Birds And Watermelon

   This may be what you will see and smell if you happen to be near a large school of trout, commonly called spotted weakfish. They are anything but weak, feeding in frenzy. When the odor of watermelon permeates the air, someone may be having a picnic behind a sand dune or more likely, get ready for some hot action!
   These fish feed so hard that they throw up and then they feed again, much like the ancient Roman empire, so much food so little time. They regurgitate, and when they do, it produces a slick on the water, a veritable oil slick. Unfortunately, the slick will move with the tide and wind and you cannot always pinpoint the fish by it. Do you see seagulls circling and dipping down to the water? It's likely they are feeding on the same bait school as the trout. Use this as a marker to relocate the school.
   Live shrimp is usually what one thinks of with trout. But herein lies a problem and the solution is my tip for you. With shrimp you will catch your limit, but these fish will barely stay legal size because all will be small. There is a way to change this. There are bigger trout in the school. The little ones are so quick to attack the shrimp that the bigger fish don't have much chance, much like a sixty year old in a footrace with a teenager. To get the most from this scenario, take piggy perch with you, sometimes known as grunters, and make sure these are good size perch. These perch are much hardier than shrimp and give the bigger trout the chance to get to the bait. Once the big boys get to the bait, the teenagers get out of the way and the action heats up. Hook your perch about one half inch back from the tail and watch the size of your trout go up.

Captain Mike Scott is a retired Texas Gulf fishing guide and commercial fisherman. As Mike puts it “If you really want to catch your limit talk to me.” Please feel free to contact Mike for any fishing questions through AlphaLane.com or by using his site email in the AlphaLane search page. Use Mike’s CID which is 119 or simply search on category ‘fishing’.