When I got home the other night from work I had planned on making a quick run down the creek before dark to see if I could get on some Trout. Unfortunately the rain started to fall while I was sitting in traffic on the way to the house. Since fishing was on the brain I decided to hang out in the garage when I got home and organize my tackle for the fall and winter trout bite. As I sorted though the tackle I made sure I had a good selection of jig heads and grubs for the upcoming winter. As winter sets in and water temperatures drop most bait moves out of the creeks and into warmer deeper water making it harder to catch. With trout schooling and reds still all over the flats and shell beds the need for an alternative bait becomes quite apparent.
I cannot think of a more versatile or more productive bait for trout and bass in the winter than the lowly grub. These days grubs are available in literally thousands of different colors, shapes, flavors, and there are multiple different ways to rig and fish them.
Color selection for grubs is mostly dependent upon water turbidity or clarity. Generally the water appears darker or less clear in the summer and early fall primarily due to the abundance of plankton and algae supported by the warmer water temperatures. As the water temperature drops with the onset of late fall and early winter plankton and algae populations diminish and water clarity increases. The other primary factors that govern water clarity include tides and wind conditions, spring or unusually high tides will often stir up mud in the marsh grass and therefore decrease water clarity and of course high winds produce waves, which in turn stir up mud. I usually determine water quality with a quick visibility check. If I can my outboard motor prop under the water while in the inshore waters of Charleston, then I consider the water to be clear. Now here is where it gets a little tricky, the expert freshwater fisherman say when the water is clear use a bright colored grub and when the water is murky use da