March was a strong month for fishing with the warmer temperatures and plenty of pompano, trout, bluefish, jacks and black drum. April should keep the heat around.
As bait moves into the lagoon for the spring run late March into April, inshore fishing should be excellent for big trout, big snook, redfish, and some flounder. Live bait will be the key to getting the bigger fish to bite. Greenies, finger mullet and pigfish are the primary spring baits. Rapala’s Skitter Walk and Twitchin’ Mullet are reliable topwater and subsurface options, and the Rapala Crush City 3.5” jerkbaits and the 3.5” Mooch Minnow baits make good soft plastics for early mornings; switch to live bait as the sun climbs and you should be able to keep the bite going.
Snook, tarpon and sharks should be plentiful in the Sebastian River, Turkey Creek in Palm Bay, Crane Creek, and Ballard Park in Melbourne. Fish Rapala subsurface baits along with D.O.A. shrimp and TerrorEyez and the Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnow baits; live shrimp or mullet are solid live-bait choices. Target rolling tarpon in both river forks early, then search shorelines and docks for snook. In the lower river between the railroad and U.S. 1 bridges and near the powerlines, sharks will take both live and dead baits.
The inlet’s swift current draws big jack crevalle and redfish looking for a passing meal; live pigfish or pinfish are best most days. I’ve had consistent success with big Crush City paddletail baits rigged on heavy jigheads. Nighttime is when snook and redfish are more active on artificial baits like bucktails, jigs, soft plastics and diving plugs for anglers fishing from rocks or jetties.
If the seas stay calm and there is plenty of bait around, the tarpon, jacks, bonito, sharks, mackerel and cobia will also be along the beaches from Sebastian to Melbourne and can be caught from boats or the beach. Rapala hard baits and Storm/Hogy/D.O.A. soft baits are productive, and live mullet, greenies and pogies also work well.
Tight lines everybody!
Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters
www.goingcoastalcharters.com
321-863-8085
