What a great time to get out on the water and catch some fish! The weather is nice, the water is beautifully clear and, most importantly, the fish are biting!
On shallow grass flats, there are good numbers of speckled trout being caught. Most of the catches are coming early in the day and late in the afternoon when it cools off a bit. Small topwater plugs have been producing fish during periods of low light. Plastic shrimp and other soft plastic baits are good second choices if the fish are hesitant to eat on the surface.
A bunch of mangrove snappers are still being caught on all kinds of shallow water structures. I’ve been catching menhaden in the bayous and using them to chum the mangroves off the structure so we can target them with light tackle. These fish are a lot of fun to catch once they get turned on and this year’s class of fish seems a lot better than in years prior. That’s especially good news because they make great tacos!
Redfish are widespread throughout the bays and along the beaches. As is usually the case, the slot-sized fish will be running in schools in the shallows. You may also find them hunkered down around docks, back up in creeks and in marshy backwaters. If you like big fish, then you are in luck because there are big bull reds all over the place. Along the beach, in the pass and around several of the bridges, the redfish have been thick and hungry. You can target them with big pinfish, live blue crabs or an assortment of artificial offerings.
Lastly, but definitely not least, is the tarpon. If you want to catch a tarpon here, this is the month to do it. I am not saying it will be easy because they are a very worthy adversary. But you can only catch them by being out there in front of them when they are here. When conditions are perfect they will eat live baits, soft plastics and flies, making them one of the most sought after and highly-coveted species. So if you see boats along the beaches that are set up to catch tarpon, please give those guys some room. It’s hard enough to catch silver kings in perfect conditions without boats constantly running over their heads.
If you have questions about what's biting, how to catch them or would like to book a trip of your own, then give me a call or shoot me an email. Tight lines!
