By Jimmy Tomazinis
mail@floridanewsline.com
Happy April everybody! We’ve got a lot to look forward to this month as our seasonal saltwater species really start to pile into our area. If you’re not done with your freshwater exploits this is probably the last month you want to brave confined areas like our local creeks especially on the weekends. Some specks might still be spawning, but most will be transitioning back out to the river or deep water havens in the creeks. Bass will mostly be done as well and making similar travel plans, except replace deep water with shallow heavy cover areas. They’ll all be hungry though, so that’s a plus. The creeks will still be absolutely gorgeous with a flush of green on all the trees so if we get a nice cool day, I’d take advantage of it.
I’m really excited to talk about saltwater fish this month. April is usually the height of the spring transition when waters warm to 70 degrees and it will likely be the last time we’ll see that temperature until the fall. The surf will be teaming with pompano and whiting as they make their migrations north and the river will be filling up with everything from tarpon to croakers.
Some of the first signs of this will be the bait schools moving into the river. On calm days anchovies and small menhaden can be seen feeding at the surface. Both are filter feeders so they will skim algae and plankton. Underneath them will be the plethora of saltwater species we’ve been waiting for, such as redfish, trout, ladyfish, etc.
Shrimp will also be filling the river this month, but we’ll have to wait until June 1 to throw a net for them. We can use store bought fresh dead or if you have any frozen from last year that will work too. Artificial shrimp like Gulp or DOA will also be productive. I mentioned this last month, but try to match the size of your lures to the size of the bait around. The shrimp, anchovies, and menhaden will be on the smaller side so try to match those. It really matters sometimes.
Sheepshead fishing should be great. I like to anchor up current from a structure, whether it’s a bridge or dock, and put small pieces of shrimp or clams on the bottom very close to those structures. Minimize everything — hooks, weights, and leaders. Tight lines.
