While trout will gang up in rivers when it is cold, they don’t want to stay there any longer than they have to. As soon as Mother Nature strings three or four warming days together, the fish ease back onto the rivermouth flats. They’re not difficult to find there, either. With a falling tide, channel edges become a productive spot. Look for any type of deeper channel coming out from a river or creek. Those are the migration routes trout use, and falling water funnels baitfish through them. A 4-foot-deep ditch coming out from a creek and cutting across a 2-foot flat can be a gold mine.
Sinking plugs and jigs are top winter lures.
Veteran Florida guide Tommy Thompson recently showed me a rising water afternoon pattern that proved deadly. “The ideal situation for me,” Thompson said, “is to have dark bars, either mud or live oyster, within a half-mile of the river or creekmouth, and a rising tide in the afternoon. When those bars are exposed at low tide the sun will warm that dark bottom, and when the tide rises to cover them that warmth draws baitfish and trout like a magnet. It’s a great winter afternoon pattern.” SWA
LIVE BAIT OPTIONS
While experienced anglers normally rate lures as the best choice for cold-weather trout, live baits can produce. One of the most readily available is a live shrimp and these can be effective when placed on a jighead (break the tail off to release more scent) and drifted slowly across the bottom.
There is also a 4- to 6-inch, soft-finned forage fish called a yellowtail that is commonly found around trout in the Waccasassa River, and larger trout relish them. These and similar fish such as pinfish and grunts can be caught on small pieces of shrimp and then drifted across the bottom on a jighead or fishfinder rig.
A deadly but overlooked option is a Fishbite or similar synthetic bait strip on a bare jighead. These can be conveniently stored in a tackle box almost forever, and while I normally rely on artificial lures, there is always a pack of Fishbites on hand. I have seen a number of occasions when a concentration of trout was found in a river hole and these strips were the most effective choice, even out-producing live shrimp. Add a chartreuse strip to a bare red jighead and you have both attracting colors, plus scent, in your favor. It’s the perfect solution for those who don’t want the hassle of live bait, but would like to have that capability conveniently at hand.
