Outdoors

Captain's Corner

By ROBERT MCCUE
Published January 16, 2008

Above-average temperatures experienced during a moderate La Nina winter aren't the best conditions for fishing the winter spawning sheepshead. These porgies can seemingly be found on any barnacle-encrusted structure when it's cold, only to vanish on extended warming trends. Fortunately, water temperatures plummeted after last week's blast of Canadian air that initiated a good push of fish inshore.

Bait: Shrimp are probably the most popular and obtainable, but rarely will a fresh parchment worm be outproduced. Parchment (tubeworms) are found on the mud flats off several bay area causeways and bridge embankments. Walking the flats at low tide with a clam rake in hand is about the only way to acquire the worms fresh.

Tips: Sheepshead are nibblers and bait stealers. To avoid being robbed, run your line through an egg sinker just heavy enough to reach the bottom. Attach the line to a small swivel that will hold the weight above the leader. Finally, attach a 2-foot, 20-pound fluorocarbon leader to a No. 1 circle hook. While fishing, slowly lift your rod tip. At the slightest movement or hesitation in the line and without jerking, reel down tight to set the hook.

[Last modified January 15, 2008, 23:03:13]