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It’s Trout Season!
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Water temps this time last month were 12+ degrees higher, but after a strong nor’easter, followed by Hurricane Ian and a heavy cold front, we are now officially in trout season. This is the time of year when they form large schools and get into their pre-winter routine of moving from the deeper water to hanging out in creek mouths, deep creek bends and oyster bars. Schoolies will pile up so thick that at times, you’ll have a fish on every single cast.
Egans Creek is a great place to get started. All of the feeder creeks on the outgoing tides are worth a cast or two to see if any trout are sitting on them. Look for depressions on the bottom and mark them throughout the day. When the tide gets low, get a live shrimp in those holes and wait for the bite.
Float fishing is a great way to locate these fish. If you’re fishing shallow I’d use a popping cork and if you want to go deep for the big girls, I’d recommend using a pole float. Popping corks are an excellent way to get your bait some attention. Tie your main line to one end, run enough leader off the other end to get your bait near the bottom. Tie to #2 widebend hook and crimp a little split shot 6” above your hook. When hooking your live shrimp, gently hook the shrimp where the horn meets the head. This will help keep your bait healthy and alive. Cast up current to allow you shrimp to flutter down current naturally. Every once in a while, flip the tip of your rod which will “pop” the cork, making noise and throwing a bit of water.
If you want to target larger trout and go the quality over quantity route, switch to a slip float. This will allow you to adjust the depth of the bait with a bobber stop and fine tune your strike zone. Start by putting your bobber stop on your main line followed by a small bead. Feed your line through your slip float and tie to your inline “trout” sinker. The faster the current, the heavier the weight and larger. From the weight, run a 10”-12” fluorocarbon leader. If I’m fishing with 20# braid as my main line, I’ll use 15# leader. I do this just in case I get hung, so I don’t break off the entire rig. Finish the leader by tying to that same #2 widebend hook. Well, that float fishing for trout in a nutshell. More info on trout fishing next month with an emphasis on artificials.
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