[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nother month has come and gone and the dogwoods will be in bloom soon and the shad will be up to the dams, with the stripers right behind. Red drum will be moving back on the flats and the speckled trout bite will pick back up as the water warms. Flounder will be in the inlets and, even though on the small size, they will eat.
When the dogwood trees bloom (and they will early this year) headuptoLockandDam1on the Cape Fear for some great light tackle action on spring run shad. If you are into a road trip, head to Weldon off I-95 and you should find some 100-fish days with the American and gizzard shad. Little 1/8 – to 1/4-ounce lead heads with grubs or hair work great. There are also a couple of “drone” spoons that work well. Colors like bright yellow, chartreuse, white and silver work the best. Also make a double-dropper rig with a spoon on the top and a jig head on the bottom and hang on, the fish will tell you what they want.
Stripers will be right behind the shad and moving upriver if the water temps hold. Stripers should return to biting good in the rivers with the rising water temperatures. I suggest soft plastics and hard plastic lipped baits like the Rapala in a clown color, as well as a lipless Rattletrap in a green or blue color. Also, stepping up in size from the standard-sized Rattletrap will help you get more strikes.The MirrOlures MR17 is another good bet for the suspended fish.
Red drum have moved on the flats some and they will be there even more as the month rolls on. Live bait or soft plastics with a slow presentation will get them going. You won’t have to rush out at first light…let it warm up a little and they will have the feed bag on when you get there. Finding them should be easy in the clear water, even on the windy days. You can still find them in the creeks, just look for deeper holes and oyster bars.
Speckled trout will be feeding well again, but due to the cold stun event, we can not keep them until June 15. Even though we can’t keep them, they are still fun to catch! I do recommend that we fish barbless hooks for now. MirrOlures are still my choice of bait, but I make sure that the hook barbs are mashed down for an easier release. Soft plastics on grub heads, hopped off the bottom are also a great choice. I look for seams on small marsh points and oyster rocks. In still water, rock bottoms and steep mud banks should hold fish. Slow trolling grubs under corks and MirrOlures are great ways to locate fish.
Flounder are, for the most part, still offshore, but with the rising temperatures, they will be chewing. Look for them on the nearshore hard bottoms and ledges. A white bucktail tipped with a purple and chartreuse tail or live bait will do the trick.
As always, be safe on the water and stay warm. Overdress as the wind over the water will keep the temperatures down.