[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ow, what a fast year! Another month has passed and even though this winter seemed not to want to go away, the fish have remained active throughout.
Even with the cold that has lingered, I think the Atlantic bonita will be here in a couple of weeks and I would look for them about the end of the second week of April. Red drum are already on the flats and they are happy to eat. The speckled trout bite is picking up again and will only get better as the month goes on. Flounder are moving in and I am seeing more of them all the time. On the Cape Fear, shad are up to Lock and Dam #1 and the stripers are moving up the river here. On the Roanoke River, the shad bite is off and running with catches of 100 fish a day. Atlantic bonita will be found within three miles of most of our beaches south of Cape Lookout. Look around the wrecks and artificial reefs and hard bottoms. Trolling will produce them in good numbers using ClarkSpoons or deep-diving Yo-Zuri lures. Sight-casting is a popular way to fish for these speed demons. Casting lures like Crippled Herrings, Got-Chas, Maria Jigs and topwater baits work very well. My favorite is a 1/2âounce grub head with a five- or six-inch Trout Killer in Bubblegum Ice color. They are not too expensive unless youâre on some bluefish at the same time.
I am a broken record hereâŚdrum have been on the inside all year and lately, New Penny or Root beer Chartreuse Gulp on a weightless worm hook has been the ticket for me. For live bait, we have been using mud minnows on 2/0 Khale hooks with no weight due to all the grass. Dead bait or cut fresh shrimp is the way to go. Up until recently, the water has been very clear and made it easy to find the fish.
Speckled trout are showing back up in their normal fall spots and the bite seems to be getting better all the time. We have been sticking to suspending baits as the grass is very thick right now and grubs get grass on them as soon as they hit the bottom. Here again, a weightless work hook with Slurp or Gulp Shrimp will work well for you. More flounderâand a little larger flounderâare moving in the inlets. Live bait and Gulp have worked the best and with the grass, I prefer looking and fishing for them on the flats this time of year.
Shad are up at Lock and Dam #1 (I go when the dogwoods start to bloom) and at Weldon, you will do well with then on shad darts and small drone spoons. Try a dart on the bottom and a spoon on the top. Rig the spoon with about an 18-inch piece of mono off the swivel and the dart 12 inches below that. White, Silver and Chartreuse are the âgo toâ colors.
For stripers, with the snags in the river, I like a 1/2âounce jig head in chartreuse and a pearl âflukeâ body. If you want to troll, a clown color is the heat most day and sometimes blue and white.
Good luck out there and remember, the days may be warm but the water is still very cold, so please be careful on the water.