This month will offer us some of the best surf fishing of the year. It is all about the water temperature and clarity. This temperature only happens twice a year which is in the spring and fall. If you get to your favorite spot on the beach and the water looks like “chocolate milk” or “Yohoo” don’t even unpack. It is time to get back in your vehicle and go to your second choice of spots. Murky surf usually only produces stingrays and catfish. Here is another great tip. It does not matter if we are talking about Nassau Sound or Ponce Inlet the water is always clearer on one side of the inlet versus the other.
In the past I have talked about my favorite four baits to target Pompano, Whiting, Black Drum, and Redfish. They are clams, sand fleas, shrimp, and blue crab. However if you want to target a bigger variety of fish then the go to bait is shrimp. Almost every fish that swims in our surf will eat a shrimp. Fresher the better is the golden rule. Either FDS, fresh dead shrimp, or FKS, fresh killed shrimp, is your best bet. Fresh killed shrimp is buying live shrimp then putting them on ice with no water. Use a plastic container to keep then out of the chlorine ice water. Recently I landed eleven different species using only FKS. They were Croaker, Redfish, Spadefish, Sailcat, Whiting, Bluefish, Pompano, Bonnethead, Black Drum, Trout, and Flounder!
The hook size and shrimp size has a huge impact on your success. I catch almost all of my fish on a 2/0 circle hook with about one inch of shrimp. Remember it is really hard to catch fish with a small mouth, whiting, with a large hook and a whole shrimp. However it is a blast to catch a really big fish on a small hook using small bait.
Go now and get you some Pompano before the warm water in June sends them migrating all the way to North Carolina. See you on the beach!