Frigid fishing isn’t for the faint of heart

Ice storms are rare in the Lowcountry. Given all our bridges, a little bit of ice tends to shut the whole area down. This was the case on Saturday morning. Freezing rain on Friday night covered our roads and bridges with a thin layer of ice. This left us with nothing to do but wait for it to melt. However, Brody (the fish-finding and stock-trading dog) had other ideas. He wanted to go fishing.  

 

So, we bundled up and walked down the dock to the skiff. The first obstacle we encountered was ice on the gangway to the floating dock. There was a significant downward angle to the gangway. It looked treacherous to cross. Undeterred, Brody jumped on the gangway and slid down to the floating dock. Not being so brave (or stupid), I sat down and slowly lowered myself to the floating dock. The whole time I was wondering if fishing was such a good idea.

 

Once on the skiff, we launched and headed to a small creek with several deep holes. Brody promised the cold weather would concentrate fish in the deeper holes. The ride to the creek was brutally cold. The whole time I was wondering if fishing was such a good idea.  

 

Upon arrival at the creek, I deployed the trolling motor and began exploring the deeper holes. 

 

The water was super clear and 46 degrees. I could see schools of trout in 10 feet of water. Typically, in cold water situations, trout become inactive. These trout did not get that memo. They were lethargic but eating. It was like fishing in a barrel. A Z-Man Finesse TRD on a 1/10-ounce NedLockZ jig was the most productive lure. A do nothing retrieve produced the most strike. This was good because I could not feel my fingers. 

 

The whole time I was thinking fishing today was a great idea!

 

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call 843-224-0099.