They sit on bottom and dart from 1 to 6 feet before landing abruptly back on bottom. Their movement almost resembles a hop more than a swimming fish. They have almost no tail action and most of their movement appears to be propelled by their oversized pectoral fins.
Gobies seem to show up nearshore in numbers as soon as the water temperatures reach the mid-40ºF range, which here on Lake Michigan occurs around mid-April. Their numbers grow as the nearshore waters warm, and start to fall off around October. During the winter months they move deeper offshore, although they also can be found in warm-water areas such as power plant discharges.
Location
I came across this pattern while smallmouth fishing. When we get onshore winds in the summer months, the water warms and the trout and salmon move offshore. I enjoyed good smallmouth action until a couple days of westerly wind brought in a cold upwelling. Smallmouths evacuated, but browns stayed in the deep areas of harbors even when water temps got to 65ºF or 66ºF, likely because they can tolerate a bit higher temperatures than the other salmonids. Only when the water temperatures exceeded 66ºF did browns disappear. Despite the plentiful forage, there comes a time when they can’t handle it.
The best spots to find congregating brown trout are where gobies are most plentiful. These are similar to the spots where you’d find goby-eating smallmouths, such as nearshore or shoreline spots, but it’s not an offshore bite. Check the base of seawalls, the deep edges of rubble breakwalls, or shallow reef or rockpiles. In most cases, you won’t find action till you work within 15 feet of the structure.
Some spots require a boat but most can be fished from shore. When browns are feeding along the deep edge of a harbor seawall, you can fish it more effectively from shore. Don’t waste time making long casts. Work baits close to shoreline structure. If possible, make casts tight and parallel to the breakwall or seawall.
A boat may be necessary to explore a harbor rockpile or nearshore reef. Start before sunrise by checking the top of the reef, working baits down the slope. But as soon as the sun comes up, focus your attention on the deepest edge or base of the rockpile.
Presentation
Many of the goby imitations used for smallmouths double for browns. From watching gobies, I saw that browns feeding on them never ventured far from the bottom. Despite great goby-colored crankbaits, they just didn’t stay deep long enough on a cast to be effective. Jigs and the Carolina rig are without a doubt the most efficient presentations.
Soft-plastic goby imitators rigged on a 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jighead work well. Zoom’s Fluke in watermelon-pepper and Lunker City’s 4-inch Fin-S Fish in watermelon seed and golden shiner also are excellent choices. On these fluke-type baits, rig them sideways or “Stange style,” to get a better glide. Berkley’s new Gulp! Goby is another one to experiment with on jigheads.
