A characteristic many wadefishermen share is an intimate
knowledge of the underwater environment they tread. It’s
easy to think of a flat as a long stretch of sand or mud but
the feet tell a different story. With feet shuffling along the
bottom, waders find shorelines littered with fish attracting
structure and characteristics that entice fish to hang around
for a meal. Abandoned crab traps, old tires, oyster reefs,
marsh grass, sloughs, troughs and depressions, hard
bottom, soft bottom and potholes are a few of the puzzle
pieces collected from each trip that will eventually reveal
where fish are more likely to be found on a particular piece
of bayside real estate.

The key element that brings all of the structure pieces into
play is the role of tidal currents. During periods of slack and
minimal currents, bait fish retreat to structure for safety.
Later, when current strength accelerates and the horizontal
speed reaches .3 knot, the current has reached its “forcing
power” and hiding bait fish are flushed from structure,
congregate and are forced along with the current, becoming
easy targets for hungry gamefish. Sometime after reaching
its peak speed the current will once again slow below .3
knot and bait fish will retreat to structure until they are forced
from hiding once again.

The Wells Daily Fishing Forecast has been used by
fishermen on the Gulf Coast since 1957 to choose the best
days and times to fish in advance based upon the
movement of tidal currents. Along with the current
movement daily predictions a Monthly Fishing Calendar is
provided to ease in the identification of better fishing days.
Days classified in the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast as “XXX”
will most often be days with long and consistently strong
current movements.

The days each month that generally have the strongest
currents overall are those around the new and full moon.
Conversely, the days with the weakest currents overall will
be days near the first and last quarter of the moon. These
days will have “Poor” and “Fair” rated days in the Monthly
Fishing Calendar.

A day that has extra strong currents may be rated less than
XXX if the current movement occurs before daylight or
begins in the very late afternoon when most fishermen have
left the water. Days rated as Poor will be the opposite of
XXX with often extremely weak current movements, if any,
throughout the day. Poor rated days, however, may have a
“good” current at some point during the day, that while good
for fishing, is not the predominant type of current pattern of
the day overall. That is one important reason why not to
dismiss Poor or Fair days as ones where it’s not possible
to catch fish. It’s also an important reason when referring
to the Monthly Fishing Calendar to select days to fish, that
the current times in the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast be
checked. If you plan to fish in the morning on a day rated
Good and the reason for the overall Good rating is the
afternoon tidal current you may be in for a disappointing
morning.

The key to consistent use of the Wells Daily Fishing
Forecast is to fish when the currents are moving. To
accomplish this, simply plan to fish during the Forecast’s
“Start” and “End” times for a particular current.
Fishing when currents are active and baitfish are on the
move is the key to fishing success on the Gulf coast.

Gary Ralston is the publisher of Gulf Coast Fisherman
magazine. For more on using the Wells Daily Fishing
Forecast or information on fishing the Gulf Coast, visit
http://www.gulffishing.com

Here is my definition of a perfect fishing day: “Heading out into the open bays in search of 28″ redfish and schools of hungry speckled trout, limiting out and loading up the boat with a stringer of fish that could win the next big fishing tournament, having the fish cleaned for you and not cleaning one rod, reel or boat, all before noon.” The fishing trip I just described sounds like the whopper of a tale you would hear while playing poker during guy’s night out, but fishing trips like this occur every day. Just ask a good fishing guide in your area.

If you are an avid fisherman and you are lucky enough to go fishing two or three times a week, then you may experience fishing trips like the one described above quite often. Unfortunately, many fishermen only have the opportunity to go fishing maybe once or twice a month. Either way, a fishing guide goes fishing five to seven days a week, many times twice a day. He or she is a professional, and the business is finding fish and getting the fish in the boat and back to the dock.

When you go on a guided fishing trip, the fishing guide offers you much more than a great time and a boat full of fish, he or she offers a learning experience full of many tips and techniques only a pro can provide. After all, a fishing guide’s income is determined by how successful he or she is at putting a customer on the fish.

A few things you can learn from a guide are casting techniques, especially for fly fishing, the correct way to work a variety of lures, how to “read the water,” the areas where fish are more likely to be, and which types of bait to use.

Redfish spook easily and one bad cast can send a school of redfish swimming for the open sea. Knowing how to cast correctly by having the skill to drop your lure in front of and about 10 feet on the other side of a school of hungry redfish will definitely increase your chances of catching a fish or two. A fishing guide can teach you exactly how to “work” a school of redfish, increasing your chances of catching a fish.

As you know, there are many different lures that vary in shape, color, the way they move through the water, and so on. Fish respond to color, shape and movement. If you throw a lure that closely resembles what they are eating, you will probably catch one or two. It is important to know what lure to use and when to use it to catch fish, and fishing with a guide will help you learn which lures are best used in different types of environments.

The tips listed above are just a few you can learn from a fishing guide, and there are many more that an experienced guide can you. The next time you hire a fishing guide, observe how they find fish, how they approach the area where fish might be, and which bait they choose under the weather conditions, tide conditions, and overall situation you are experiencing. You will possibly learn new ideas and skills, enhancing future fishing expeditions of your own.

Aaron Ralston is the owner of Gulf Coast Guide Reports located at: http://www.gulfcoastguidereports.com Gulf Coast Guide Reports provides saltwater fishing reports by the best guides along the gulf coast from Port Isabel, Texas all the way to the Florida Keys. You will also find fishing articles, tips, tournament information, and just about anything else you want to know about fishing. Get the latest news today.

Night feeding speckled trout chasing live shrimp skipping across the surface are exciting to watch and are usually easy to catch. At times their numbers can be quite large and their rapid popping and slurping while feeding can make the water appear as if someone is repeatedly tossing in handfuls of gravel.

Typically, plastic bait tails or double rigged jigs/worms are the number one choice of most night fishermen. Popular colors that will usually work anywhere on the coast are the standard: white, hot pink, red, and chartreuse.

At times, however, the specks are quite skillful at ignoring the artificial baits while feeding in a frenzy on the hapless shrimp and baitfish that float by in the current. If you should encounter this situation, the problem is your bait. It does not match the mental pattern the fish have for what they are feeding on and changing colors will likely not have much effect. They may also have become “trained” to ignore the same looking baits that bombard them night after night.

One thing that will usually get their attention, though, when they are feeding but ignoring underwater baits is to switch to a 3-1/2 inch, or so, topwater bait. The topwater will remain in the direction the fish are looking, which is up, and it’s going to get a whole lot more eyeballs focused on it, especially if it rattles. The change in fish hook ups should be immediate and dramatic.

One little trick to supercharge a topwater, and really upset the other anglers around you, is to add a bucktail trailer with either a small single or treble hook at the end. Just tie about a 6 inch piece of monofilament line (15 to 20 lb. test is all you need) to the rear eye of the topwater, and the hook and bucktail to the other. Bucktail colors that work great are red, white, yellow and chartreuse. This also works extremely well on a spoon.

Night fishing is a sure way to beat the summer heat on the Gulf Coast, just don’t forget the mosquito spray.

Gary Ralston is publisher of Gulf Coast Fisherman magazine. Gulf Coast Fisherman has been published for saltwater fishermen since 1976 and covers all states on the Gulf Coast.

Visit http://gulffishing.com for more fishing related articles and information on the Gulf Coast.