- May 4, 2024
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I was always told that the month of March was to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.
March has passed and now it’s the middle of April, and we have yet to see that lamb.
The continuing winds have been making the fishing difficult both offshore and inshore.
On Monday, I was on the Intracoastal Waterway and with the south wind blowing, we had whitecaps on the water. Conditions like that make it difficult to try to fish while using a trolling motor. All you can do is to look for places to get out of the wind. They might not be the places you want to fish, but you have to try and make due with what you have. It still beats sitting at home in front of the boob tube. And, who knows, maybe you’ll discover a new hot spot to fish. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t complain too much about the wind because when it does stop, you know it’s going to get hot and humid.
My favorite times to fish this time of year are early morning around sunrise or late evening around dusk. This is when you usually find the calmest conditions. I like to start the day by throwing a topwater plug and as the day wears on, switch to deep-diving plugs or live bait such as shrimp. Then, I’ll switch back to topwater as the sun starts to set.
Fishing in the Intracoastal Waterway has been on the slow side lately mainly because of the wind, so the live shrimp is your best bet.
You must remember that every fish out there eats live shrimp. In my opinion, it’s the best all-around live bait for catching a variety of fish. It’s been catching just about all the species of fish that are available to us right now, including jacks, ladyfish, redfish, mangrove snapper, trout and the occasional snook.
Some of you may have read this before, but here is my live shrimp setup: A No. 1 owner all-purpose hook attached by a snell knot to an 18-inch leader of 30-pound test fluorocarbon, which is then tied with a triple surgeon’s knot to 10-pound test braided line. About 6 inches up from the hook, I place a BB-sized split shot on the leader. That’s all it is.
Now cast it up current and let it drift down current, all the while keeping slack out of the line. Hopefully this will also work for you. It’s my go-to rig when I have clients out fishing.
