Lanark April Fishing Report
April is here and that means spring fishing time! Time to break out the sunscreen put away the winter jackets. With the warmer days warming the water on the flats the fishing should be heating up too. Bait fish will be returning to the flats and there will be plenty of hungry trout and redfish waiting. They will be hungry!
This is time of year I love to throw topwater plugs and work the key areas. My primary areas are oyster bars, grass lines when the water is high, and spotty grass flats. With the warmer temps the fish will be more aggressive so speeding up your retrieve from the slow winter pace is good idea. Typically, I’ll either do a steady walk-the-dog retrieve or mix it up with a “twitch-twitch-pause” pattern. Vary your speeds and patterns till you find what is working that day. You can cover a lot of water with this bait and spoons which are great search baits.
With the bait fish returning and spreading out over the flats an effective way to locate fish is drifting. Set up with the wind or tide easing you across the area and fan cast. Popping corks with live or Gulp shrimp can be great. I use my trolling motor to help control my drift and angle. Once a fish is hooked, power pole down and fish that area more. A slow sinking twitch bait like Mirrolure can be deadly over grass and around bars.
Spring brings the bigger fish to our region too. Be looking for spanish and cobia to start showing up in April at some point. Also, we should start seeing some tarpon moving this month. Along with all the great inshore action gag grouper will open April 1st in Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties for state waters. While fishing for the tasty fighters be sure to have that pitch rod ready if you are lucky enough to see a coiba cruising by. Check the FWC website for all regulations before you go.
April also brings the popular Rock the Dock tournament at the end of the month! Get your crew together and come enjoy a great weekend.
This is a great time to be on the water and have some spectacular fishing. There are still a few days left on the books for June and July for tarpon trips! Give me a call/text and let’s make some memories!