May 30, 2012

Friendly reminder on fishing technique and plastics.

Don't let this simple mistake sabotage your fishing trip.

I see the same thing over and over: anglers fishing a spot that is loaded with speckled trout but they're only catching a few, if any at all.

As soon as they reel in their line, it is apparent the important detail missing from their formula.

The Right Sinker for Your Fishing Spot

Most anglers fail to understand the relationship of water depth/current to the correct sinking weight for their Inshore Rig or jighead.

Not using the appropriate sinker or jighead is equal to fishing failure. Most anglers use sinkers that are too heavy or too light, and usually too light.

If you don't have these sinkers/jigheads in your arsenal then you are only hurting yourself.

  • 1/8 oz
  • 1/4 oz
  • 3/8 oz
  • 1/2 oz

Don't be scared to use a 1/2 oz jighead to reach the bottom in 16ft of moving water!

I know it looks weird threading a plastic onto it but I promise it works.

On the other side of the coin, you don't want to use a jighead that is too heavy in lightly moving water.

It will decrease your chances of catching because it will negatively effect the presentation of the plastic by falling too fast and even burying itself in the mud.

A slow fall can be key in getting speckled trout to bite, but if the lure never reaches the bottom of the water column then fish may never get a chance to bite it.

You have to strike a balance.

Experiment and then experiment some more.

In time you will know what sinker or jighead is the right weight.

Or, you can shorten your learning curve and enroll in Inshore Fishing 101, where I go in-depth on which sinkers to use.

Captain Devin

About the Author

Devin is a former fishing guide and lifelong inshore angler. He founded Louisiana Fishing Blog in 2012 to share his ideas as a charter captain and still writes in it today. Since then he's created a fishing university — LAFB Elite — where he teaches inshore anglers how to safely navigate Louisiana's coast and catch more fish.


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