Wow! This Spring is rocketing by! Water temps are bumping up. Seatrout are fat and laden with roe. One fisherman said a couple of friends boated 25 roe trout. The bite is on! Despite being an awesome fish going light is always a good thing. These fish are taking live shrimp as well as plastic with abandon. The sheepshead bite is on! Plenty of keeper sized sheepshead are showing up. Sometimes hooking these fish while float fishing can look silly with so many fish that are missed. Try tail hooking your shrimp or changing your hook set. An illustrious captain said you’ll eventually get them “dailed in”. And if you don’t it still fun even if the fish win most of the encounters. Seth owner of Sand Fly Tackle has lots of Bass Assasins packages that are sticky on the outside due to a water. Seth is selling these for a buck a pack. A great price for a great product. Lots of the best patterns for particularly nothing. Check it out! Good news for local redfish, the Waddell Fish Hatchery has secured funding to stay in operation for the near future. Hopefully this news will be permanent and the benefits to the coast will continue! Definitely this is an issue to be supportive of.
Despite strong winds fisherman have caught some quality redfish, seatrout, sheepshead and an occasional flounder. The whiting has been good! With warming temperature seatrout and redfish should fire off. Bait supplies have been good. Last week shrimp from Adams Bait Shop was a little smaller, very close to ideal if not ideal. Tide for this week are small. Anticipate the seatrout bite to be strongest when currents form. Some tide logs will list current speed. Those periods with stronger currents will likely produce the best seatrout bite.
Ample rain has turned the marsh grass a lush green and washing needed nutrients into the water. Lots of crabs in local waters. Rain should help the resource. Just chatted with another local fishermen he reported catching some good seatrout not ballistic but good!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan