Tight lines:Captain's Choice

Captain Julian "Hoppy" Hopkins offers pro tips

As I sit here yearning for warmer weather and higher water temperatures, my mind drifts back to my last successful trout fishing excursion.

It was mid-January, one day ahead of a forecasted brutal cold front. Talk on the local online fishing forums focused on possible trout kills, perhaps as bad as the winter of 1999-2000.

Thinking it would be my last trout hoorah of the winter season, I ventured out and proceeded to easily catch 30 trout and missed that many more. All were taken on a typical winter trout pattern: soft plastics bumped slowly and erratically across a good, deep, live bottom.

The thing I recall being different about that day was how soft the bite was. Of the 30 trout I caught, none aggressively bit my grub. Every fish came either while the grub was sitting on the bottom or when I moved it and found a resistance which turned out to be a fish. The take was so soft I never even felt it.

What that subtle bite told me was even though I had a great trip, the aggressive winter bite was about to end.

Now, a little more than a month later, I haven't caught a trout since! Sure, there have been some sporadic catches here and there by some anglers, but we've seen little regularity or predictability.

Now, as we ease into spring, we're all looking forward to a renewed trout bite. Depending on water temperatures and weather patterns, the aggressive spring bite should begin in March and last through May, possibly even into June.

Typically, I find my best catches during the spring trout bite occur in March and April, while my largest trout of the yearwill come in early May. As the waters warm, the trout will begin to move away from the deeper waters and up to their more normal feeding haunts.

I've had some fantastic days of trout fishing in the early spring. While the catch numbers don't usually reach those of the fall, the numbers can still be good, and the trout are often bigger than those caught in the fall.

Here's how I prospect and fish for springtime trout:

The live-bait plan

I'm a very one-dimensional and simplistic live-bait fisherman, especially when it comes to spring trout fishing.

I fish live bait under a float. Period.

In my mind, fishing live bait under a float is loaded with advantages. First of all, it allows me to present my bait wherever I want in the water column. This is extremely important, especially when prospecting and trying to figure out the pattern for one particular area, day, and tide.

Sure, we all have spots where we know to set the bait 2 feet deep, cast next to that pole, piling, or point, and be ready as it drifts past.

Unfortunately, I only have a couple of those particularly reliable spots, so I have to prospect to figure out the fish. Float fishing allows me to cover a lot of territory and find fish.

Probably just as importantly, float fishing lets me take the bait to the fish instead of depending on the fish to find the bait as it sits on the bottom.

Lastly, as a charter captain and a dad, I frequently have kids and novice anglers on board. Float fishing not only keeps the bait in the strike zone, but also helps to avoid snags such as oysters.

And of course, lest I forget to mention what angler doesn't get a charge watching that cork go ripping under the water!

The best springtime baits

My absolute favorite live baits for spring trout are "peanut" or juvenile menhaden.

Each spring I always catch my biggest trout on them.

But beware - peanut menhaden have good and bad points.

On the upside, trout and reds cannot pass them by. And when you catch peanuts, you typically get a big net full.

On the downside, peanut menhaden can be hard to find. They're also hard to keep alive, so you'll need a good live-well with a high-speed pickup that will pump water while running.Peanut menhaden also typically only last two to three casts before they, so to speak, expire. I hook these small menhaden through the nostrils or a bit behind the nostrils.

Another of my all-time favorite baits are mud minnows. They are readily available, extremely hardy, and the trout just love them. I'm never disappointed when I have a well full of hardy mud minnows. I hook them through the bottom lip upward through the top lip.

Finger mullet, whenever you can find them early in the season, also are an incredibly good trout bait.

My biggest issue with finger mullet is how tough it can be to consistently find the size I like early during the spring trout bite. I generally look for ones not much larger than a big mud minnow.

Hook these small finger mullet the same way you would a mud minnow.

Live bait tackle

My style of float fishing doesn't depend on rattles and gurgles. While rattle and chugger floats are wonderful trout fishing tools, these noisy floats seem to work better during the fall trout bite, when shrimp are a main part of a trout's forage. In the spring, all minnowtype baits seem to produce better and bigger fish for me.

The floats I use are the simple, inexpensive, weighted clip-on style. Not only do I like the cost, but the ability to simply slide the float up or down to adjust the depth is invaluable.

For live bait, I use almost exclusively a No. 1 Eagle Claw Bronze J-hook. I know many anglers prefer to use circle hooks, but I stick with J-style hooks for live-bait trout fishing. Rarely do I gut-hook a trout, and I feel I get a better hook-set than with circle hooks. Moreover, it's difficult to convince a fisherman holding a rod to not set the hook when a float goes down!

