Fishing With Live Shrimp

Fishing with live shrimp is a favorite for many trout anglers ... especially with those fishing for speckled trout.  It's a well known fact that many speck fisherman will follow the shrimp boats when fishing for speckled trout. 

Rigging your pole with live shrimp can be done a couple of different ways.  Regardless of the method used, be careful when hooking the shrimp so as to not kill him.  The best thing to do is to hook the shrimp in the tail.  This will not only help to keep him alive, but also allow the shrimp to swim freely.  Small light-wire hooks are also preferred when fishing with shrimp because they allow the shrimp to swim more freely.

Not sure how to properly hook a shrimp in the tail?  Watch the video below.

Free Lining

One of the most popular (and easiest) methods is to put a live shrimp on a hook and toss your line into the water.  You don't need any additional weight if you're fishing near the surface, although you can add weight if you want to fish below the surface. The goal is to let the shrimp swim freely so they look more natural to trout feeding in the area. This means you need to leave the bail open after tossing your line out.   Because line is being pulled off the spool (either by the shrimp or by you letting more line out as needed), this method is often called "free lining".   You can see free lining in action by watching the video below.  

 

Popping Cork

Fishing shrimp with a popping cork rig is a favorite tactic among anglers. In this method colorful, trout-attracting floats that make a popping sound are used. The popping action of the cork mimics feeding fish. The video below shows how popping corks work.  Plastic or live shrimp can be used with popping corks.

Jigging

Live shrimp can also be attached to jig heads and fished deeper around docks and other deep water structures. Jigging works best in the colder months when trout are feeding in deep holes in channels off the main river. A 1/16 oz jig head with a size 2 hook should work well.  

Putting shrimp on a jig head is done differently than putting shrimp on a hook for free lining.  When jigging, you'll want to hook the shrimp from the underside through the head between the eyes and the brain.  Amazingly enough, this will keep the shrimp alive and allow him to swim freely. 

Top Five Winter Speckled Trout Lures

If you live in an area where you can fish for speckled trout, you'll love this article.  I stumbled across it this morning and thought it was too good not to share. It's titled, "Top 5 Winter Speckled Trout Lures".

For more speckled trout fishing tips, click here.

For more winter trout fishing tips, click here. 

Speckled Trout Fishing Good in Florida's Intracoastal Waterway

Speckled trout fishing is reported to be excellent in Florida's intracoastal waterway.  Cooler temps and plenty of shrimp have played a role.

Trout are near the surface right now so topwater plugs, Mirrodines and 1/4 ounce jigs with plastic tails have yielded results.  Fishing under lighted docs up and down the Intracoastal Waterway is also a good bet since specks tend to hang there. Plastic tail grubs and Mirrolures are good bets under lighted docks too.  If you have a boat, you might try trolling slowly on the creeks and grass edges

You cand read the full report on Speckled trout fishing in the Intracoastal Waterway by clicking here.

For more tips on speckled trout fishing, click here.

Speckled Trout Fishing in Mississippi Improving

Fall has always been one of the best times of the year for trout fishing. And Thanksgiving weekend brought a cold front across much of the country - which caused trout fishing action heat up even more!

Speckled trout fishing in Southern Mississippi continues to improve thanks to this recent cold front. Below is the fishing report recently published in the Sun Herald.

As water temperatures plunged below 70 degrees, speckled trout and redfish are searching for bait from Moss Point to Bay St. Louis with the majority of the action taking place around deep drop-offs and bends in the rivers.

The only holdback has been dealing with the effects of rainfall - before Thanksgiving and after. In some places, the smaller bodies of water will be murky.

When this happens, look for cleaner water in the main rivers and bays that cycle muddy water out quicker with low and high tides.

With that in mind, places like the old Kremer Marina in Gulfport and Biloxi's Big Lake should be good.

In Hancock County, fishing remains solid off the Jourdan River near I-10 and back south toward the Bay of St. Louis for trout. In Harrison County, Bernard Bayou, Parker's Creek and the Industrial Seaway should have trout.

The Pascagoula River, Mary Walker Bayou, Sioux Bayou and the Singing River have been solid all the way from the interstate south to Northrop Grumman.

Other top spots in Jackson County are Fort Bayou - just east of the bridge on Washington Avenue - and the mouth of Graveline Bayou.

Two of the top baits for Graveline are live croakers and small minnows suspended underneath a popping cork.

Live shrimp should be available at bait shops through the end of the year. Small pogies and finger-size mullet are plentiful in the bays and rivers for those anglers using brill nets.

Slow-trolling using plastic jigs and slow-sinking lures will become more productive in December.

To read the entire fishing report which also covers redfish fishing, click here.

For more speckled trout fishing tips, click here.

Speckled Trout in North Carolina

Residents of Topsail Island reported catching speckled trout in the 2 lb range yesterday. They were using white grubs with blue split tails and Gulp saltwater 4-inch white shrimp.

Click here for more speckled trout tips.

Winter Speckled Trout Tips

Speckled trout fishing in Florida continues to be good this winter. Deeper holes next to grass flats in the mouths of residential canals continues to offer good winter trout action.

The key to catching specks in the winter, according to Captain Dave Walker, is to slow things down. Shrimp-style artificial baits or live shrimp from bait shops have a proven record of success. Fishing on the bottom around docs or other structures can be rewarding.