Summer time is in full swing by now and it’s time to beat the heat. Early mornings are always best while water temps are down. If you can’t make the first light bite happen, then focus your fishing around the largest tide movements, rise or fall, of the day. I prefer the falling tide as large predator fish will stage in areas to ambush bait fish as the tide carries them off the flats.
June can still be great for a hot top-water trout and redfish bite in the mornings. Fish will be feeding in shallower water around 1- to 3-feet deep over the grass flats. A Rapala Skitterwalk in chartreuse or silver mullet pattern is my go-to plug.
As the sun gets up and temps rise, begin focusing on the deeper grass edges in 3- to 6-feet using live bait on bottom rigs or soft and/or hard plastic baits that sink. Slayer INC paddle tails in pearl and Venice glow work well. A Rapala Shadow Rap Shad, slow sinker and the Twitching mullet work great as well.
Another species that’s always fun to target in the summer are big schools of Jacks cruising the channels or along the beaches. Top-water plugs or large hard plastic swim baits work great for these guys and produce some great visual strikes and a lot of fun.
CAPT. JORDAN TODD
Saltwater Obsessions
850-227-6550