Thread: Tackle for Winter Fishing?

Hello All - I will be there in a week and have started gathering up my fishing gear. I am hoping you can give some advice on what to throw in my tackle bag. We will not have a boat and will be fishing from the shore/pier/surf/pass.

I have plenty of the standard terminal tackle like pyramid sinkers, barrel sinkers, swivels, split shot, floats, etc. But are there any lures or soft plastics that I should be sure to bring? I have a large selection of the typical Midwest Freshwater lures for bass, walleye, trout, pike, etc and am looking at it thinking there must be something here that would be good to bring along. For winter time fishing in Gulf Shores is there any need for rapala style stickbaits, crankbaits, topwaters, swimbaits, soft plastics, jigs, etc? Anything specific you would recommend?

Thanks for the help!

Slow going with lures in wintertime.
Spoons and swimbaits (Zoom Fluke) work for bluefish and occasional redfish.
Still may be some pompano available on jigs.

Leave all your artificial lures at home this time of year. Tie on a simple Carolina rig (aka fish finder rig) with just enough weight to stay in contact with the bottom, (I'd start with 1/2 oz). 8 - 10 Lb. line. Small #4 or #6 kahle hook. Fresh dead shrimp, peeled and cut onto thumbnail size pieces. I think your best bet for success would be fishing the surf for whiting right now either from the beach or pier. Check the reports section on this forum when you get here to find out what else may be biting.

Originally Posted by TUCK

Leave all your artificial lures at home this time of year.

Thank you for the help! Gotta admit, It will not be easy for me to go on a fishing trip without carrying a bunch of extra lures in my bag haha. Looks like I will be downsizing to a few fluke style swimbaits, some spoons, and plenty of Carolina Rigs.

I'll second what Tuck said. You aren't going to find many fish that will bite lures in the winter, and even if you do it likely won't be worth the effort you have to put out. Lay your bets on bait---fresh dead shrimp, not frozen, live shrimp, cut mullet for reds and if you really want to be in the elite, get a ghost shrimp sucker and prospect for the ghosties (best bait of all). Fish the surf and don't forget that most whiting will be closer to the beach that you might think. Best luck to you.

For fresh dead shrimp I go to Hooked Up Bait and Tackle in Gulf Shores. You also owe it to yourself to visit J&M Tackle in Orange Beach.

All very good points. And also,…keep in mind that whiting have fairly small mouths. Size hooks and bait presentations on the smallish side.

I recently reworked my tackle box for the winter. I took out all of the lures because I never fish with them in winter. This time of year, my attention is on whiting and sheepshead. That's it. If I catch a pompano or two or a black drum or two, it will be a bonus in pursuit of the targeted species. In my tackle box, I have trebles in #10 and #8 for sheepshead and various small j-hooks and owner mutu circle hooks for whiting. I keep 10# and 12# fluorocarbon leader for whiting and mostly 16# mono leader for sheepshead. I sometimes use 20# because sheepshead aren't especially leader shy. I keep a fillet knife, pliers, scissors, baggies, egg sinkers (from 1/8 oz to 1 oz), corresponding-sized swivels and magic thread. I have a package of Fishbites and some Fish Gum. That's about it. I typically keep about three rods on my cart.