If you have thrown the cast net in the creeks over the past week or so you have noticed the amount of bait has decreased significantly. 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 declines 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 see the tip of a boat paddle more that 8 inches under the water in 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 dark colored grubs. Obviously we are not talking about freshwater here, but I have to believe some of the same scientific principles of light absorption in water hold true for salt and therefore I use this as a guide most of the time. As I said “most of the time.” Most recently I got into a school of trout and the water was crystal clear. The bite wa