Winter fishing offers enthusiasts plenty of options

STORY AND

Winter fishing on the Pamlico is a wonderful way to offset the cold winter weather, short days, and awkwardness of wearing heavy clothes. All winter long, anglers can catch species such as striped bass, redfish, largemouth bass, white perch, and others. Many of these fish live in our estuary year-round. Their behavior and feeding habits may change in the colder water temps, but they still must eat to survive. The striped bass are northern fish and more adapted to cold water, the stripers tend to be more active during the winter months than the other species. While speckled trout can be caught all winter, they are far more active on warmer days during high pressure and clear weather. Cold fronts and arctic blasts creating cold nighttime temperatures tend to slow their metabolism and their feeding. Winter fishing (for any species) can be tough during cooling trends in the weather and the water temperature, but if you play the weather and fish during the warming trends, the fish are more active.

For the speckled trout, look for baitfish concentrations in the backs of the deeper creeks and on adjacent mud/muck flats near those areas. Most of the visible baitfish will consist of finger mullet with menhaden, bay anchovies, and other minnow species in the mix. Soft plastics such as paddle tails and jerk baits fished very slowly on light jig heads should get a bite. Any suspending/sinking twitchbait such as a Mirrolure worked slowly will also be effective for the trout.

Our resident striped bass population seems to be very abundant and healthy. An excellent indicator of a fish stock's overall health is a mixed age class. For the past few years, striped bass anglers have been encountering juvenile fish in the 6-12 inch range, 25-30 inchers, and every size in between, often catching small, medium, and large fish on

BY CAPT. RICHARD ANDREWS

consecutive casts. Although topwater fishing is my personal favorite, winter water temps do not facilitate a consistent topwater bite, so subsurface tactics such as casting shallowdiving crankbaits or weedless swimbaits along bank structure or jigging soft plastics on the deeper ledges and breaks in the river channel.

In the winter, stripers are usually located in deeper water near the bottom. They are often associated with ledges in the creek or river channel or around deeper structure where they can ambush their prey. Because we are typically fishing in deeper water and in places where we are likely to get hung up on structure, we primarily fish 3/8 to ½ ounce jig heads rigged with soft plastic baits such as 3-5 inch paddle tails or 4-6 inch jerk baits. Using braided fishing line is important because it is more sensitive than monofilament, enabling you to feel the bottom. Maintaining contact with the bottom is important. Once you allow the bait to hit the bottom, lift it up off the bottom a couple of feet until it hits the bottom again. Just repeat this process until you feel a fish pick the bait up as it’s falling back toward the bottom. When you detect the bite, set the hook and enjoy the rest!