When You Should Move From One Fishing Spot To Another
- By: Richard Thomas
- on
When is the right time to gather up your gear and move from one fishing spot to another?
What if you leave and then miss out on a bite?
90% of the fish are in 10% of the water and if you don’t get any bites in a short amount of time, it could be time to move.
Check out more down here!!
When You Should Move From One Fishing Spot To Another [VIDEO]
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Equipment Used:
- 30lb Stren Magnathin Monofilament
- 15lb Braided Line
- 40lb Ande Monofilament Leader
- Falcon MH 7’6 Coastal Clearwater Rod
- Quantum Smoke Inshore Reel
- Slam Shady 2.0
- Owner Weighted Twistlock Hook (1/8 oz.)
- Wealers Fishing Rod Wall Rack
There are four main things to think of and analyze before deciding to move fishing spots.
1. Bait
If you see bait, there is a very good chance predatory fish are nearby.
Along with bait, you may see other signs of life like birds circling overhead or crashing on bait below.
2. Water Level & Current
Water level and current are major determining factors for what makes a fishing spot good.
For example, if you are in a spot with oyster beds that are exposed, you may not get any hits until the water starts coming in and over those shells.
Fish will use the oyster beds and structure for cover and ambush points.
Take note of any similar structure in an area because sometimes it can be worth waiting an extra hour or two for water to fill around these areas.
If you also happen to see a film layer across the top of the surface of water, this indicates an increased presence of algae.
These areas with algae are often in spots with a slow, slack current that illustrates minimal water movement.
Something you will always need to successfully inshore fish is moving water with some sort of current.
3. Wind
With regards to wind, it comes into play if you are exposed to the wind or along a protected shoreline.
Some days, you have to fish both exposed and protected areas to find the fish.
The main factor with wind is finding the trends and maintaining flexibility to adhere to the trends.
4. Water Temperature
Water temperature has an important role in where fish will be holding given the time of year.
For example, during the cooler months, fish may start out in deeper water in the mornings and move into the shallows as the day progresses.
The exact temperature can give you hints where the fish may be but ultimately this comes down to the current trends.
You should monitor the trends in the days leading up to your planned fishing trip.
Pay attention to cold fronts, wind direction, sun patterns, and weather when making your choice of where to fish.
The algae previously mentioned that can build up on the surface will also pop up in warmer temperatures.
Algae does not typically survive long in colder water.
Conclusion
Moving fishing spots has its benefits because you cover more ground and it can help you ultimately find the fish you are looking for.
The most important thing to pay attention to is the current fishing trends and how the conditions and weather are affecting their behavior patterns and movement.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the four elements mentioned above and if you check off all the wrong boxes, then it is time to make a move and change locations!
If you have any more questions on moving locations, please ask me down in the comments below!
And if you know someone who wants to know when to move fishing spots, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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This is great information Richard. Since my fishing time is limited, I try not to stay too long when it’s unproductive in a particular spot. Your tips helped me decide when it’s time to move.
Glad it helped Alfred!
Great tips, Richard. I can relate to your reports as most of my fishing is done in the big-tide creek/marsh systems of SC south of Charleston. I just can’t relate to grass flats with mangroves.
Glad you liked it Brian!
When fishing in Jacksonville’s murky creek waters there are often high concentrations of active mullet. It seems that no redfish will bite anything we throw-live or artificial, thinking they are overfed on the abundant mullet. What is the right method, match mullet, fish the edges of mullet pods, what?
Brian, thats a common thing here in our waters, and many times redfish may be keyed in on a certain bait. I usually try to match the hatch, then change if I’m not having success.
Sometimes a shrimp profile may outperform if that is what they are eating for that day.
Also you can do things to make your lure more attractive or notices, such as adding a popping cork or use a lure with more vibration and flash. Many times the popping cork will work with the same lure you are already using when there is a lot of bait around.
Lastly, I’d focus more on where the redfish can ambush the bait rather than throw into the bait. So behind the down-current side of an oyster bar for example.
Thank you Richard for the information. I just took a survey from Salt Strong and in my comments I said I needed more help learning how to find good fishing spots and here it was. Thank you and I hope to see more.
Absolutely Jeff, glad it was of value to you!
Will be making many more like this!
If I’m in a spot that I’m catching a lot of throwbacks, I’ll move to an area to find larger fish. Or if I’m in an area that I’m catching a lot of catfish, I’ll move to an area looking for a targeted specie.
Good tips and informative. Thanks, Richard.
Thanks Rob, glad you liked it!
Nice tips Richard,
Good to see you reporting from a boat this time! 😊 What length and draft?
Thanks Rick!
So its a hybrid flats boat and bay boat- 18’6ft and drafts about 10-11 inches. Does well in chop and can get pretty shallow.
Hey Richard – you mentioned you were on the east coast. Many videos and tips that work on the west (Gulf) coast aren’t as applicable on this side (examples: hard pressed to find any grass flats over here and there’s a MAJOR difference in weight sizes to use because of major differences in current flow). Would you mind sharing where you were for this video? Still working on finding areas on the east coast of Florida and it’s helpful for me to find out where SaltStrong members are choosing to go. Then I look at Google maps to see WHY you selected the spots and go look for similar setups for our very different conditions over here.
Thanks for these tips. Moving has been a tough decision and this gives us good guidance about what to consider. Haven’t seen anything like it before. Looking forward to your reply.
Hey Todd, so I am over here fishing in Northeast Florida around Jacksonville and I fish along the Georgia coast as well up to Savannah quite a bit. I will likely be in South Carolina sometime soon as well.
We don’t really have grass flats, mostly due to our high current flows, we can often get a 5ft – 8ft tide swing depending on where you are in the SouthEast.
We fish more tidal creeks, edges of bays that have a grass lines with oysters and mudflats. Also some of the bigger rivers as well, which typically have deepwater docks that are great to fish as well.
I will try and do some spot dissections over here in my area soon that may help explain why we are where we are.
Over here its all about the tides!
Here are a few really good links with maps on them that we have done recently!
https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tip/fishing-marshes-in-a-bay-boat-spot-dissection-nc/
IDEAL INSHORE SPOTS DURING COLD WEATHER PERIODS [SPOT DISSECTION – KIAWAH ISLAND, SC]
https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tip/high-tide-spot-selection/
Todd, if you are around Jax, kayak fish and want to connect to fish, email me brian.higgins4@gmail.com
Nice red Richard! Good video. Those are good tips especially when it comes to bait. I’ve fished some really good looking areas but then realize I haven’t seen any bait at all. Time to move on!
Thanks Mario, you gotta have bait!!
I used to commit way too long in a barren unproductive area. If the area doesn’t turn out as planned, it’s time to move on. The only time I’ll stay is if the predators are there and I’m trying to figure out the bite.
Absolutely, I used to do the same. It’s a common thing to do when you have caught fish in an area previously as well.