By Capt. Mike Waller
May is finally here bringing warmer water. Inshore fishing is about as good as it gets this month because the waters are warm and teeming with life. If you toss a live shrimp in the water and it does not get taken, you should move. Many of our chartered trips are kids that have never fished before; and by using live shrimp, they can usually catch many different species of fish. There is not an inshore fish that does not eat a live shrimp at some point. Sheepshead will eat them better in the late fall, but there are still some fish that will eat them in May. Redfish, trout, bluefish, ladyfish, flounder, whiting, croaker, pinfish, spots, rays, sharks, black drum, dogfish, black sea bass, cobia and many others all can be caught on live shrimp either fished on the bottom, near docks, around structure or under a float. Many times, small fish eat the shrimp faster than a good fish or game fish can find it. You can save your live bait by using Z-Man shrimp patterns and working the baits as if it were live, either by casting to points and structure or under a popping cork. The bonnethead sharks are inshore by now and can be taken using live shrimp, blue crab or bait fish such as mullet or menhaden fished on the bottom. Lower tides seem to be better for the bonnets, but they can be caught all day by moving and trying different areas.
The nearshore reefs are also a great place to fish in May. On many of the reef trips last year, we hooked or saw another boat catch a cobia. Bottom fishing is good this month, with catches of black sea bass, weakfish, flounder, black drum and sheepshead. Spadefish are usually on the reefs by the end of the month of May as well. The same baits, rods and reels that you would use to fish inshore will work on the reefs unless you are targeting the bigger fish such as cobia, sharks and kings. I always carry live shrimp and fiddlers out there, then use some of the fish we catch as cut bait. Once we get on a good bite, I change the live shrimp out for Z-Man shrimp. Rig them just like a live shrimp and slowly jig it just off the bottom, setting the hook when it gets hit. Use fresh pieces of shrimp on the spades, or net some cannonball jellies on the way out and use small pieces of them. Hopefully, the spadefish will be on the surface and you can sight fish for them.
Capt. Mike Waller
www.saltfisher.com
(843) 224-8197
