"Birds Open Door to Fall Action of Speckled Trout"
Victoria Advocate Sunday, October 16,1988
Partial clipping of complete article

Seadrift - Gary Gray guided his 19-foot Sea Dart into Hynes Bay west of Seadrift as the sun began peaking over the horizon.

He kept constant watch in all directions for any size flock of seagulls that would open the door to the type of fall action on speckled trout he had been encountering for nearly a week.

Gary, who operates Bay Rat Guide Service out of Seadrift, spotted a group of birds off to the right. Some hovered over the surface while others zeroed in on shrimp being pursued by specks.

Gary eased back on the throttle and slowly moved closer to the birds, advising that is was time to tempt the specks with the double worm tails rigged under a 3-inch popping cork.

With the 115-hp engine motionless the rig drifting in 2 feet of water, it was only moments later when we learned what was in store for us on the morning trip.

Victorian Cleve Powell watched the cork on his line disappear and line started peeling off his reel. In this case, Gary said he had located some larger specks or gafftop which are found under the birds.

After turning his catch and tiring it Powell brought the fish to the surface. It turned out to be one of at least 15 gafftop in the 4 to 6 pound range that hit the artificial lures.

Jason Reese, also of Victoria, standing on the bow snapped the popping cork a couple of times before it submerged. He jerked the rod, setting the hook.

During the retrieve, the rod bent forward, signaling another strike. The rod stayed at an angle as one speck surfaced then a second.

The double catch was among several for the morning, although most of the specks measured under the 14-inch minimum limit.

There were a few times when a double catch produced two keeper sized specks and gafftop-trout combination.

By early afternoon when the south wind increased 35 specks and eight gafftop had been boxed.

"Right now is one of the best time to fish for trout," said Gary. "Working the birds is the easiest way there is to find the fish. It's the best time for youngsters to fish. It's not hard to catch them.

"We mainly follow the birds and work around them. Fall fishing is on course with past years. The same month and the same type of artificial lures.

"Right now, the white shrimp are near freshwater and once they move out the fish will go with them. They will follow the shrimp out of the bay. The birds work year-round but this is the best time of the year.

Gary says he basically "looks for the birds and then starts drifting. Even if they're sitting on the water, that's a good place to start. The fish are going deep if the birds are sitting and then they resurface.

"This type of fishing will continue until the strong cold fronts hit around December  and then the trout go deep and that's when we go to the Army Hole."

Gary said he watches for two types of birds - liar birds and the trout birds. "The big seagulls dive into the water," he said, " We got into liar birds on our trips and hit the gafftop. When the birds skim the water, there's gafftop in them.

"When they sit or hover, that's when there's something there. Sometimes you get fooled. You generally find gafftop under the birds and it's not unusual  for them to still be in the bays. You can catch plenty of them in shallow water."

Gary pointed out that when a speck hits the lure it "stays near the surface. When the fish goes deep, it's either a good trout or gafftop. When it pulls to the bottom, it's a gafftop or hardhead.

We'll average 20 to 25 fish per day, even when the birds aren't working. We catch the specks in the schools all the time. Most of the time the birds aren't working them.

Gary says he prefers to stay with the artificial lures when working the birds because "when you run into school of fish and the action starts, you don't have much time to be putting live shrimp on the hook.

"You have to change a plastic worm or shrimp tail at times but not like live bait. Most of the time you catch bigger fish without the cork but under the birds it's hard to tell what size your into.

I've had more luck using a cork. It suspends the lure, especially in the murky water, The trout come to the surface and feed on the shrimp. You pop the cork, let it sit a few seconds and pop again. The slower you work the bigger the fish.

"The popping sounds like shrimp splashing and trout hitting the water.