Dreary weather, overcast skies and drizzle? Grab your rain gear and don’t let the weather keep you off the water. During the transition from Winter to Spring in the Coastal Bend of Texas we get quite a few of those dreary days. If you are not scared of the rain/drizzle you could be rewarded with less boat traffic on the water and the possibility of catching some solid speckled trout.

The day started gray and wet, with air temperatures hovering in the mid 50’s and the water temps around 60. The area I wanted to target had some deeper water adjacent to shallow flats. I started by throwing a lighter 1/8 ounce jig head paired with Kden lures “blazin’ shad” and picked up a few fish, but started noticing some bigger mullet surfacing along the edge of the flats that have scattered oyster shell. One thing I have picked up on over the years is that when I find big mullet, I have found big trout with them! Quickly grabbing my rod with the trusty Heddon “one knocker spook” I cast towards the nervous water. Using a slower “walk the dog” action with a pause after 2 or 3 twitches of the rod, was all it took to entice some solid trout that morning. My 2 biggest fish that day went 25.25″ and 27.25″ and they came on “back to back” casts…Talk about “STOKED”!

Big speckled trout will gladly crush a bigger mullet over small baitfish. The slower retrieve of a bigger profile top water bait definitely improved my chances on calling up some solid trout that morning. Here are some observations from that day.

– Cooler water temps required a slower retrieve
– Bigger profile bait = bigger fish
– Find the bait…find the fish
– Shallow areas that warm up quicker near deep water are key areas to target

So gear up and head out! Don’t let the weather conditions limit your fishing time.

GEAR USED

Kayak
https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/blog/kayak/liska/
Paddle
https://accentpaddles.com/products/trophy-angler
Rod
https://www.waterloorods.com/collections/high-performance-rods/products/ultra-mag
Reel
http://fish.shimano.com/content/fish/northamerica/us/en/homepage/Shimano_Product_Page.P-SLX.html
Lures
https://www.kdenlures.com/
https://www.heddonlures.com/product/saltwater-one-knocker-spook-3/

Dustin Nichols – Jackson Kayak Fishing Team