When I was a kid you count on a good western movie coming on television sometime during the weekend. There was always the classic scene where the good guys are riding through a quiet mountain pass, when suddenly the bad guys pop up from behind every rock, nook and cranny available. Stating the obvious, one of the good guys always shouted, “ambush”! Fall and winter trout are very much like the bad guys. They will wait for unsuspecting bait to swim around a blind corner or pass over a ledge and they attack.
Fishing with a float has been a popular technique for catching trout for as long as I can remember. The beauty of using a float is that a float can be fished parallel to the bank and can follow the natural flow of the water, right into all of those great ambush points. In the past, most anglers used live bait when float fishing, but with the innovation of life-like artificial lures, more and more anglers are using artificial baits under corks. Lures such as DOA’s shrimp, Berkely Gulp Shrimp and others have proven to be just as effective as live bait without the hassle of keeping bait alive and healthy. Corks have also evolved to accommodate artificial lures with the addition of rattles and poppers to add another stimulus to attract a strike.
I will be the first to say that fishing a cork is not my favorite way to fish. I prefer casting lures and really more active fishing. I will say that if this is the type of way you prefer to fish, a cork can be a great way to cover large areas and locating fish, then you can switch over to whatever lure you prefer, or you may find that it is hard to put the cork down once you are catching fish, which has also happened to me. There is no better time of the year to experiment with float fishing, than right now. The fish are very aggressive with colder temperatures on the way so add a float and some quality artificial baits to your arsenal just in case that old chunk and retrieve a grub is not working for you.
Andy Pickett,
Charlesto