The Most Overlooked Detail Of Finding Spring Fishing Spots
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE!!!
Every spring, anglers overlook this detail when plotting out their spring fishing spots.
Check it all out here so you don’t repeat it!!
Spring Fishing Spots
In the wintertime, fish move up into creeks in search of deep water around bends and soft muddy bottom.
The fish will then hold in deeper water and forage for meals while the cold front passes through the area.
When the water begins to warm after a cold front, the fish will push further into the shallows to feed.
Fish are attracted to soft muddy bottoms because they hold in and absorb heat.
Also, fish diets in the winter are primarily centered around crustaceans and bait they have to dig up in the mud.
Moving Into Springtime
As spring approaches, the water begins to warm up and cold fronts are few and far between.
At this point in time, the fish will begin moving out of the creeks to hang around creek mouths and points.
Although these aspects of springtime fishing are common knowledge, there is one detail often forgotten about.
That is the bottom contour.
Fish are no longer dependent on finding soft muddy bottom anymore because their diets shift to more of a fin-fish base.
There is no longer a need to find soft muddy bottom to dig around for crustaceans.
During the spring transition, you want to fish in areas with sandy bottoms, oyster beds, or rocky structure.
Keep an eye out for any type of hard bottom in the spring.
Trout often use physical obstacles like rocks or oysters to hide behind and ambush prey.
If you want to target trout this spring in particular, you definitely need to find areas with a hard bottom.
Lure Options
During this time of the year, you want to use lures with elite versatility that can be used in multiple scenarios.
The fish are moving around a lot and matching different environments will give you a leg up on your presentation.
As baitfish move out of creeks and hang around creek mouths and points, you will no doubt find predatory fish in the area.
A lure that can work in different types of fishing spots and target multiple different species is a paddletail lure.
The paddletail lures that will work best for this time of year are the Slam Shady 2.0 and Gold Digger Paddletails.
It is a good idea to have a light color and a darker color for paddletail choices.
If you are fishing in shallow water, you want to rig these lures up on an Owner Weighted Twistlock Hook.
The weight is dependent on the current speed and wind speed as well as desired depth.
If you are fishing harder structure like docks, rocks, and oyster beds, then you want to use an open-faced jighead like the Mission Fishin’ Jighead.
Weight and size will depend on your lure choice and fishing environment, however, 1/4-1/8 oz. should cover most inshore scenarios.
Click here to check out Slam Shady 2.0 Paddletail
Click here to check out Gold Digger Paddletail
Check out Owner Weighted Twistlock Hooks here
Click here to check out Hoss Helix Hooks
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Spring Fishing Spots [VIDEO]
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Conclusion
Fish patterns and behavior are critical to have an understanding of when you are deciding where and what to throw this spring.
It is hard to find a lure as extremely versatile as the Slam Shady 2.0 paddletail.
Be sure to head over to our shop and stock up on anything you need to be ready for spring fishing!!!
Click here to check out Slam Shady 2.0 Paddletail
Click here to check out Gold Digger Paddletail
Check out Owner Weighted Twistlock Hooks here
Click here to check out Hoss Helix Hooks
Do you have any more questions on spring fishing spots?
Let us know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to learn more about spring fishing spots, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Thanks Pat. Great information. You are so right… I look for points and the mouth of inlets with currents, but the sandy, rocky or oyster bed bottom is bottom structure needed in the spring. No muddy bottom… got it! I need to review my pre-trip plan for Friday and make sure I targeting the correct bottom structure.
Salt Strong! Thomas
I have been wondering about seasonal patterns. Very informative Pat, thank you!
While I do agree that fish do shift from more crustacean diet in the winter months then going to finish from spring thru fall the bottom content where I fish in northeastern FL jax st Augustine area is probably about 95 percent mud but I as well as alot of other anglers catch tons of trout on mud bottoms kinda because we have no choice but I have also found the reverse is true because my number one winter area does have some sand in at least one of the creeks that I troll and fish but I do agree soft dark mud is better in winter and not important in spring and summer I adjust by just fishing 90 percent of the time at night to me at night the bottom content I dont believe is that much as important as in the daytime just as long as there is good structure like docks grasslines (because we here in northeast FL donot have any seagrass like central and south fl does) and oyster mounds these are pretty much all we fish here that is our structure choices anyways thanks for the info and all you do😉👍
Thanks for the very informative video. Pat your explanations and reasoning help me a lot to understand fish patterns. I will be putting them to use tomorrow. Thanks again and keep them coming