Warming water temperatures and an abundance of baitfish showing up has the flats alive and well. The pinfish have made their way back into the shallows where they've taken up residence on grass and sand flats. Mullet work in big schools along the shoreline milling around on the bottom, a perfect target for a variety of gamefish. Speckled trout and redfish partol around the mullet schools, eagerly searching out any shrimp, crabs, or baitfish that are flushed out by the mullet doing their thing. During times of high water you can find small groups of redfish patroling right up along the shoreline where they become great targets for spot and stalk sightfishing. Once the tide drops out you can cruise around and throw soft plastics in slightly deeper potholes where the speckled trout tend to congregate and wait for the water to come back up.
A strong sheepshead bite continues in the inlet along the jetties and other submerged structures. I find the best action is on the change in tide when the water slows down and changes direction. Right at slack tide you can often see the sheepshead come up from out of the bottom the rocks and start suspending over the top of them. At this point you can throw a split shot with a shrimp or fiddler crab and have solid chances of getting into a good bite window while reducing your chances at getting hung in the rocks. A small #2 VMC circle hook will help get the finicky feeders hooked up when they do bite.
In the troughs along the beaches, a wide variety of fish are being caught right now. Spanish mackerel, pompano, big jacks, and redfish, just to name a few. Each of those have their own appeal and tactics which best get them to the boat. For spanish mackerel, you can either troll small spoons or mackerel rigs behind the boat to locate fish, or if the fish are feeding on the surface you can run from school to school and cast plugs or jigs into the feeding fish. Both techniques offer a high level of success although I think casting to them is slightly more fun.
If pompano is your target then you want to focus your efforts on working the surf and pockets along the beach where the water is turbulant and stirring up sand fleas, crabs, and shrimp. In the corners of the jetties where the rocks meet the beach is another good area to look for pompano. Natural baits work well fished from shore on a 2 hook rig but one of the most productive and exciting ways to catch them is to use small hair or metal jigs fished along the bottom. They may be a smaller fish but they fight hard and taste delicious.
Mangrove snappers, a favorite of mine for their ease of aquiring and their tastiness on a taco, have started showing up in all the regular places they will hang out during the spring. Mixed in along the jetties, bridge pilings, sea walls, docks, and many other shallow water submerged structures, mangroves offer a fun fight on light tackle with little specialized gear needed. A flatlined, or lightly weighted shrimp or baitfish is the perfect offering for a hungry mangrove.
As always, if you have additional questions about what's biting, how to catch them, or you would like to book a trip, I encourage you to give me a call or shoot me an email.
Capt. Nathan Chennaux
(850) 258-7235
jdgafinshoreangler@gmail.com
