Seems like forever since Ralph and I have fished together. We decided on the Wando river today, as we haven’t fished it all winter. We found the water to be the old familar “Wando Gin” color. You can see at least 12 feet down right now, no doubt partly because of the very slow tide today. The range was less than 4 ft. Here in Charleston, we have had our only real cold snap of the entire winter these last few days, with morning temps near or just below freezing. This snap has cooled the water from the mid 60’s down to the mid 50’s.
Not surprisingly, the fishing was sloooow. Another phenomenon which happens around this time of year near the full moon is an annual worm hatch. For several days after this hatch the fishing is awful, probably because the fish are so gorged they can’t eat another bite for a while – kinda like overeating at Thanksgiving dinner. We are between moons, so that is probably not the cause for the slow bite this time, but it’s something to be wary of. Same is true, by the way, when the crabs become “peelers”, but that’s another story.
Suspecting that a finesse approach was going to be needed, I went to my old familiar standard – the original trout trick with a 1/8 oz Trout Eye jighead. I still can’t explain it, but there is something magic about that combo – it’s been proven time and time again. After switching to this setup, I had what should have been an inshore slam in short order. I say should have, because I lost a very nice flounder boatside…doh!
We had only about 3 hours to fish, and at our last spot, I had a very, very light bite. Actually, no bite was felt – it was just a resistance. I lifted the jig and felt a couple head shakes before I lost it. I dropped the lure back and this time the resistance resulted in a good 16-17″ class trout. Subsequent cast yielded another and this was all it took for Ralph to switch to the same setup. Shortly after, he had 2 or 3 on the deck. Like I said, there is something magic about the original Trout Trick. It also demonstrates that you should keep varying your offerings and presentation when the catching is tough, as it can make the difference between going home with a skunk, or salvaging a pretty decent day.
Hope this helps you, and as always, feel free to come by the shop if you would like to ask any questions and talk fishing. We do carry the original TT here at the shop and would be happy to stock you up. I’m glad I had some on me today!
If you’re unsure how to properly work the Trout Trick, see this video that I filmed a couple years ago: How to Fish the Z-Man Trout Trick