SCHOOLIES IN SESSION

[Capthook43]

[][][] It was one of those windy, damp and cold mornings but the TEAM ESCAPE school boat found its way through the winding marshes and open lakes and stopped right in the classroom and the students were in. Tim, Leon, Leon Jr and myself pulled out our rods and school was in session as 12 and 14 inch school trout couldn't resist our offerings, chartruse beetles under a cork and titelined with a slow steady retrieve. Drifting a small bay in 5 to 6 ft. of water we kept the pressure on and the schoolies just kept coming in the boat with 1 in 3 being keepers. It was a lot of fun and everyone was warming up to the action and the schoolies just wouldn't give up. Since these are prime eating trout we just kept the pressure on until we had our fill. We decided to take a recess and head back to the launch for the big clean-up, final count 100 in the box and a large group of hungry pelicans laying in wait. ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN THE BLAZER BAY.


CAPT. HOOK / TEAM ESCAPE
985 847 0672 H
504 512 2602 CEL

[url "http://www.escapefishingcharters.com/"]www.escapefishingcharters.com[/url]
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[gdn443]

Nice haul Capt. The few times I was south, I too had a blast catching those trout. Boy you've got some ugly seagulls.[]
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[Capthook43]

There not only ugly but their bill holds more than their belly can.
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[tubeN2]

Good job Skipper. I finally figured it out.

The fish are in schools and you are the teacher. LOL. Another fine day on the salt.[cool]
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[Tarpon4me]

You must primarily use artificial bait for trout. I've noticed that the majority of trout anglers use either lures or live bait, not both.

I know alot of the guys around here use those pearl white scent injected shrimp. I've never tried them before, but they look pretty nifty. I'm thinking about taking some out to the reef on my next trip to see if I can intise a bite from something; just blind casting while we wait for a live bait rig to take off.
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[Capthook43]

If you have the Berkley Gulp Shrimp in your area, try them on a 3/8 or 1/2 oz. jighead., they are impreginated with sent and they work very well here. Find a color you like and go fishing.
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[Capthook43]

When water temps. hit around 50 degrees the shrimp leave the marshes and head for the warm waters of the Gulf and the cold water temps. slow the metobalism of the trout and they don't move around very much. This is when drift-fishing is best, since the trout won't come to us, we go to the trout. Early morning will find them holding on the bottom in deeper water 7 to 20 ft.(in thermal layer), this is when we titeline ever so slow on the bottom, and as the Sun warms the surface of the water they move shallow, on oyster flats and the edge of drop-off's and shallow open bays(5 to 7 ft. deep), this is when a popping cork does well. Titelining will work also as the fish are more active and will go after them. Winter time is certainly a challenge but just not having to use live bait is a relief, moer fishing and less baiting-up. ATTACHED IS A PICTURE OF A POPPING RIG WE USE.
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[Capthook43]

I hardly consider myself a teacher when it comes to fishing, I've been doing this for 25 years and I still learn something new every trip and I hope I never get to the point where I think I do. If that ever happens, I will know that the challenge and the fun are gone, then what.
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[tubeN2]

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I hardly consider myself a teacher when it comes to fishing, I've been doing this for 25 years and I still learn something new every trip and I hope I never get to the point where I think I do. If that ever happens, I will know that the challenge and the fun are gone, then what. [/reply]
Amen to that Brother. I have close to 40years under my belt and the fish are still teaching me a thing or two. That's why they are always in schools. To stay smarter than us.[laugh]
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[Tarpon4me]

You and tuben2 have got me by a few years, but i've got near 20 years targeting big game, and I also find myself learning each trip. I may just glance over at a nieghboring boat, read something in a magazine, or someone might just pass on the info. Everyone does it differently, especially when you compare anglers in differet location. The more tactics you learn, the more capable of adapting to hard conditions you become.

There are going to be days that no matter what you do, you're not going to get a bite; unless you've got an explosive. [] But the more we learn about our target species and the techniques for them, the more we can cancel out days like that.

This is why many anglers specialize in one or two species. If you only target a couple species, and you take detailed fishing logs, you can narrow tactics down for all conditions to a science. The chances of a skipper, that has targeted trout for 25 years, of having a bad fishing trip is nearly nonexistant. Chances are he's studied thier migratory patterns, studies thier spawning habbits, food habbits, prefered habitat for each time of year/water and air temp/water clarity, barametric pressure, and even thier favorite type of candy. You can't be this detailed when you're targeting 100 different species.

There is a fine line between common knowledge and advanced skill. There's an easy way to rate your skill level. If you can go out on a day when everyone else leaves thier boat at the house, and then be successful at landing fish when no one else or very few can; than i'd say you've got skills. [cool] There are 2 or 3 species of fish only that I can accomplish this feat with. Many others the conditions have to be pretty close to spot on for me to be successful. We all have our little tricks, and any good captain has a few tricks that he'll never admit to knowing; for those days when it really gets hard. We've all got those secret GPS numbers of honey holes that always produce; just for a rainy day. Usually those "secret honey holes" aren't very big, and are only honey holes just because of that fact; no one knows they are there.
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[Capthook43]

I agree with you all the way. I've been fishing my area since I was 12 and now at 64 the trout and reds still make me scratch my head from time to time, thats why the attic is thinning.LOL[sly][sly][sly]
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