Other than the fall, May is one of my favorite times of the year to fish. The heat of the summer has not yet arrived, and the fish are usually eating. The variety of species available this month also makes chartering much easier. Inshore, we can catch sharks, reds, trout, flounder, sheepshead, ladyfish and many other species. The nearshore reefs are also good places to fish this month, as spadefish and cobia begin to arrive.
Inshore, shark fishing makes up the bulk of our trips. We fish for sharks in the rivers almost all of the time. Most people think you have to go offshore to catch sharks, but there are plenty in the rivers. We set up in deep water and put out a variety of baits such as blue crab, mullet, menhaden or any small fish we catch such as whiting, croaker or pinfish. We fish a 4 rod setup with an 8/0 hook on 200lb. mono leader on Penn 5000 reels with at least 50lb. braid as our main line. I try to bait each rod with a different bait; and after adding a 4-ounce sinker, I cast out in a spread and see what works on that day. Bonnet heads tend to prefer the crab, mullet and menhaden; while other sharks, like black tips and duskies, will take any sort of bait we put out. Bait is usually plentiful in the creeks and can be caught with a cast net on the lower tides; however, trying to catch bait when the tide is in the grass is almost futile.
In May, sheepshead have pretty much finished with spawning and are back in their inshore habitats by now. The black drum bite has been really good the last few years using crabs or shrimp for bait. If you have kids and just want action, drop some bait shrimp down near an inlet, and the whiting will keep them busy.
The reefs just offshore are always active, and there are usually a lot of days in May when the wind is calm. Black sea bass are the primary fish that are there, but you can catch other species such as spadefish, cobia, weakfish, sheepshead and others as well. Black sea bass will take any bait, live or dead, plastic or real. You need to cater your baits to target other species. We always have a heavy rod rigged with an eel, or other bait, to cast when the cobia appear. May seems to be the best month to catch them out there, but you cannot keep any of them until the laws change again. Circle hooks must be used for black sea bass and spadefish, too, as they fall into the snapper-grouper complex which requires the use of circle hooks.
Capt. Michael Waller | SaltFisher Charters www.saltfisher.com | (843) 224-8197 or (843) 343-7538