Friday, June 28, 2024
Michael Acosta
HOOD OUTDOORS
As a licensed professional fishing guide, Michael Acosta shows you how to find them. A Granbury resident of more than 35 years, he has been fishing all of his life, and has been a licensed guide since 1998.
Strolling is another simple winter fishing technique that is very productive. This can be used on a variety of species and it’s a good way to cover water with a good slow presentation. This is not a whole lot different than “deadsticking” which I have discussed previously. Today though, I would like to cover strolling in a little more detail.
What is “strolling”? Strolling is a slang term used to mean “slow trolling.” Slow trolling or strolling is typically done with a weighted jig head with a swim bait or curly tail trailer on a jig. We all know that “slow” is the best philosophy for cold water winter conditions. Strolling allows you to cover more water and you can vary the speed of presentation as needed.
Strolling is just moving the boat with the trolling motor over locations where baitfish are present and you are looking for an active predator to chase. The real trick is to get your bait to the correct depth based on the weight of the lure and the speed of the boat. The best way that I know is to get in water that is the same depth as you believe the fish are holding at and run your trolling motor at the slow speed and let out enough line to where the bait is bouncing off the bottom, then reel up a turn or two to get back to that depth.
If you have a reel counter, that will help you to get that exact depth each time. The other choice is to keep a Magic Marker handy and mark your line once you have found the depth that is producing. That way you can let out the line quickly to right where you want to be.
If you need to get even deeper, down riggers can be used to get the bait down and just creep with the trolling motor over deep areas holding baitfish. Many times, during the cold winter the baitfish will be huddled on the bottom in 30 to 50 feet of water.
Determining the depth to fish this time of the year is not that difficult. Of course, start at the depth where the majority of the bait fish are holding. Lately on Granbury on the main lake, 26 to 32 feet has been good with the colder water for striped bass. On those days where our Indian summer returns and we have had a few of those this season, the fish will move up in the column. If you find them active they could be from the top down to 40 feet and your best choice may be to drag your baits right through the middle of them.
If you find them on top, you may stop and cast your swim bait and let the bait fall through the fish and more than likely you will get bit on the way down. Remember approximately how many seconds your bait fell before you got bit. You never know there may be a pattern lurking at a certain depth that may be repeatable.
Generally, strolling will typically work better on those warmer days in the winter when the fish will be a little more active. Dead sticking on the real cold days is typically preferred. It is a still a good idea to have both available, as you never know.
So what baits work best strolling? I know some of the newer Storm Wildeyes are effective. The shad and chartreuse colors are preferred. These type baits have the weighted head built into the soft plastic, which makes your life easier (just tie in on and go). Another good choice in swim baits are sassy shad type baits. The “glow” color sassy shad threaded on a ½ to ¾ ounce jig head is effective. It is also important to match what the fish are feeding on. Typically, a good 3- to 6-inch bait is effective for stripers and hybrids.
With strolling it is preferred to hold the rod so that you can set the hook when the fish hits but you can set the rod in the rod holder and in many instances the fish will hook itself without human intervention. This will allow you to have several baits out at once while strolling.
Remember, this is a slow troll. The slower the better on most days. This is an easy method of fishing that can be applied not just for striped bass. Sand bass this time of year will also bite this same method. However, you of course will be better off using a much smaller swim bait.
HOODCOUNTY FISHING REPORT
Water temperatures cooled to the low 40s with the recent cold snap but will rebound some this week. Lake Granbury striped bass to 8 pounds continue to be fair to good on soft plastics fished on the lower ends. Crappies are good near deeper structure on the main lake and near deeper bends in the river near Tin Top. Some sand bass reports in the river above Hunter Park have been coming in. Largemouth bass are good in numbers near deeper docks and main lake points mid-lake. Some bird action near Indian Harbor has been reported pointing you to sand bass and smaller striped bass. Big blue cats are being taken on shallow flats on the upper ends on cut bait.
Comanche Creek Power Plant Lake continues to be one of the hottest fisheries in the state. Largemouth bass and channel catfish fishing is tremendous. Channel catfish limits are common and largemouth bass numbers are exceptional on most any shad imitation.
On other area reservoirs, Lake Whitney striped bass limits are common on the main lake under the birds and in the river near Kimball Bend. Jerkbaits and swimbaits are producing. Some good sand bass and crappie catches are also being caught in the river above Whitney.
michael.acosta@att.net | 254-396-4855
