Fall fishing on Sabine Lake is on.
While it will be interesting to see how all of the water coming down the Sabine River will alter the fishing scene, I suspect the fishing will remain good.
Specks are on the mind of most anglers this time of year and if you want to catch lots of them shrimp is the key.
Studies by numerous institutions, most notably Louisiana State University, have shown super-sized trout feed mainly on fish but even they take to shrimp with gusto.
Do you really think a 30-incher is going to turn down a big, juicy brown shrimp if the opportunity arises?
I don’t either.
During fall, everything is on the move so it can pay to work a shrimp imitation super fast.
I use a Killer Diller in glow/chartreuse or clear gold glitter rigged on a ?-ounce jighead with the built-in weight removed. If you are fishing under the birds, simply throw the lure out, reel and reel it in fast. If there are fish busting the surface then alter your approach a bit and skip it across the surface. It will drive the specks crazy.
As many anglers have learned, Gulp! Shrimp rigged under a Paradise Popper cork rig is hard to beat. It is easy to find trout under the birds in fall and if you want simple fishing this works like a charm.
Simply throw where the birds are diving, pop the cork aggressively and (hopefully) watch it disappear. Approach the schools cautiously with a trolling motor, but if you are in a johnboat and do not have one you can always drift. Motor up current of the fish and drift back slowly.
If you are determined to catch the bigger fish that inhabit these fall schools let your lure get down to the bottom. The smaller fish are much more likely to be up top but the big ones will lie on the bottom and tend to be a little lazier. Take whatever shrimp imitation you are fishing and let it hit the bottom and slowly drag it across the bottom. Dead sticking is also an option.
This is exactly as it sounds. Throw the lure out, let it hit the bottom and do nothing. Just simply let it drift along the bottom, using the currents and bottom structure to make the lure appealing. This technique requires patience but it can catch those trout that few other anglers get.
Most of the time you will be fishing with lures in a jig head but an alternative way to do this is rig it on a fish finder (Carolina) rig. This consists of an egg weight rigged above a swivel and attached an 18-inch leader. The weight will disturb the bottom and get the trout’s attention while the shrimp will have the look of freely swimming. This kind of rig is highly underutilized for lures in saltwater and can be a valuable addition to your repertoire.
There are dozens of ways to present shrimp imitations to catch specks and they will all work.
Chester Moore, Jr. is The News Outdoors Eiditor. To contact Chester Moore, e-mail him at cmoore@fishgame.com. You can hear him on the radio Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com.
