[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ow, another month has come and gone…now June is here and the fishing is getting better! Topwater speckled trout in the river is high on my list of things to fish for. I look for edges or drop-offs with a shell bottom and some current, as well as a good supply of bait for them to feed. For topwater trout, MirrOmullet, Top Dogs, Zara Spooks with no rattles and YoZuri Banana Boat lures top my list. Live shrimp is great, but everything else loves them so you may want to use mullet or small bunker.
Flounder are moving in the inlets and are getting to where they like the creek mouths. Falling tides are when I like these areas and both live bait or Gulp works great.
Cast up into the mouth of the creek and very slowly work your bait back. With Gulp, set the hook as soon as you feel the bite…with live bait, let them chew on it a while. In shallow flats with three feet of water or less, I like to use a popping cork and fix the leader with a small 1/4-ounce lead head, so it is about six inches off the bottom. Work it back slowly with small “popping” movements of the cork.
Red drum or redfish are around the docks and on the flats. Around the docks, live bait and Gulp are my picks. Fish the live baits on a Carolina rig, and for the Gulp, I like to use a worm hook and rig it weedless so it will not hang up. Fish tight drags on both. Topwaters are great and I use the same ones as I do for the speckled trout on the flats. Gold spoons are my “go-to” baits for the flats and I like to rub a little Pro-Cure Crab on the spoon. Gulp on a worm hook works well also, rigged weedless to allow you to work it over an oyster bottom. Again, popping corks with live bait or Gulp will work very well for you. Live bait I do not work it very much, but with Gulp, I use small popping movements. Some nice blues will still be around and they will sometimes run with the drum on the flats.
You will start finding Spanish in the waterways and Got-Cha’s work great for them. I like using the smaller ones with single hooks. Use the gold on sunny days and silver on cloudy. Also, small darts and jigs will work very well. Use regular mono for Spanish as they will eat the knots of fluorocarbon. Keep it simple and make long casts to them.
As always, be safe out there as when the weather warms, people go out in droves. Watch out for the other guys, as they may not be looking for you.