It seems that pier and surf fishing has begun to pick up. Reports I’m getting are of good size catches of flounder and pompano. Flounder up to 8 lbs have been reported at the pier and pompano to 5 ½ lbs from the surf. Best baits for flounder would be live mullet, mud minnows or shrimp. For pompano try using fresh dead shrimp, sand fleas, fish bites or clams fished on a pompano rig, these rigs can be purchased at any tackle store. The weight you use on this rig should be determined by the surf conditions. The majority of pompano are caught between the edge of the surf and the sand bar that runs parallel to the beach. The sand bar will become more prevalent as the tide recedes.
It also looks as though the offshore fishing is beginning to pick up. Jim Ingham weighed in a 23.9 lb king mackerel at Roy’s Bait House. Look for cobia to start to appear along our beaches in the next couple of weeks. Find a manta ray and it will usually have cobia following it. Large bucktail jigs with a curly tail grub on it will do the trick here, just make sure you use some stout tackle as these fish can run up to 40 to 50 lbs and more.
Inshore there are snook at night under the bridges that are being caught on diving plugs and soft plastics. Plugs such as bomber long A’s, 52M mirrolures, yo-zuri crystal minnow and the rapala x-rap will all work on snook and trout. Soft plastic shad imitations like the tsunami swimming shad are working as are soft plastic shrimp imitations.
Trout continue to be a mystery to me this year, one day they’re here than the next day you can’t find but one or two small ones. How ever on Good Friday I finally found some gator trout. Sumner Bryant and Alan Skyles fished with me that day and their trout that weighed in at 6 ½ and 5 ½ lbs. Both fish were caught while live lining shrimp and both were photographed released unharmed. Three days later I had another party out and could only find a couple of small trout along with jacks, ladyfish, flounder and some small reds. Maybe if we can get a weather pattern that is normal for this time of year the trout bite will improve.
Washington Oaks State Park celebrates Earth Day the weekend of April 21st and 22nd. There will be live entertainment both days and live reptiles and an alligator from the Alligator Farm. A live butterfly enclosure will also be on hand along with special programs for children. For more information you can contact Cristy Leonard at (386) 446-6783.
Photo: Sumner Bryant shows off a 61/2 lb gator trout he caught while live lining a shrimp. The fish was released unharmed.