By Capt. Mike Waller
April is one of my favorite times of the year to fish. The warmer species are coming back to their summer haunts, and the fish that wintered inshore are hungry and eating better as the water continues to warm up. Inshore, redfish, trout, sheepshead, black drum, flounder and sharks can be caught consistently. I prefer to fish low water for the reds, sheepshead and sharks and work shorelines during the high tide for trout, which can also produce reds as well. Reds will eat anything when they are eating. Live baits such as shrimp, minnows or crab will work, and the variety of artificial baits that will work is almost endless. I fish live baits on my charters with shrimp being the first choice because of the many different types of fish that will eat it. While fishing shrimp, many times we will get a bonnethead shark on the light gear which makes for a great fight. We do not land them all, but we get some of them to the boat using light gear. Inshore, shark fishing seems to be better on the lower tides, but they can be caught all day long. Try live shrimp, cut blue crab, mullet or other fish.
The nearshore reefs are another good bet for a productive day if the winds are calm. The same light tackle used inshore will work fine at the reef. The new i-pilot trolling motors make it really easy to stay over structure. If you have to anchor, use a breakaway type reef anchor so when you get ready to leave, the anchor will come with you.
Sheepshead are spawning on the reefs this time of the year. Redfish, weakfish, black sea bass, black drum and other species can be caught bottom fishing. Shrimp works for everything, while fiddlers will work for the sheepshead, but other fish will also eat them so take plenty. Z-man shrimp or gulp work well out there, too; just jig them right off the bottom for best results.
Capt. Mike Waller
www.saltfisher.com
(843) 224-8197
