Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

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Floundapounda122
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Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by Floundapounda122 »

Are the lights the same in the winter as they are in the summer or is the action slower in the winter? What bait should I use? Are there more specs this time of year than flounder/reds/sandys? I went march 7th last year and it was cold( about 49 degrees outside) and I hooked up on a keeper flounder but that was all. I did see some specs but they were really far down in the light. Do the the fish change the depth they swim the light in the winter? All the help is appreciated( I'm 14 so I'm sorry if this is really disorganized)
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crusher
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by crusher »

That's a lot of questions asking for a lot of details. I'd suggest your first course should be to do some searching and see if some of this has already been discussed. In the Search area, use the plus sign "+" for words you need to find. Search for +lights +fall or maybe +lights +winter and see what comes up.

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... l#p1986263

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... r#p2150162

Now, having just taken 5 minutes to do these suggested searches for +lights and +winter, I found this interesting post with a lot of replies. http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... hts+winter
It is your own post :oops: from a couple months ago - I think most of your answers are there.

14 is good - my most frequent fishing partner is my 14 year old son. Don't apologize for being 14, but figure out as much as you can from what's already posted, try some things on the water, and ask what's really confounding you after some skunk trips. Good luck fishing, it sounds like you are looking/thinking about the right stuff - you just gotta get out there and find some of this stuff out for yourself, too. And if you don't have the TroutSupport dvd's, that should be your first thing on your Christmas list!!
Flippin' Crazee
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by Flippin' Crazee »

I would think that the fish are still on the lights in the winter. Before the closed off access to the diversionary canal off of Harborside Dr., i used to set lights up on the canal at night in the winter. I remember it being so cold that there was ice on the windshield of the truck. We would set the lights up and sit in the truck until the trout showed up, we would jump out and catch a few then get back in the truck to warm up and repeat the process until we had out limits.
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Yaklash
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by Yaklash »

Fishing lights goes like this - the lights attract the bait (small bait - glass minnows, shrimp, small mullet, etc.) and the bait attract the fish you want to catch. Most specks that you'll catch under the lights are relatively small. Winter fishing is about deeper than normal water where there is bait (usually finfish) seeking the same deeper waters. The small bait that has been around those lights all summer are leaving the bays right now and in 2 months, there will be very little other than finfish.

The lights you might be talking about (hard to know) might be over 4'-5' of water, plenty deep enough to hold a warmth seeking trout, but if there is no bait in the area (the other main reason for them to be there) the trout are not likely to be there.

I'm not saying lights don't work in the winter, just that it is not where you'll find the most trout or the biggest trout - though there are exceptions and people have caught big trout under lights in the winter - but there is usually deep water nearby (like less than 20-30 yards away).

The other thing about night fishing during the winter, because of the cooler night time temps, trout will be less active and even deeper at night than they will be after 8 hours of sunlight have warmed the shallows.
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mpg2yahoo
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by mpg2yahoo »

Yaklash wrote:Fishing lights goes like this - the lights attract the bait (small bait - glass minnows, shrimp, small mullet, etc.) and the bait attract the fish you want to catch. Most specks that you'll catch under the lights are relatively small. Winter fishing is about deeper than normal water where there is bait (usually finfish) seeking the same deeper waters. The small bait that has been around those lights all summer are leaving the bays right now and in 2 months, there will be very little other than finfish.

The lights you might be talking about (hard to know) might be over 4'-5' of water, plenty deep enough to hold a warmth seeking trout, but if there is no bait in the area (the other main reason for them to be there) the trout are not likely to be there.

I'm not saying lights don't work in the winter, just that it is not where you'll find the most trout or the biggest trout - though there are exceptions and people have caught big trout under lights in the winter - but there is usually deep water nearby (like less than 20-30 yards away).

The other thing about night fishing during the winter, because of the cooler night time temps, trout will be less active and even deeper at night than they will be after 8 hours of sunlight have warmed the shallows.
x2

It is certainly slower.... You have to fish deep bouncing on the bottom while in summer you are fishing the top water column. You can get reds, flounder, and specks but you have to work your lures slow and deep > 4ft. I use heavier jigs than the usual 1/16 oz and any plastic lures like jerk shads, chickenboys, trout killer jr, etc... I think is more preference than anything, but certainly no top water lures like light rat-l-traps or mirrolures because you need to go deep and usually you snag if you let them fall too much.

The once that hit you hard are the reds. The other you have to have patience....
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troutslinger
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by troutslinger »

When we had our place in Matagorda we caught some big trout under our lights but the water had deep drop off. I also think that lights shining down on the water works better than the underwater green lights. I've just had better luck with the above water lights. Also have gotten some nice trout wading west bay at night in the winter under the moonlight and stars.
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Yak'Razy
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Re: Fishing the underwater lights during fall/winter

Post by Yak'Razy »

Definitely slower... I've been fishing lights at night for years and enjoy being out there with less pressure, low wind, relatively low ambient noise (probability of power boats and skis running about a tend to be lower), and less sun beating down on my burn prone Irish skin... But... Fishing lights in the cooler months can be challenging. Pick nights that have good water movement for a better chance finding hungry fish. Not just a good falling tide, but one with a high tidal coefficient (incoming or outgoing).

Nonetheless... I tend to concentrate more on deep cuts adjacent to reefs/flats and the ability of the sun to warm the shallow water and draw some feeders out of their holes, rather than lights at night.

Either way... My recommendation is to get out there and fish... No sense in staying inside just because it's cold outside... :-D
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