Winter Structure
(Continued from page 22.)
result can be like “shooting fish in a
barrel.”
Other changes in the bay bottom can
be discovered on Google Earth, as well.
Flats containing grass and shell show up
in different color schemes, too. Grass will
often be found as light green patches in
sand colored stretches of water on the
satellite images, and shell will show up in
dark, near black splotches.
A transition from grass and sandy
areas to water containing shell and dark
splotches on these images can also indicate
where soft, muddy bottoms are located.
These areas are important, because a
muddy bottom tends to hold warmer
water than a sandy one. This small,
sometimes just a degree or two,
temperature change can make all the
difference in the world when the water
is cold.
The best part about Google Earth is
that it gives viewers GPS coordinates that
are compatible with most marine GPS’s
and chart plotters. Once an area that looks
like the ideal winter spot is found, anglers
can take the GPS coordinates straight from
their computer screen, tablet, or phone,
and input them into the GPS onboard their
boat. Talk about some serious scouting,
without ever burning fuel!
Approaching Winter Structure
When pursuing speckled trout and
redfish along these structures, slow and
erratic moving plugs that imitate a
wounded mullet work the best. Baits like
Egret’s Vudu Mullet or Paul Brown’s
Original Corky by MirrOlure are hard to
beat. The classic 52MR MirrOlures, and
large paddle tails rigged on a light jig head,
will produce strikes, too. Retrieve these
baits erratically giving them lots of
twitches and pauses. The bite often comes
on the pause.
What Else to Expect
Trout and reds are not the only
species that will be wintering in these
areas in search of food. Flounder,
sheepshead, black drum, and sand trout
will all be in the mix as well. In fact,
the colder it gets the more these less
publicized species will tend to stack up.
Not only are these fish easy to catch, but
they taste great, too!
Drum and sheepshead will be found
feeding anywhere there is shell, pilings,
rocks, or other hard surfaced structure
available. Sand trout and flounder will be
holding along the ledges and dropoffs of
significant depth changes. Although all
of these species will strike a lure from time
to time, natural baits tend to work better.
Almost nothing beats a freshly peeled,
dead shrimp slowly bounced off the
bottom. Cut bait, squid, cracked crab, or
other natural baits will produce as well
when shrimp is not available.
As dark blue clouds roll over one
another from the north and Old Man
Winter begins to show his ugly face, stay
focused on the key to winter fishing. It’s
structure, and the Gulf Coast is loaded
with it. From channels, to shell reefs, to
small depth changes and variations in
bottom composition, there are areas
everywhere that will hold fish when water
temperatures begin to plunge.
Concentrate on finding these areas,
and do some scouting with the computer
before ever putting on a jacket to brave
the elements. The short amount of time
and small effort will be worth it, paying
off in large dividends in the form of bent
rods and happy memories.
When the cold stops to sting and your
fingers stop feeling stiff and numb, it’s not
because you’re so cold you’re going into
shock, it’s because you’re catching fish!
Spring can wait. Find some structure, and
winter your baits and lures there—you’ll
forget all about the cold!
GCF
OFFSHORE FORECAST
On the scale, the figure 10 represents
average speed and time duration of approximately three hours of movement.
This movement is followed by a three hour
period of diminishing current speed and
feeding activity.
Each number above, or below the average number 10 represents an increase or
decrease of 5 percent in strength of flow and
fifteen minutes in additional or less time.
As examples, a speed rating of 15
shows a current flowing 25 percent stronger than average and lasting one hour and
fifteen minutes longer than average currents. This 15 rating will have four hours
and fifteen minutes activity out of each six
hour period of tidal cycle for that day. A
speed rating of 6 shortens the time of activity
by one hour and has 20 percent less strength
than an average current.
The longer and stronger current action
always indicates the better fishing days offshore because of increased bait movement.
There is no clearly defined line to indicate where the rotary currents become onshore tidal currents. It is generally accepted that waters over 5 fathoms (30 feet
deep) will have rotary currents. For more
information on these tables visit: http://
gulffishing.com/rotary.html.
JANUARY
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