I have been on the water 4 out of the last 5 days and had awesome results for reds and trout but can’t figure this one out. I went with a buddy of mine from Laurens today, and the bite was very tough. We fished from sun up to sun down and ended up with a limit of trout and reds but 70% of the fish today were hooked in the BOTTOM jaw or gills(turned bait upside down) as opposed to top jaw/head as in days past. All fish were caught on jigs/flutter hooks with a variety of plastics, but there were lots of swings and misses. How in the world does this happen? We weren’t dead-sticking, so how does the hook get turned downward when you are hopping the bait across the bottom?
My theory…when fish are active they will react to a bait that is in their general vicinity and chase it down causing the fish to take the bait from the side or back. The hook is up in relation to the fish.
When fish are not feeding actively they will not chase a bait, but only react when it is right in front of them. If the bait is being worked along the bottom and towards the fish, the fish needs to point itself down to pick up the bait. This would cause the hook to point down in relation to the fish.
Iain Pelto
Sea Hunt Triton 160 w/ 90 ETEC “JB3”
Native Manta Ray 14
well put hairball
“Fish On”