MOORE OUTDOORS: Time to go to the jetties, Part I
Published 10:26 pm Saturday, June 17, 2017
It’s time to go jetty fishing.
When someone asks me my favorite fishing hole, I tell them the Sabine Jetties. Yes, that a very large fishing hole, but if the conditions are right it is the only place I want to fish.
Drawing every kind of inland and several offshore species, these large granite shipping lanes are the closest things to coral reefs most anglers will experience. I say that because they are a self contained ecosystem that has a food chain much like one would find at a natural reef.
Within two hours we have three amazing jetty systems (Sabine, Calcasieu and Galveston) and they are all red hot for fishing right now.
As aquatic food chains go, there are different species from top to bottom. Let us start at the top.
The mid to upper reaches of jetties at times hold incredible numbers of speckled trout and the first thing anglers should be mindful of is water clarity.
At jetties, I have seen pockets of clear water produce fish when other areas seemed barren of specks. Sandy green water is good. Clear water is excellent but chocolate-colored water means you need to go somewhere else.
Savvy anglers should look for emerging slicks, the small round spots of fish oil spilled when trout feed on shad and other prey items. The smaller the slick the better because it means the fish are still nearby. Avoid fishing slicks around crab traps. Those usually come from the bait inside.
Shrimp jumping along the surface and birds are a more obvious sign although at the jetties birds usually lead to Spanish mackerel more than trout. Birds on the lake, is usually trout are reds. Birds in the surf or at the jetty area could be anything.
While shrimp are not a guarantee of trout, ribbonfish (cutlassfish) can be. If you see the smaller ribbonfish (six to 10 inches) fleeing from the water, there is a good chance trout are under them.
Spanish mackerel will prey on these eel-like creatures as well but on almost every experience I have had, trout are the predator. Throwing some sort of eel imitation are a silver spoon is a good way to score on these specks. Remember, if you come across large ribbonfish jumping, it is likely not trout. They will actually leap from the water feeding on shad and other fish.
One of the true key areas to find big trout at the jetties is around the washouts where erosion has created holes that allows water to trade from the channel to Gulf side.
These areas are great places to soak live mullet or shrimp or sub-surface mullet imitations. Most jetty systems have several washout areas and it can pay to simply alternate washouts all day picking off the trout that move in and out of them.
Sheepshead feed throughout the jetty water column but most of their activity is in the mid to upper range. My favorite method for catching them is using a 1/4-ounce jighead rigged with a small piece of shrimp and fished vertically over rock outcroppings at the jetties.
I use a braided line in the 20-pound test class. The low stretch line helps with hookset in the hard mouth since there is no stretch and it also aid with sensitivity.
The sheepshead’s bite can be so slight you actually have to watch the line because it can be virtually impossible to detect otherwise. A braided or fusion line can help overcome this but it can still be tough at time. Many times they thump a jig pretty hard but when they go stealth few fish can pick a bait off of a hook quicker.
Fishing a live shrimp under a popping cork is also a great way to catch sheepshead along the rocks. When the water clears up, these fish can be line shy so use a fluorocarbon leader under the cork for best results. Fluorocarbon virtually invisible and it also has low-stretch properties, which enhances its sensitivity.
Many anglers use small treble hooks which the fish ingest, but with regulations that require us to throw back many of the sheepshead we catch that is probably not a good idea. I have my best luck with thick, short-shanked hooks.
Hook girth is something to consider due to the fact these fish often bite through thin hooks. If you are serious about catching sheepshead, especially the big ones, you will need lots of patience and focus to get the job done.
When they feed aggressively anyone can catch them but when they are being shy it takes true fishing finesse.
In next Sunday’s column we’ll take a look at how to score on redfish and other species at the jetty systems of the Gulf coast.
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To contact Chester Moore, email him at chester@kingdomzoo.com. You can hear him on “Moore Outdoors” Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com.