Coastal Outdoors

The first cast with the “new” jig produced whopping 3 pound trout! The 3rd or 4th cast, a fish to the jig and kept running……. Sound like a great spring-time run? Nope, it was February and turned into the best trout fishing day of my life, poundage-wise.

The day began like most February days, a little cold and a little dreary. The water temperature was in the low 50s and I was expecting a so-so day of trout fishing. After casting for a long time, at several different locations, I hadn’t had a strike. I had 15 different colors of jigs in my tackle box and had tried them all. I looked back through the box and noticed 2 or 3 jigs where the colors had faded into each other. I had tried everything else I had, so why not try one of these. The first cast, the 3 pounder struck, then the one I couldn’t turn, and the day was off to the races.

………the above story resumes………. After 10 or 15 feet, I managed to turn the fish’s head and get her started to the boat. The fish was HUGE!, particularly for Georgia waters. I nearly had a heart attack worrying about the fish throwing the hook while I got her in the net. She turned out to be a whopping 8 ¾ pounds on certified scales.

I kept casting the “faded” jig. Large fish after large fish was brought to the boat with the “faded” jig. It was turning into the best trout day of my life. I would have never believed it for February. The 5th fish I hooked was another huge one. She fought all the way to the boat. As her head cleared the water, she shook her head, throwing the jig. She was the spitting image of the earlier 8 ¾ pounder. My hear sank as quick as her head disappearing beneath the surface.

My despair was short-lived as the huge fish continued to bite. Hey, those “faded” jigs were really paying off. The day just got, at least until I ran out of the “faded” jigs. When I got back to the dock, I had 18 trout weighing a total of 96 pounds, on certified scales. This was a few years before Georgia’s 15 fish limit went into effect. 2 of the trout were 8 pounds, 1 was 8 ¼ pounds and one was the 8 ¾ pounder.

The moral of the story is don’t give up and February can be FANTASTIC! Why? Well, the water temperatures are just beginning to rise from the year-round lows. Trout are cold blooded creatures whose body temperature is essentially the same as the surrounding water. Water temperatures in the 40s are extremely stressful for trout. It is all they can do to survive. As the temperatures warm into the 50s, they become more active, their appetites return and they are better able to eat your offering.

If you want to catch the trophy fish, you have to change your tactics, techniques and bait from your accustomed spring and fall fishing. The fish are generally holed up in the deeper areas of the creek. Those deep holes are usually found to the outside of the curve, along a bluff bank and at locations where 2 creeks come together. Since these fish are moving very slowly, you have to slow your presentation. Often times, I will cast my bait up-current of the suspected hiding place of the fish. I allow the bait to slowly drift with the current, just off the bottom, watching my line, keeping my finger in contact with the line and keeping the bait just tight enough to insure tension in the line. The fish is NOT likely to strike your bait aggressively. Usually, all you will see or feel is the tension on the line stop or feel the bait gently moving off in a different direction. If you detect this change in the tension, set the hook, there will probably be a fish on the other end of the line.

The technique can be used just as easily with the traditional float rig. Keep your bait just off the bottom, watching the cork. Most of the time, all you will see is the cork “twitch” or it may go about ½ way under, very slowly, similar to when the hook snags on an obstruction. It may not be a hang! It could be that the trout has inhaled your bait. Since the water temperatures are so cold, she is not going to just run off and carry you cork under the water as in the spring or fall.

Another tactic which works good in February is fishing the mud flats and sandbars on those days when the tide is low early in the morning, coming in as the day progresses. When the sun comes up, it warms the exposed mud flats and sandbars. As the water begins to cover the warmed areas, it warms, becoming more inviting to the bait and the prey.

One other thing to look for with February trout fishing. There are not many shrimp around this time of the year. Most of the shrimp are buried up in the mud, waiting for the spring “thaw”. What is prevalent are the “mud minnows” or “pollywogs”. Almost all the trout we have caught lately have been full of mud minnows. If your local bait supplier doesn’t have mud minnows, purchase an inexpensive trap for $5 or 10, get you some soda crackers and catch up some of these tough critters. You will get some fine trout for your efforts.

So, instead of thinking about fishing, change your tactics and try the trout in February. You may just tie into the best fish of your life.