Today I took out Madison from Greenville for some speck fishing lessons – we’ve spent a couple of weeks trying to get our schedules too align and after one weather related cancellation we finally made it happen.
It was beautiful december morning – flat calm with a glassy swell and in the 70s. A december day in the 70s with water temps reading 58-60 degrees – wow! Well, that trout didn’t seem to like the hto weather all that much…but at least with the water temps hovering the high 50s, we should have some good days of speck fishing left.
We motored to some of my favorite holes and started jigging away – the bite was slow and we managed several small 12-15″ specks on grubs before we decided to go the live bait route. Out came the live shrimp – the first cast produced a nice trout but that action did not last. The shrimp went quickly and within minutes, the drag was singing. Only problem is that they weren’t specks taking our shrimp. Madison caught big tautog after tautog, with small sheepshead mixed in. Honestly, i’ve not really seen togs like that – usually you have to work for them and they’re small at that! The largest was 4-5lbs and 22″. While they weren’t out targeted species – togs are some good eats! While the specks made it back to fight another day, Madison kept four togs for dinner…and for those of you who haven’t seen a tog in person, they’re a sight – quite an ugly fish with huge teeth and giant lips.
After we ran out of shrimp, we tried a few more speck holes with no luck – i think the summer like weather has them all confused. This incoming cold front should definitely turn on the bite – there is still good speck fishing (as well as tautog!) fishing to be had.
Look at the mouth on this guy!! Pucker up! Bertha wants a kiss!
