Coastal River Charters

Wind, wind and more wind! Despite an easterly wind, negative tides and a lack of bait fishing has been surprising good. One fisherman, commented yeah there’s not much bait but when find you the fish they’re hungry. This is pretty much on target. Less bait, hungry fish! Water temperature has jumped already to upper 70′s. Lots of small of small blue fish and menhaden in the sounds as well some spanish mackerel. Menhaden about five to six inches are plentiful. Small menhaden are an excellent bait for redfish or sharks. The whiting bite has slowed but the shark bite is RED hot! Large pre spawn sea trout can be caught near the sounds as well in the back waters. Shrimp have been scare for the past couple of weeks. Some small brown shrimp have moved into local creeks but local bait dealers are still having difficultly in finding local or buying Florida shrimp. Best bet in obtaining shrimp, call ahead. Sea trout, redfish, flounder and sharks will readily take a mud minnow or a pogie. Artificials and plastics can work as well. When shrimp are scare, “fish the bait that’s present! Redfish, seatrout and flounder are feeding on pogies, glass minnows, silver sides, mud minnows, fiddlers crabs and finger mullet. Remember to take a cast net on your next fishing trip and try fishing the bait that’s present. You’ll likely be rewarded with some nice tugs. As water temperatures continue raise anticipate the bite to heat up. The best bite will likely be in deeper, moving water. Guy Hoffman reported catching a dozen flounders on mud minnows. Best fishing action this week has been in the sounds. Poor drifts due to opposing wind and current can be difficult to fish. Poor drifts on lower tides stages are usually good for flounder and sheepshead. Good reports of sheepshead caught off the jetties last week.

Tides for the 1st week in June are barely over 6 feet. Water should clear up. The coming week (weather permitting) will likely provide plenty of opportunities to target redfish, flounder and sheepshead. Shark action is hot!

Hope this of help! Always practice catch and release!

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Fishing has been good! Strong wind has muddied local waters making finding fish more difficult. Nonetheless when fishermen have found clean water fishing has been good. Lots of small menhaden (3 to 4 inch) in the rivers. This bait will attract lots of fish! Allen (from River Supply) said a fisherman caught a 27″ seatrout on a hard bait while fishing off the bank at Bonaventure cemetery. We’ve caught several nice redfish and seatrout on menhaden. Don’t overlook the bait that present. Shrimp for the next few weeks will be difficult to come by. White shrimp are moving into the sounds. Brown shrimp haven’t moved in. Usually brown shrimp will start appearing around the 1st of June hence the nickname “junies”. Glass minnows are present in the sounds in the sounds. This bait fish is so slender its literally impossible to catch this fish in a legal net. Seatrout, ladyfish and redfish love to pound glass minnows. When birds are working bait during the Spring they’re usually working menhaden out and glass minnows in. Fishing around feeding birds can be productive! No telling what you’re going to catch. Maybe a spanish, a seatrout or lady fish pretty neat! The flounder and seatrout bite in Wassaw sound has been good! The whiting bite on the sandbars is slowing up and larger sharks are showing up. When fishing shallow water for sharks fish spots without lots of boat traffic. The continual churning over the bars will drive off even the most obnoxious fish. The key is bait. What kind of bait are you seeing? No bait, no bites move on. In strong wind look for lee shores, clean water and a good drift. When the drift is poor the bait fish aren’t moving neither are the fish. A good drift will likely mean good fishing. No bait, a poor drift, and dirty water will usually mean fishermen are struggling. Sometimes you can make the best out of a difficult situation by looking for pockets of clean water. You’ll see bait fish in these pockets as well as the fish you’re targeting. This is exactly how the Bailelys and I caught some nice fish this week. We found some clean water and worked lee shores.

Despite the full moon last Saturday the tides were small (less than 6.5 feet). Small tides and dirty water caused by the wind presented challenging conditions. Tides for the coming are once again small tides. Should be good for flounder fishing not the best for float fishing. Tides are building to 6.7 ft on Saturday and 7.1 ft on Sunday. For those heading out on the weekend might find the best fishing of the week. Building tides often corresponds to a building bite.

Hope this of help! Keep a few and release the rest! Always go light on your redfish catch. The redfish bite in Wassaw has been sad but good to the south and north.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan