The Skinny on the Slicks

In May we see tons of slicks. In fact, slicks become a vital part of locating fish along our southern shorelines as well as around some of the mid-bay reefs in the Aransas Bay complex. I am often asked the question, "are trout the only fish that create slicks and how do you fish an area with slicks."

I think many Texas anglers believe that anytime they see a slick it was produced by a school of speckled trout. This is the farthest thing from the truth, although I must say it is a truly positive way to look at your day.

Reds, flounder, drum, hardheads, and many other species can also create slicks. Learning more about WHERE slicks are found and WHAT PATTERN they are found in can often tell us what type of fish are likely to be found under them. By learning to read the messages the slicks are sending we can become more productive anglers.

First, let us see if you know what a slick looks like. Simply put, a slick is a slick or shiny spot on the surface of the water. Ever drop a potato chip or Frito corn chip in the water and seen the shiny spot it produces?

Locating slicks is easy whenever there is any amount of wind-created wave action. On slick-calm days, no pun intended, we have to depend on our sense of smell to help locate slicks. Slicks have a telltale smell. Most believe them to smell of watermelon or fresh-cut grass. If you have ever had this scent cross your nose you know what I'm talking about; it is a sweet smell to the avid saltwater angler.

On the other hand, if you have ever been downwind of a crabber while they are baiting their crab pots you know this to be a very different smell. I admire these men and women for their work ethic and the ability to put up with the stink all day. Smells sort of like money I guess to the really enterprising people in that industry. Crab traps can make slicks at various times throughout the day so do not be confused when you are running down a shoreline and see numerous slicks drifting downwind of the crab traps.

On the upper coast, especially Trinity Bay, it is easy to get lost in the maze of slicks each morning from the crab traps. I guess you want to know how to decide what is what and which is which. I will try to walk your through a typical day of reading slicks in Aransas Bay.

I have people that get on the boat this time of year and say, "Well Jay, where are we headed today?" I think they are often shocked when I say, "Well, I am not sure." After all, the guide is supposed to know that already, right? Wrong! This time of year we know the general area but the bait and the fish move and we have to be willing to do the same if we intend on keeping ourselves on fish.

In May, I am looking for grass and sand structure along shorelines. I prefer areas with shallow sandbars, deeper parallel guts, and both of these need some submerged grass beds. Add bait and moving tides and we are ready to start the hunt. This time of year, you are fairly safe in assuming that the majority of the slicks you see over your preferred structure are made by trout.

Slicks that form shallow are typically from larger trout. Since large trout typically do not school shallow, the more scattered or infrequent you might find them along the shoreline is more evidence that a few large trout might be feeding there, (my opinion). Other facts that can help you; the smaller the slick the fresher, a long tail on a slick means it is older. If it smells sweet, it is probably made by feeding fish. If it smells bitter or fishy it most likely came from something dead or from a crab trap.

Let's take a ride down a shoreline. Even though I am now running a new Majek Illusion, I still prefer to run offshore of the deepest structure and look. The line along the shoreline where I start seeing slicks is the line I want my anglers to be standing inshore or offshore of and casting toward. Remember, the smaller the slicks are, the fresher they are.

After we have located an area with slicking activity, slow down and ease along looking for bait activity. Found it? What line is the bait on in relation to the bottom structure? If the slicks and the bait are on the same line that is terrific but it is not totally necessary. Most of the time, the bigger trout are laying in wait for the bait to come to them. Lets say a new slick just popped inshore of where you are looking. The first thing you should do is look upwind or up-current and locate the closest piece of bottom structure in the area. This is where your trout is holding.

So many times I have had a slick pop on our wade line and everyone will immediately cast right into it and then proceed to follow the slick. If you have fished with me this time of year and done this you can recall what my instructions where. The slick is just the sign of where a fish that recently ate too much is laying. She is not moving with the slick.

Once a pattern has been discovered on a shoreline, it will most likely be carried out throughout that specific bay system. When the slicks pop on a different line; repeat the process. Find the structure and cast to it.

