December brings long-awaited clarity to coastal waters, and swim baits are all the rage during this artificial-bait season, but it’s also hard to beat a D.O.A. shrimp fished under a popping cork while inshore.
Offshore, it’s all about butterfly jigs and sizable plugs, both of which don’t come cheap at local tackle stores. Tackle purchased now can be both a Christmas gift as well as a reason to go fishing.
Tackle shops are chock full of “inventory” these days, as lure companies try to produce various sizes and colors to fill any and every niche of the bait market. Often, they are so taxed by this inventory, they run on-line stores so the tackle can be more easily stored in a warehouse and shipped to customer. This does not remind anyone of the days when knowing the friendly faces at the tackle shop was part of everyday life for a fisherman.
With the added lure selection comes added information, and this is where the avid angler can listen and pick up tidbits that might make him a better fisherman. Tackle shops routinely conduct workshops, and most of them are free. For a more advanced fly-casting workshop, an angler should expect to shell out a few dollars.
Recent workshops included everything from new Sage fly-fishing products, to inshore rigging tips, to how the state-owned Waddell fish hatchery operates — and who wouldn’t like to know more about where thousands of red drum and striped bass are stocked? The point is, fishermen can be educated about why a new lure color works well, or why the high-frequency pitch is a fish attractor. Nothing beats getting on the water to try them out, but with so many winter days being unfishable, one should devote at least some of that time to “study” fishing.
Capt. Mark Nichols of Florida invented the D.O.A. shrimp. His bait was battle-tested against the Florida reds and trout before it ever hit the market, and it has really had an effect on the industry. Nichols is now a celebrity and routinely fishes in tournaments where anglers pay to rub elbows with him. The 2009 color offerings for D.O.A. shrimp will include: pink/clear, watermelon, glow/gold rush, new penny, rootbeer and rootbeer/green.
D.O.A’s David Blackwell said these colors have been tested and “have been known to catch a fish or two.” Guides are using them with nearly equal success after all of the live shrimp are gobbled up. Fishing a colorful D.O.A. shrimp under a cork in the clear waters of winter will make you glad you “went to school” at the tackle shop.
Other swim baits worth checking out include Gulp! Alive baits like the tried and true 3-inch shrimp in natural color, or their new 5-inch Crazy Legs Jerk Shad in pearl white. YUM brands’ new product “Money Minnows” in herring or pearl carry a larger paddle-tail for more action. New to the Berkley PowerBait line up is the 3-inch Rattle Shrimp in new penney with “flex-swim” action.
Now available online — if not in your local tackle shop — is the new line of Bomber saltwater lures. The 6-inch Windcheater comes with 3/0 treble hooks and can be used to catch bluefish, kingfish and bonito. The 5¾-inch A-Salt lure by Bomber is a good casting lure for cobia with a diving depth of two to four feet, and a great lure for trolling for kings four to six feet below the surface. Inshore, Bomber’s A-Salt Pop’N Minnow provides topwater action that can draw a ready strike from redfish.
Daiwa is known for its extensive experience in the reel business, but it also make rods as well as a new line of saltwater lures. The Salt Minnow, Chugger Minnow and Saltiga Popper look good for inshore, and the Sacrifice Stick Jigs look just right at 7½ inches for the offshore bottomfishing that will take place.
What about the long-rod angler? Orvis has a great line of Helios rods out. With titanium stripper guides, a carbon fiber reel seat, and a fast-action tip flex, the best part might be that it’s the lightest fly rod available today. Sage and Ross make outstanding fly reels, but what do you spool up with?
Raz Reid of Sage puts it like this — with today’s niche market, you have a fly-line for every scenario, from tropical weather to cold weather. “What you want is to have the right bullet for the gun when conditions dictate,” he said.
Detaching spools on most reels make it ultra-easy to switch from stiff-core line to weighted-line. With all the choices available, it goes back to taking advantage of the information put out at the tackle shop level during their seminars.
Tackle shop employees want you to fish with the best possible tackle for your particular situation, because when you stop back by they want to hear a tale of a successful fishing trip. Isn’t fishing success the reason that you’re going fishing anyway?
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