These small hooks also don't hinder or tire bait as much as a larger hook will. In terms of weights, I typically use one or two split-shots 4 to 6 inches above the hook.

The decision to use one or two depends on the size of the bait and the desired depth to be fished. A good rule of thumb is to always use the absolute lightest weight possible. More weight impedes the natural movement of the bait.

Don't forget the artificials!

I'm fortunate to be friends with some of the best soft-plastic fishermen in our area. These guys just don't fish with live bait at all. When you're that committed to artificials, you become pretty darn good at it. These fellows catch trout year-round on artificials and do very well from early to late spring.

In general, I've found that the same softplastic baits that catch trout in the fall and winter will produce during the spring.

I often use grubs to prospect to find fish for the simple reason that I can cover a lot of territory fast with them.

If the artificial bite slows or becomes inconsistent, I'll switch to live bait and continue the catch.

My two favorite grubs are the 4-inch paddletail and 3-inch rat-tail, both by Saltwater Assassin. The 3-inch rat-tails aren't terribly popular, but they do a great job of imitating a glass minnow, on which trout feed heavily.

While these are the particular brand I use, by no means are they the only brand that do a great job catching trout.

As far as grub colors and jig heads go, everyone has their favorites. Honestly, they will all catch fish.

As the trout become more aggressive and begin to feed in shallower water in the spring, top-water action can be tremendous. Top-water trout fishing can be fast, furious and exciting.

While the bite more often than not is confined to dawn and dusk, on cloudy days it can go on for hours.

My "Go To" top-water baits are Zara Spook Juniors, using the traditional "walk-the-dog" retrieve. My style of retrieve is a bit erratic and probably faster than most use. My good friend Corey Hume uses a baitcaster and has the slowest, sweetest walk-the-dog retrieve imaginable, while mine seems to be done by someone with arm spasms! That said, we typically catch equal numbers when we fish together.

There is one other benefit to top-water trout action - some of my biggest trout each year are caught on top-water plugs.

Another popular type of trout lures are what I call "twitch baits," which are suspending, hard lures such as MirroLures. Honestly, I rarely use them, but again, my fishing buddy Corey is deadly with them. He typically switches to a twitch bait as soon as the top-water bite has slowed. I have seen him nail some huge springtime trout on twitch baits, fishing the exact same water where a top-water bite has just turned off. As a matter of fact, Corey led the Trident Tourney for a good part of last year with a 6-pound trout caught on a twitch bait in early spring!

Springtime fly-fishing

Fly-fishing can be deadly on trout almost year round, and when they begin to feed again in the spring, trout will readily take a fly.

I'm fortunate to know two of the area's best trout-fly fishermen, "Fast Eddie" Robbins and Capt. Dave Eury. These are the guys that are responsible for my interest in flyfishing, and they've helped me learn some of the finer points of catching trout on the fly in our area.

We fish the fly in the same areas that we fish with bait and soft plastics.

A typical trout fly is a big, gaudy Clouser Minnow, with lead eyes. I'll present this type of fly anywhere from marsh edges to 10-foot-deep holes.

If you're a fly-fishing enthusiast, spend some time with the fly in your favorite trout spots.

You won't be disappointed.

: Did I mention my friend "Fast Eddie" Robbins won the Trident Tournament in 2008 in the Trout on Fly Rod Division last year with a 5.9-pound trout caught on a top-water popper in the spring?

Where to find trout in March

In the spring, my best success comes from fishing areas with deep water and structure nearby. Some of the creeks with good numbers of spring trout tend to be deeper waterways, or creeks with deeper water nearby.

Points, creek mouths, and structures immediately adjacent to ocean inlets will hold lots of good-sized fish in the spring.

And let's don't forget the jetties. Since I fish from a flats-style skiff, I rarely fish the jetties for trout anymore. But back in the day, we used to fish along the jetties with live bait on an adjustable float rig and do very well in the spring.

Each year I hear some of the largest trout of the year come from the jetties!

Capt. Julian "Hoppy" Hopkins of Dirty Blonde Charters specializes in inshore fishing out of Charleston. He can be reached at 843-864-3303 or jfh3rd@comcast.net . For more information, visit www.dirtyblondecharters.com .

EDITOR'S NOTE: This month, we're happy to introduce a new feature called "Captain's Choice," in which Lowcountry charter captains will give readers their best recommendations for fishing in each particular month. First up is Capt. Julian "Hoppy" Hopkins, shown above with a fat springtime trout caught on a Zara Spook. Hoppy says inshore anglers should take advantage of the resurgence of the trout bite in March. Charter captains interested in sharing their own "Captain's Choice" can contact Editor Matt Winter at 843-937-5568 or matt@tidelinemagazine.com .