Sweet Spots Within Spots

I fished tournaments on and off for years. I sometimes not only miss the competition but also the camaraderie and conversations we had at captain’s meetings and weigh-ins. I formed a lot of friendships through tournaments that have lasted through the years. While standing around talking, the questions we asked one another usually started with something like, “So how’s everything been going? How’s the family?” Then we’d inch a little closer to what we really wanted to know; “How was your bite today? Did you guys fish shell or mud? What did you catch most of them on?” But there was still that one question none of us really ever came right out and asked but seemed to always be a subtle buzz in the room among anglers. The old million dollar question; “WHERE did you catch ‘em?” While I don’t think that exact question was ever actually asked, for some reason most of us already knew the answer. If it was a two-day tournament then everyone seemed to know by the end of the second day where everybody had been fishing. Oftentimes it was simply because we had seen them on the water during the tourney. Consequently, year after year, more and more “spots” became common knowledge.

The same thing happens among those of us who are the water almost daily. Anglers see where others are fishing and then they learn the results of their day either by perusing social media or simply talking amongst their own network of friends. I’m by no means attempting to shed a negative light on such practices, but one thing I’ve personally observed is that when anglers are able to obtain certain “hotspots” through whatever means they have there is a task that still remains – learning when and how to fish those so called “hot spots.”

An angler who has been given a GPS coordinate can sometimes do more harm than good by knowing very little about that spot. In the end, they typically not only hurt their own chances of catching anything, but others as well. I witnessed it just the other day as I passed by a cove with a reef in the middle that had been holding lots of quality trout. I knew from experience fishing that particular spot where to anchor and what approach to take while slowly wading toward that small reef. These guys had their boat anchored directly on top of the reef and were casting out into the mud! On another day I watched a guy idle through several trout slicks as he had his face glued to his GPS, presumably trying to get on “the spot.” My list of examples is extensive but instead of endlessly harping on such miscues I’d rather make an honest attempt to explain what I believe are the most effective ways to find and fish these “sweet spots” so that we can all enjoy them together. After all, we all had to learn through trial and error in the first place.

There’s a particular stretch of shoreline where I’ve been having very good success in recent weeks. From out on the bay, looking toward the shoreline, everything looks pretty much the same, but there are two sweet spots along this particular stretch. I found one of them as I was slowly cruising the shoreline searching for signs of life. I noticed several small slicks emerging from near the bank. I killed my big motor and deployed the trolling motor, easing in about 100 yards upwind. I quietly slipped the anchor over the gunwale. After strapping on our wading belts my clients and I eased into the water. As I stepped off of the bottom rung of boarding ladder I felt live oyster reef beneath my feet. We started catching 16- to 20-inch trout right there! After catching and releasing at least 30 we made our way down the shoreline toward the area we had originally seen the slicks.

I had picked out a partially dead and crooked salt cedar tree to use as a landmark when I first noticed the slicks. The small but well-defined sheens had since dissipated but we were almost within casting distance of the crooked tree. Jody hooked up with a small trout. Then I did. Then Paul did. Suddenly slicks started popping up just off the bank. The bite eventually faded after catching another 60 or so trout to 3-pounds. It was then when I made my way to the tree to learn what we were casting to. I walked the entire contour of this small finger reef in every direction so I could form an image in my mind of what we were fishing. Jody, Paul and I caught 213 trout in 3 different spots along that shoreline that morning, with 170 of them ranging from 15-22 inches. The kind of morning everybody dreams of experiencing! The common traits present at all three stops were live shell, an abundance of active bait, depth changes, and slicks. We obviously never caught anything really big but when you’re getting bit almost every cast; who really cares?

I have fished this stretch of shoreline in many different conditions. That epic morning I shared with Jody and Paul happened to be the culmination of many factors occurring at once. The wind was southeast at about 15 mph. The tide had reached its peak and was just beginning to drop as we arrived. We were also entering a solunar major feeding period. The barometric pressure was extremely low at 1008 millibars. We were fishing five days before a full moon and, as I mentioned, we had all the visible signs and habitat in place. As if there couldn’t be more favorable factors to add to the list, we were experiencing somewhat of a stack-up scenario from excessive freshwater run-off in the northern reaches of the bay. Not only were the trout more concentrated than normal, we also had sharks roaming just off the ledge in front of us and dolphins literally tossing two to three pound trout into the air before devouring them. All of this activity had the trout pushed up tight to the shoreline where we were fishing.

We obviously don’t always have the luxury of the perfect storm of conditions we experienced that morning. As a matter of fact, I would say that more than half the time these days we’re hard-pressed to find even a single slick, much less several. So what do we do when we can’t see slicks or other surface activity such as balled-up shad, flipping mullet, or hovering birds? This is when we get back to focusing on high percentage “spots.” Sand flats with drop-offs near major passes would be one example. Once we’re there, we try to home in on the sweet spots within those spots. I personally view these “dead water days” as opportunities to learn more about the areas we’re fishing.

Such was the case on one recent muggy morning. There was very little tide movement and no wind. Warm, stagnant water will typically have very little visible bait activity as everything will tend to be holding near the bottom of the water column. This is when dragging a small bait like a Bass Assassin 4-inch Sea Shad on the bottom can be very effective. I’ll even dead stick it at times, including a few subtle twitches occasionally during the retrieve. On this particular morning our lines would just get tight, and then start moving sideways. We’d let it load up and then set the hook. It’s a strange way to fish but it works when we’re presented with these types of conditions. I’ve said it before but it’s very important not to get stuck in simply working your lure one way all the time. We must vary our presentations based upon the level of feeding and attitude of the fish – aggressive versus non-aggressive.

Now that water temperatures here in Galveston Bay are ranging from the mid-70s to mid-80s we know that our trout are going to predominantly reside over hand sand, grass, and hard oyster reef. Knowing this we’re able to pretty much eliminate most areas characterized by thick mud bottoms and other winter-like bottom landscapes. For folks who are unfamiliar with a bay system they plan to fish, I recommend purchasing a fishing map such as Hook-N-Line which gives GPS coordinates and even goes so far as to list spots that are better during various seasons.

Once we’ve determined where we want to fish it’s very important to move into our fishing area as quietly as possible. Otherwise, everything we attempt from that point forward is moot, as we have already alerted and scattered most of the fish we are hoping to catch. As we shuffle our feet across the bottom we’ll find shell, potholes, and subtle contour changes that will eventually lead us to the fish. It may not be on that particular trip but maybe on the next one. Over time we end up discovering patches of live oysters and other structure that eventually become our very own sweet spots.

See y’all on the water… and Best of Luck!