but inevitably the trout are located where the water looks like trout water to me. What I see may not be what some others see, but my brain contains a fairly good picture of what looks right and what does not, so when my eyes lock in on it my brain starts talking to me. This is why it is so important to look through the water as you fish.
Take in every detail you can and pay very close attention to each cast and to the location of every bite. You will be amazed at how much your onboard computer will retain. Your brain is the computer, the best ever built, more memory that we can even begin to use or recall.
You ever get the feeling while your fishing that something great is fixing to happen? I get it all the time. Heck, I think I am going to get a bite on just about every cast when things look right, even though I know this is impossible on the greatest of days. That sense is your computer's built-in search engine telling you, "Hey your eyes just detected something you wanted me to remember for you." Once you have been given the cards it is up to you to play them properly.
I had the opportunity this week to fish with a club member of mine that wanted me to show him what trout water looks like. He is going to fish with me once an month in 2008 and on each trip he wants to see and study the differences from winter to spring to summer and fall. This should be an excellent learning experience for him and for me too. I take for granted what the water needs to look like in order to hold trout but many times I do not make it known to my clients what the subtle differences are. I will use our January 5th trip to help paint the picture.
In my area, during the winter months, I like to look for water with scattered bottom structure.
I like the bottom to be soft and soft is dark; dark also allows the water to hold more color than bottom made of hard white sand. Dark is good; I promise.
The structure can be grass or scattered clumps of oyster shell. If the oyster shell has a little grass growing in it or on it that is even better. I believe the trout see the bottom structure as a means of breaking up the outline of their bodies, making them less noticeable, thus allowing them the element of surprise when it comes time to feed.
On this particular trip the reds had taken over a super trout hole in the morning, but gave it back to their speckled cousins later in the day. The key to the story is the look the water had. It was trout water and I told my client that it was and that later in the day I would be able to prove it.
"What looks different about this area versus the others we've looked at?" he wanted to know.
Well - It wasn't any single attribute. To be honest it was a combination of the water's color, the clarity, the texture of the bottom, and the way the baitfish acted. There was no huge concentration of bait, just scattered bait, like the bottom structure. The activity I saw brought up mental pictures that related back to previous ones when fish were caught in areas that looked just like the one were in.
With only a few solid trout bites, I decided to run to some different areas and search for water that looked and felt the same as the area we were departing from. I promised we would return later and see if the fish would eat for us. For hours we combed the three different bay systems looking for that right look and that feeling I get when I see it. Nothing, looked or felt right. Some areas held bait but no structure. Some had water too clear and others had everything but no feeling of "rightness."
Around 2:00 pm we returned to our first area. As we eased in a slick popped just off the shoreline over some scattered mud and shell. The water was a bit sandier due to some wind and the bait was still active but still scattered. A mere 50 yards into the wade the first solid trout was on the surface thrashing her head trying to free herself from whatever it was that looked so good but tasted so bad. Two hours of catching and releasing fish made a believer out of my fishing buddy.
The point is that trout water, no matter how good it looks, has to feel right to you. It is more of a feel than a look. Trust me when I say, trout water is trout water, and it sure feels good.
My relationship with Cliff Webb and his family started in waist deep 47-degree water on a bitter cold February afternoon. Little did we know that the companionship and respect forged that day would outweigh the double digit heavy-weights that hang on my wall today. I don't remember every detail about the fight those fish gave me, but I do remember the high fives and even a hug from The Master after landing a fish that went well over the 10 pound mark. Thanks Mike for revitalizing the reason I do what I do.
Now let's talk about February fishing. February has to be one of the most anticipated months of the year for Texas trout enthusiasts. I for one love the prospects that February brings for taking a lifetime-class trout.
February is also a time when many saltwater anglers have their fishing on hold. This opens up shorelines and allows those of us willing to brave the colder conditions many more choices. Sure there are plenty of serious trout anglers that crowd in on some of the more popular areas but these are not the only areas that hold trophy size trout.
The purpose of this article is to help you locate some of these areas yourself by recognizing what good trout water looks and feels like. I will tell you up front that the look you can learn, but the feel comes only with time. For me, locating and patterning fish is where I get the greatest joy from what I do.
I made statement 20 years ago on stage at a trout tournament weigh-in that sounded cocky but was not meant to. I said, "trout water is trout water no matter where you find it." To this day I feel the same way.
