Spotties

[dniss]

I fish South Bay a lot. For a long time I fished exclusively ghost shrimp on a drop shot or a cheapass crayfish plastics rigged similarly for spotties and the occasional bonefish or hali. Lately I've been deadsticking some dessicated old chunks of market shrimp I found buried in my freezer while tossing BH sexy smelt or bay smelt swimbaits in red or black 1/4 or 3/8 oz heads (the south end is very shallow outside the boat channels). I seem to get more of the big spawning spotties on the lure than bait, using a slow, irregular retrieve. Subtle pickups, especially since I went back to mono. Sometimes you just need to relax when you feel a nibble, reel acouple cranks, rest again, repeat. This has changed from when I used the crayfish, which they'd often hammer violently. And once in awhile the deadsticked shrimp gets picked up by a bone. Some scent is also a big help. I've used Hot Sauce, Unibutter, and lately ProCure krill, which they seem to like. Gulp lures tended to end in more guthooked fish, so I quit. Hope this helps, tight lines.