- Fri Jan 15, 2021 12:13 pm
#2314117
Agh my first season of winter fishing has had its ups and downs, but mostly downs. In December I had the worst stretch of trips I’ve ever had. I went out 7 times with only 1 rat red to show for it. Since then I’ve had at least a sliver of success on the each trip, but yesterday I found the barrel.
Conditions:
Moon phase: Waxing crescent
Winds- sw - wsw 8-10 mph
Water Clarity- 2-3ft
Tide - Outgoing
I was in the water around 9 am and began searching for signs. I paddled around some pelicans dive bombing but couldn’t find any gamefish under them. I then began drifting looking for some deeper water. I don’t have a depth finder but the sun was high in he sky which allowed me to spot a steep drop off. I began fishing the area and picked up a 16 in trout pretty quick. I stuck around and grinded it out for another 40 min or so before I had a soft eat followed by an aggressive run. After a good fight I landed a 24in redfish in the yak. Now i knew I was onto something. With my spirits and confidence growing I quickly repositioned myself for the drift. Probably 3 casts later I landed another red, then another, just under slot. I proceeded to work this small little area for the next few hours and was able to pull in another slot red and another 17in speck. I caught a 3-4 undersized trout and 8 underslot reds, as well as missing a number of hits and losing a slot red.
The action was fast and furious and you would’ve never known it. There was not a single fish sign all morning to show you where those fish were at, no bait, no swirls, no smell, no birds. On top of that I found that if I threw down wind and down current I couldn’t get touched. I had to position the yak nose first into the wind and current and either throw directly into it or quartering into it. What a great example to show that presentation can make or break your fishing trip.
All fish were caught on the Vudu Shad (mullet color) love that I didn’t have to change plastics once all day, these things are tough! Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the fish had my attention.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Conditions:
Moon phase: Waxing crescent
Winds- sw - wsw 8-10 mph
Water Clarity- 2-3ft
Tide - Outgoing
I was in the water around 9 am and began searching for signs. I paddled around some pelicans dive bombing but couldn’t find any gamefish under them. I then began drifting looking for some deeper water. I don’t have a depth finder but the sun was high in he sky which allowed me to spot a steep drop off. I began fishing the area and picked up a 16 in trout pretty quick. I stuck around and grinded it out for another 40 min or so before I had a soft eat followed by an aggressive run. After a good fight I landed a 24in redfish in the yak. Now i knew I was onto something. With my spirits and confidence growing I quickly repositioned myself for the drift. Probably 3 casts later I landed another red, then another, just under slot. I proceeded to work this small little area for the next few hours and was able to pull in another slot red and another 17in speck. I caught a 3-4 undersized trout and 8 underslot reds, as well as missing a number of hits and losing a slot red.
The action was fast and furious and you would’ve never known it. There was not a single fish sign all morning to show you where those fish were at, no bait, no swirls, no smell, no birds. On top of that I found that if I threw down wind and down current I couldn’t get touched. I had to position the yak nose first into the wind and current and either throw directly into it or quartering into it. What a great example to show that presentation can make or break your fishing trip.
All fish were caught on the Vudu Shad (mullet color) love that I didn’t have to change plastics once all day, these things are tough! Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the fish had my attention.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited by OldTownYakBoi on Fri Jan 15, 2021 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
. Sounds dumb but figuring out what the fish want and when is an art (not to mention finding them), not always a science. On Sunday at Burnet, I was drifting with the wind and current and casting with the wind. Thus, my retrieval was against the current (from the fish's back). I got a lot of bites and landed 3 trout. During that drift, I decided to anchor and cast into the wind; thus, retrieving with the current and into the fish's face. I got a couple bites and landed a nice trout this way, too.