May has always been very special for me. I sold a lot of Scamps and Kings during the end of April and the whole month of May. We would keep the light line out catching Kings until it was not profitable. When the Scamp bite was hot and heavy, we wouldn’t even put the light line out because it took too much time to deal with a king that wasn’t worth much money. Absolutely, always have a couple boxes of frozen cigar minnows, but if possible, take live pinfish from the marina. Scamps see pinfish just like sailor’s choice as egg eaters, they identify them as a threat and will eat them, if for no other reason, just to kill him. They also love a live pin fish on the Decoy Jig, not to mention a live cigar or sardine on it is an instant bite as well. This requires spending time catching bait on the Sibiki. I know it takes precious time away from the fishing day, but leave early and understand that each one of those live cigars or sardines in the well is a bite, not to mention taking live pinfish you trap or castnet at the marina. Yes, the Gags and Reds are targets also along with those endangered American Red Snappers, but May is the ultimate Scamp bite.
Where the Scamps live in the deeper water sometimes requires more than the 4-ounce crab. I’m a huge fan of the 8- and 12-ounce Squid Decoy Jigs also. As a matter of fact, the all-time IGF world record Scamp was caught on a 12-ounce Squid Decoy Jig by Teddy Wingfield, a young angler as seen in the photo. Do yourself a favor, pick a pretty day, dress your kids properly and take them out to this productive water depth. Maybe they’re not old enough or strong enough to handle the grouper bite, especially right on the bottom, but once you get them up off the bottom hand them the rod, or let them catch B liners and Triggerfish on smaller gear. They will never forget these trips and neither will you. Don’t forget, take plenty of video in addition to photos.