by Capt. Patrick Smith, Contributing Writer
Well winter is over and the warmup has more than begun, to me that means lots of good fishing.
In the freshwater the main game will be peacock bass as they come off their major spawn and start feeding heavily again. Skipping docks with silver, white or baby bass colored flukes should produce plenty of action on peas and largemouths. If you decide to pick a fish off a bed, try to make sure it’s not guarding eggs or fry as the cichlids will move right in and clean it out. We lost fish in the winter and it would give a better shot at recovery if we stay conservation minded.
Inshore salt will be good this month with lots of big jacks and snook around. Walking a super spook down a seawall at first light is a sure way to get in on the action. After the sun comes up I like to throw a Yozuri crystal minnow or a DOA terroreyez, usually in root beer and I work both pretty slow around the docks. The tarpon will be all around the Palm Beach inlet and up and down the beach. They can be picky, but persistence and patience can pay off with a giant fish. The night bite will be great around the bridges with double digit nights coming on swimbaits and fly. The fish tend to be bigger this time of the year so I recommend at least a 10-11 wt rod to help keep the fish from getting you in the pilings. Large Ep baitfish, gamechangers and any other mullet pattern would be my picks to get hooked up.
May is a great month get out and enjoy it
Capt. Patrick Smith
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