Trout water has a look and feel to it. For me it is typically about crotch deep and it must contain suitable bottom structure for the given area. Some areas harbor an abundance of bottom grasses that grow in a variety of depths due to above average water clarities. In other areas it may be shell or rocks. For every area there is a predominant type of structure. Once you know that and know where to find it, half the battle is over.
I prefer structure that I can see, maybe not too well, but well enough to cast toward. This allows me to place my lure exactly where it needs to be over and over. I am a firm believer in making repetitive casts to the given structure of the day. Often times the bite comes only after many casts to a single piece of that preferred structure.
The structure I am fishing must possess some bait activity. Lets be clear, not every piece of structure in my chosen area needs to support hordes of bait, but some is an absolute "must see" for me. The bait gives me the confidence to stay and do the slow grind, and slow grinding is something every trophy trout fisherman can do. Show me a track star on a prime big trout mud hole that catches some fish now and then and I'll chalk that off to luck. Have you ever wondered why the same old guys seem to always catch the bigger trout? Chalk this up to trout savvy and the ability to slow grind.
I have to really make myself slow down when I am fishing a new area, especially an area where everything looks good. The Tide Gauge bar is that way for me. The inside and outside look good, but inevitably the trout are located where the water looks like trout water to me. What I see may not be what some others see, but my brain contains a fairly good picture of what looks right and what does not, so when my eyes lock in on it my brain starts talking to me. This is why it is so important to look through the water as you fish.
Take in every detail you can and pay very close attention to each cast and to the location of every bite. You will be amazed at how much your onboard computer will retain. Your brain is the computer, the best ever built, more memory that we can even begin to use or recall.
You ever get the feeling while your fishing that something great is fixing to happen? I get it all the time. Heck, I think I am going to get a bite on just about every cast when things look right, even though I know this is impossible on the greatest of days. That sense is your computer's built-in search engine telling you, "Hey your eyes just detected something you wanted me to remember for you." Once you have been given the cards it is up to you to play them properly.
I had the opportunity this week to fish with a club member of mine that wanted me to show him what trout water looks like. He is going to fish with me once an month in 2008 and on each trip he wants to see and study the differences from winter to spring to summer and fall. This should be an excellent learning experience for him and for me too. I take for granted what the water needs to look like in order to hold trout but many times I do not make it known to my clients what the subtle differences are. I will use our January 5th trip to help paint the picture.
In my area, during the winter months, I like to look for water with scattered bottom structure.
I like the bottom to be soft and soft is dark; dark also allows the water to hold more color than bottom made of hard white sand. Dark is good; I promise.
The structure can be grass or scattered clumps of oyster shell. If the oyster shell has a little grass growing in it or on it that is even better. I believe the trout see the bottom structure as a means of breaking up the outline of their bodies, making them less noticeable, thus allowing them the element of surprise when it comes time to feed.
On this particular trip the reds had taken over a super trout hole in the morning, but gave it back to their speckled cousins later in the day. The key to the story is the look the water had. It was trout water and I told my client that it was and that later in the day I would be able to prove it.
"What looks different about this area versus the others we've looked at?" he wanted to know.
Well - It wasn't any single attribute. To be honest it was a combination of the water's color, the clarity, the texture of the bottom, and the way the baitfish acted. There was no huge concentration of bait, just scattered bait, like the bottom structure. The activity I saw brought up mental pictures that related back to previous ones when fish were caught in areas that looked just like the one were in.
With only a few solid trout bites, I decided to run to some different areas and search for water that looked and felt the same as the area we were departing from. I promised we would return later and see if the fish would eat for us. For hours we combed the three different bay systems looking for that right look and that feeling I get when I see it. Nothing, looked or felt right. Some areas held bait but no structure. Some had water too clear and others had everything but no feeling of "rightness."
Around 2:00 pm we returned to our first area. As we eased in a slick popped just off the shoreline over some scattered mud and shell. The water was a bit sandier due to some wind and the bait was still active but still scattered. A mere 50 yards into the wade the first solid trout was on the surface thrashing her head trying to free herself from whatever it was that looked so good but tasted so bad. Two hours of catching and releasing fish made a believer out of my fishing buddy.
The point is that trout water, no matter how good it looks, has to feel right to you. It is more of a feel than a look. Trust me when I say, trout water is trout water, and it sure feels good.