Drifting And Jigging For Specks

This time of year is magical on the Lower Laguna Madre for what I like to call the angler’s Texas Two Step; drifting and jigging. While the odds of catching trophy specks while wade fishing during these months are high, landing a prized speckled trout or redfish are even more so while drift fishing. Cold fronts during these months produce above average wind speeds which means your boat covers a lot of ground, which results in getting bit.

The wind is definitely your friend and something that should be used as an advantage. It might not seem like the kindest of days to go fishing, but the high winds speeds will allow you more shots at more fish.

This is helpful during transitional times too when fish may not be cooperating. You’ll get your lure in front of more fish faces and get that reaction bite you seek. Good days of fishing have been such an occurrence on windy days, that here lately I get excited at a breezy forecast. On the wind howling days, you can’t go wrong with a jighead and a soft plastic.

My holy grail lure is a 4” jerkbait made my D.O.A. Lures. At all times I have Morning Glory which is a black and chartreuse for darker days and I like to keep a natural-colored bait, like Figi Chix, on me as well. But the color that gets bit the most in any water clarity or depth is Texas Croaker. I like to pair one of these with a ¼ oz. jighead. This jig weight is perfect for throwing my bait furthest away from the boat, which is key to catching fish while drifting for specks. The further your bait is out there, the better.

Drift fishing on days after a coldfront can be tricky, but can still be productive. With the help of a trolling motor, you can set up a drift at a desirable speed to scope out an area, which beats being without one and fishing the same pothole for 30 minutes. Speckled trout especially seem more challenging to trick with a lure after a cold front, but I’ve witnessed it on several occasions. In similar conditions, Capt. Brian Barrera (www.inshorefishingsouthpadre.com) caught several respectable sized speckled trout using the Minn Kota Ulterra to increase the speed of his drift while working his jighead along the sand and grass mixture bottom. His D.O.A. 4” jerkbait in Arkansas Glow came across the watering mouth of a of a 28” speckled trout that couldn’t help herself.

I’m never not amazed at the incredible gift of big specks that Mother Nature and South Texas has gifted us. Searching out and encountering these fish that we are so blessed to have by drifting and jigging is something I feel that only a Texan angler knows and continues to hold dear.kel

Kelly Groce

@kellyratbones on Instagram

www.fishgame.com

www.highercallng.net