Doc on December Fishing

Wherever in the country you might be, it's a safe bet you know what to expect out of December - one blustery frontal system after another - wind, rain - maybe even sleet or snow. Well, maybe we should just make that wind, rain and sleet. Either way, you get the picture. We will either be in the midst of a cold-front or one will have just passed us or we'll be bracing for the next one. For the most part, December is not one of the prettier months of the year for Mississippi Gulf Coast fishermen.

If you are a fly fisherman, the situation is not nearly so bleak. The relatively poor weather conditions make this an ideal time for tying flies and pondering all the fish that you will catch with them once spring returns. Pity those poor conventional or spin fishermen who have no such alternative.

Spin fishermen, bait-casters, and even fly fishermen can, of course, catch fish during the coming month. From luck to clothing though, a successful fishing trip this month will require just a little more of everything.

I still will venture out along the front beaches during the early part of the month, and I'll even manage to catch a few nice fish on a 52-M-Mirrolure out of the depths of the harbor, only minutes from home. The harbor trout that I'll catch in December will be nice ones too. They always are. Unfortunately though, they are also few and far between. Most of the fish will, by month's end, have hightailed it to even deeper waters. Places like Gulfport Harbor where depths range to 30 feet or so will become hotspots for trout fishermen from now until spring because it is here where the fish will find temperatures to their liking.

The front beach fisherman's loss is the bay and backwater fisherman's gain. There are plenty of deep-water overwintering grounds in the dark waters of the bays and bayous, and they will be heavily laden with sluggish fish. Sluggish fish require a slow-moving bait to prod them into striking; and a painfully slow and deliberate retrieve is the only way to entice fish this time of year. Plastic jigs - Touts, Cocahoe Minnows, Salty Dogs, and the like - are good choices for fishing during the colder months; and bumping such baits off the bottom is perhaps the best way to fish them. A heavier gold or silver spoon, like the venerable Mr. Champ, is also a good choice for hooking up with deep-lying fish during the month of December. The same bottom-bumping technique that works well with jigs also is effective when fishing a spoon. Both of these baits are excellent choices for catching bottom-hugging, overwintering yellowmouths, but they will also prove effective with white trout, black drum, red drum, flounder, ground mullet, and other nearshore overwintering species. Sweetening the bait by tipping it with a small piece of shrimp, squid, cut-bait or other natural bait or by applying some fish attractant spray will oftentime improve your chances of success with these species.

Of course, there is a legion of anglers who just dispense with the artificial hardware altogether and stick to using only the real thing. Purists of a sort too, they will hardly consider fishing with anything but natural bait. Live shrimp, if you can find them, are, of course, top choice among natural bait fishermen. Live cocahoe minnows, as the Cajuns call them, or bull minnows, as they're locally known, are also a good choice for catching winter trout. Hooked through the lips, a live bull minnow makes an excellent trolling bait. Whether it is actually more effective than a properly selected hard-plastic bait or soft-plastic jig is another story.

Offshore action for snapper and other reef-fish species is traditionally good in December, but weather conditions generally make an offshore trip a risky proposition this time of year. Similarly, Chandeleur fishing can be quite exceptional in December and January; but the weather can make that 30-mile jaunt a dangerous adventure as well. In fact, anytime a fisherman decides to head out into the Sound or beyond, it is important to check the marine weather forecast. It is especially important this time of year. What may be a mere inconvenience during the summer months can become a matter of life or death when the water temperature drops into the sixties and the wind is blowing six to eight-foot swells into the Gulf. Know what to expect out of the weather before leaving the dock...