Fishing Tips

Fishing Tips

Subject: Sheephead Fishing:

Hello, have a Sheephead fishing tip I would like to share. Normally when people fish for sheephead around docks they use the normal rig which consists of a small splitshot lead about a foot above the hook and slowly move the rod up and down watching for the subtle bit of the sheephead. Most fisherman end up feeding their fiddler crabs to the fish with no end. The trick that I use hooks a sheephead almost every time they hit. I use a small crappie jig head normally a 1/8 ounce jig head attached to the end of my line. I run the hook through the fiddler crab and send it to the bottom. With this method you can feel the fish take the crab everytime. Try this method and save your fiddler crabs. Also you can tip the jig head with fresh shrimp but you will catch other types of fish too. - Thanks, Jack SC

Subject: Surf Fishing

Question: Do you need a boat to get to the Cameron Jetties?

Answer: Absolutely no boat needed! Sometimes I chuckle to myself when I see guys loading and unloading their boats at the boat ramp, many times cursing because they didn't have any luck. And many times I have gone wade fishing on the east side of the Cameron jetties in the surf and have been worn out from carrying my stringer full of trout. The thing about the area is that you can catch 5 or 6 fish weighing 4-5lbs each--hell thats 25-30 pounds of fish your hauling back; and another thing--you don't have to clean as many when you get home. Take the Cameron/Chloe exit on I-10 (just before Lake Charles if your coming in from the east). Then follow the green Cameron signs. Once you get to Cameron (coming in from the east) theres a caution light and a Shell station on your left. Take a left there. You will see a lot of oil company buildings and helipads. Go all the way down that road until you come to a dead end. Park there. There will be a fence. Follow it down to the right and there will be an opening that you can walk through, and follow the trail. You'll come to a tidal channel (actually a muddy ditch) that you can catch your finger mullet and cocahoe minnows with a cast net. Put them in a floating bait bucket that you can tether to yourself while wading. Cross the ditch on the far right (or you can walk the jetties until you get beyond it) and walk the trail on the right until you get to the beach. Head left down the beach a few hundred yards and then head out into the surf. Go out as far as you can go ( you'll cross a few breakers) with the water getting deeper then shallower as you get on the reefs. Fish in the cooler water--thats where they hang out. Put the mullet on a number 4 saltwater hook under a popping cork (fish deep). If you prefer artificals, purple and chartreusse tail cocahoes are the hot ones; but I've found that live bait catches the big ones. Even freshly dead finger mullet (or the head half) works under the poping cork. I usually wear a bright yellow Cocadrie Fishing Tournament cap with a green/white floating bait bucket--if you see me say hello. Good Fishing, Kenny Liner

Additional Cameron Information From: Darryl in Lake Charles!
I was reading the tip about the Cameron jetties, and thought that I would add something. If you go on past Cameron, and cross the Ferry heading west, stay along the beach. You will see big clumps of rocks that were put out there to help with the erosion. Along those rocks are some of the best wade fishing in the country. You can walk out to them easily, about stomach deep. Watch for the birds and fish underneath them. You can even follow them along the beach by car. Great for trophy trout. On a sunny day, I like to fish with a gold or silver spoon. If the day is cloudy, try plastic cocahoes. My favorite color is purple with yellow tails. But if the fish are there, they will bite anything. (within reason) Rat'l traps work good. Black and Silver broke backs work when the weather is warm. Hope to see ya out there.
dog@laci.net

Spinning Rod Modifications For Pendelum Casting

In The above photo I remove the lower right hand "rod guide brace" it is missing in the lower left on the left rod photo above!!! It is the lower right when this Spinning Rod is held in the proper position!! I would "Rifle Shot" My Terminal Tackle 2-3 times a day when the knot joining the shock leader (65 pound Power Pro Super Line" to the "30 pound Power Pro Super Line" would get snaged in the "V" made on the right hand side as line rapidly coils off the Spinning Reel! I remove this same brace on the bottom 3 guides! I witnessed the line popping in the bottom and in the second guide from the bottom!! So I remove it from the bottom three!!! In 3-4 weeks of hard casting (6oz & Bait) I have not even replaced the leader or the joining knot (uni-knot)!! I have caught over a dozen Big Bull Redfish on the same line and knot!! It is easy to confuse launching tackle because of a worn or faulty knot, when the rod guides were actually the problem!! None have "rifle shot" since!!
Fish Forever, BOB!!

Subject: Flounder Gigging

Question: What is the best time for flounder gigging?

Answer: The best time for flounder gigging is under a dark moon and a falling tide. If you can catch a high tide a couple hours after dark and no moon or a very small moon, you have hit the absolutely best time. If you use a coleman lantern, be sure to put foil on 1/2 of the glass to reflect more light forward and no light backward (in your eyes) . A solid handle to position the lantern in a forward tilted position is easier to carry and move side to side to cover as much ground as possible. Cut a notch on the top of your gig handle to hold the lantern when you get tired. Just stab the gig in the sand and put the wire bail in the notch. It will hang and let you rest, take a leak etc. Last but not least, be sure you have gigged a flounder before you slide your hand under the fish and lift him out of the water. As soon as you stab him, he will thrash and cloud the water so you cannot see him, so be sure it is a flounder and not a sting ray BEFORE you stab him. Good luck and enjoy some of the best eating anywhere when you get your flounder home and under a hot broiler! Chuck Tylka

Subject: Tides &Visible Signs of Fish!

Question: What Should I be Looking For?

Answer: A couple of hours on each side of a high or low tide are usually the most active, especially when a high tide starts falling! Sometimes the fish just turn on for a half hour and sometimes its half a day! I have seen people leave and the fish just started hitting, so never give up at those peak times! Obviously watch for schools of mullet, and when you see other small fish feeding frenzies, sometimes Spanish Mackerel are darting in small arcs just above the surface and rapidly back down, and I have observed small schools of Pompano doing the same thing, and you can't tell what there hitting, they are hitting schools of glass minnows! Watch for the birds, Pelicans for sure but the Terns and the Egrets are better indicators! The White Egrets love Trout! Me and my son were taking a break when he said: "Look that bird dropped a big fish!" It was 20 ft from us and landed on the beach! He ran to get it and came back with a large white trout that was to big for the White Egret to handle! It was a keeper, so I said "Lets get out there, the fish are back" and they were, after a few nice fish I caught a undersize Speckled Trout and I released it and WHAM! a White Egret swooped down and picked it up and flipped it in the air and swallowed it whole, head first! I was quite an experience-and it squared us up for the keeper White Trout! What a cool bird! You should also watch for circular "slick" spots on the surface and cast to them, and if the water visibility is good, watch for cloudy brown patches of water and cast to them! Wear some polaroid type sunglasses or blue blockers! Bob Bertaut Sr.

Fishing Tip! The best fish scaler for a bull red or big drum or other species with large scales is a Claw Hammer! It has a handle and the "claw" part "peels" the scales right off like it was designed for the job! Try it, you won't believe how easy it is! BBSR.

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