Crossroads

Wading with lures? Freelining live croakers? Shrimp under popping corks? Whatever your favorite style of coastal fishing might be, this is a time of year when they are all working at their peak. Spring marks the time when fish take advantage of the abundance of food flowing into the bays with the spring tides. Shrimp, mullet, menhaden…the buffet line has many choices. Being successful catching fish means offering what they want to eat, and right now they want a little bit of everything.

Life seems to be taking a step in the direction of normalcy, and five days of fishing this last week definitely felt more normal. Two days of wading produced some great trout and a few reds, with a bonus flounder mixed in. Knee deep sand and grass with lots of bait was best, and the fish wanted top waters early and soft dines and Down South Chicken of the C later in the day. Friday was the first batch of croakers of the season, and a couple stops was all it took to put together a nice box of trout. Saturday saw the passage of a front, and heavy winds and dirty water made shrimp and popping corks the best option for the weekend. A couple days of mixed boxes of reds, trout, and drum with several oversized reds released made for a lot of fun. The fishing has been consistently good throughout the spring, and just keeps getting better. Bait stands are back open for business, hotels and boat ramps are reopening, and its time to get out and do some fishing.