Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
This winter my wife and I spent some time observing the reactions of fish to the various baits, lures, and flies we presented them down in the clear waters of the Florida Keys. From tarpon, to snapper, bonefish to sharks, we cast to just about every inshore species with fins and experienced aggressive attacks, slow-lazy pickups, curious fish that would follow a lure all the way to the boat but never bite, and fish that spooked the split-second the bait or lure hits the water. The opportunity to watch how those fish reacted to our efforts was a great learning opportunity that I know will make us better anglers when fishing our home waters of surround Delmarva.
One thing we learned was the importance for anglers to know the layout of the bottom in whatever body of water they’re fishing so that they will have a general idea of where fish “should be” so that even if they aren’t able to see the fish, at least they’ll be able to increase the chances that their baits or lures will fall into productive areas. It’s also important to use a quiet “stealthy” approach to these places so as not to spook fish out of the area before having a chance to make the first cast. This is particularly important when targeting ambush predator-type fish such as our local striped bass that will often hold in one place as they wait for their next meal to come to them. Keeping in mind that fish almost always hold-up facing into the current, in most cases anglers will want to be positioned up-current or slightly cross-current from where the fish should be holding. This allows the opportunity to present baits or lures in a fashion that looks as though they are trying to escape being eaten by the predator. It’s interesting to note that big fish are often surrounded by lots of baitfish but pay them no mind unless one of the little fish does something “different” such as swimming erratically or quickly darting out in front of the predator. This is what anglers want to mimic when they’re casting to their quarry and it’s also the kind noisy-erratic action that’s built into many lures.
Of course when it comes to lures, anglers have an incredibly large selection to choose from, fortunately a relatively small selection of basic lures will cover most fishing situations. I like to put lures into one of three categories; floaters, sinkers, and floater-divers.
“Floaters” would include surface poppers and slider-type lures always stay up on top. Some (like the poppers) can draw fish in from a long distance by making so much commotion that fish rush-in, if only to see what’s going on. Even if a fish chooses not to hit a floater it will at least clue the angler to its presence. Noisy floaters can be the best lures for anglers to start with, but they should not be cast too close to where the fish are expected to be holding because too much noise from a lure can spook some fish away, so surface lures should be worked 10-yards or more from the hold-out and the fish allowed to come out to them. That way, if the fish don’t like what they hear off in the distance, they’ll at least stay put and allow anglers the opportunity to try something else. Surface plugs can be cast up-current, down-current or cross-current from the fish as long as they aren’t cast too close.
If drawing fish away from their hold with surface lures doesn’t work, I’ll usually go next to a floater/diver type lure. As the name implies, these lures float, but since they have a big lip on them, when they’re retrieved they will dive. The ones I like usually have built-in rattles so as they are wiggling their way along they make a heck of a lot of underwater racket. The faster these lures are retrieved the deeper they’ll dive enabling anglers to fish floater/divers at different depths simply by changing the speed at which they crank them in, a nice feature in areas of varying depth. Because they’re noisy and put out a lot of vibrations, these lures will attract fish from a fair distance and anglers should be careful not to drag them closer than maybe six-feet from where the fish are holding. These lures have plenty of action of their own so no additional rod movement is needed. A steady retrieve into the current works best. I probably catch more fish (of all species) on floater/divers than any other lure.
I classify anything that sinks to the bottom when it’s not being retrieved to be a “sinking lure.” This would include jigs, spoons, spinners, and many plugs. Sinking lures are usually the last thing I’ll throw at holding fish because they usually need to be run so close to the quarry to get their attention, which is not a problem if they bite, but if they don’t there’s a good chance that the fish will be spooked and then it’s “game-over” for that particular hold-out. When resorting to the sinking lure section of my tackle box I usually opt first for something I can work slowly such as a “Mirrolure” or a light headed jig such as a bucktail or a soft-body. After multiple casts with different retrieves and maybe some change-ups in color and size, I’ll start to get a bit more aggressive and try some of the faster moving lures such as spoons or “Hopkins” lures that I can zip past the predators in hopes of triggering a “reaction bite.”
If I employ all my tactics and still don’t get a bite I’ll move on to the next spot. But I’ll likely be back, sometimes in as little as an hour or so as I know that just because the fish didn’t bite “now” doesn’t mean they won’t bite later with just a slight change in tide, current, time of day, or any of a million other reasons. When we can actually see the fish we’re casting to it’s not uncommon to return to the same fish later in the day and have it bite on the first cast. Similarly, we often return to a place where there were no fish earlier in the day that is later loaded with predators.
In summery, even if anglers aren’t fishing a place where they can see the fish before they cast, if they know their quarry and their local waters well enough, they should be able to recognize areas where the fish “should be” and then with a slow and quiet approach move in and throw an arsenal of lures (or baits) first to the extreme perimeters of the fish’s hold-out, and then if necessary, work their offering in closer to the fish until they either get the bite or realize it’s time to move on to a new spot. To some folks the thought of putting this kind of effort into catching a fish might seem so involved that would diminish some of the fun from a day of fishing. But I guarantee that no matter where they fish, anglers will always enjoy greater satisfaction from every fish they catch when they are able do so using their own skills and though-out tactics rather than simply dumb-luck.
Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and Captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