Are slicks guarantees that we will catch fish? There is nothing farther from the truth. Slicks are merely a chance at what lies beneath. It is important to take into consideration that fish cannot slick effectively on an empty stomach. This leads us to the old scenario of, "I think I'm too full to eat again right now," nonetheless you know where the fish are.

I love this time of year because by watching slicks I can literally follow the migration of trout along the shoreline. It is understandable that the areas along the shorelines with the most favorable bottom structure and best tidal
movements will be the most productive. I have however on many occasions found fish slicking in areas of no structure or bait to speak of and simply hammered them.

Trout will quite often stage in deeper water adjacent to abundant bait sources and structure during the slack periods of the day when they are not feeding. It is numbers of fish that create the bite; competition for food instinct makes them feed even when they do not need to. I was an only child so I never had to fight for the last cookie. Jay Ray and Ryan did. Some of the worst fights started over the last snack.

What about the days in May when you are on your spot, bait everywhere, there are slicks popping like crazy and you cannot buy a bite. I know a lot of us want to believe that since we are not being bit, it has to be some non-gamefish species making them.

"Hey Jay, these slicks must be from something other than trout since we are not getting any action." I actually believe after seeing what I have seen up shallow all my life and now with the shallow water capabilities of my new Majek that these slicks are actually from much bigger trout than you may want to know. Just two days ago, I waded an area in St. Charles Bay that had slicks popping for an hour but only produced two or three solid fish. Upon my return to the boat and a quick burn of the area, (there were no other anglers fishing the cove so I only screwed it up for myself) I saw probably a dozen very large trout; I'm talking fish over 6 pounds.

What's up with that... you ask? My guess is that they had already fed for the day or maybe for the next two or three days. But guess what? Two days later, we eased back into this area and we caught three or four of these six-plus pound fish. The slicks showed us where they were, the boat confirmed it, and two days later we closed the deal. Reading slicks is a critical part of your trout fishing experience, especially during spring.

Many times I'm asked, "How long should you stand in an area with slicking activity before moving on?" Remember that trout prefer to snuggle up next to bottom structure, maybe even bury down in the grass if water clarity and sunlight penetrations are high. Trout, being predators, like to mill or rotate around structure when feeding. On a submerged grass bed, say 5 feet by 5 feet, it might take 15 to 30 minutes before you ever make a cast that places the lure in front of the fish in a manner that is appealing to her. I am all for getting on slicks and slow grinding around the perimeter of where I have the fish located. If they don't bite and you do not disturb the area, you can always come back later in the day. Patience is an absolute necessity when working slicks along the shorelines this time of year.

It is true that not all slicks are formed from feeding trout. Redfish as well as flounder are notorious for slicking as well. I typically see redfish slicking in the summer and fall months but flounder can at times fool us this time of year. The differences in size and smell are relatively the same; it is the pattern in which redfish slick that makes theirs so much more obvious to me.

Trout pop singles on shallow shorelines because the fish are typically not schooled there; flounder are the same. Redfish on the other hand tend to be bunched when they are popping slicks. The slicks from redfish are often formed along a distinct line in the flat or along the shoreline and most often appear into the wind. The only major redfish tournament I ever won was an IFA Redfish Tour event with Jim Franklin a few years back. The fish we were on were slicking big time and had been for a week prior to the event. Boat after boat ran past the slicks the week before, blowing them off for trout. Sixteen-plus pounds later we all became bigger believers in the art of reading slicks.

I used to watch redfish pop slicks; we called them "spook slicks" in California Hole and Hog Island hole during the redfish rodeo days. After coming into the flats after trout fishing, we would shut down and drift in behind the crowd and look for the slicks outside the circled wagons. The fish would escape the roundup and then spook as other boats pulled in to join in on the rodeo. Many were the days when multiple hookups were achieved as the anglers in the rodeo stood with their backs to us. There were tons of fish back then so it made me look better than I really was, but one would have had a hard time convincing me of that at the time.

Yeah, slicks are easy to see this time of year but understanding what you are seeing and then know what to do with that information is what will set you apart for the rest of the field. Clear your nasal passages, cleanup those sunglasses and start searching for those shiny spots on the surface. It's slickin' time.