Last year I became a member of the Salt Strong Insiders Club (www.SaltStrong.com) and continue to find a wealth of information about inshore fishing on their website! Since coming to this area, I’ve found that information on their website has helped to kick-start my understanding of how the local fisheries differ from other places that I’ve been. This week I thought that I would share some tips about developing a ‘game plan’ for Spring fishing. 

This time of year you don’t need to worry much about the water temperature because it’s safe to assume that the fish will be comfortable in terms of dissolved oxygen levels and body temperature. So the sole focus of fish will be on finding areas with the most food to eat along with enough protection from predators like dolphin.

Lures: This is the season where smaller baitfish are pouring in, so it’s smart to use smaller baitfish imitation lures like spoons, smaller soft plastics, etc.

Timing: During the spring, the best inshore bite is often in the twilight periods within a couple hours before and after the sun rises and sets. But since the water temperature will stay out of either extreme hot or cold, fish will often feed throughout the day and into the night as well. The best game plan is generally to prioritize the twilight periods overall, and then heavily factor in the tidal movements to determine when the optimal feeding times will be.

– Best Bite: Twilight hours & max current periods

– Best Tide: Incoming or outgoing tides during this time are not as important as good current flow.

Game PIan:

– Morning: Try to get out as eariy as possible and focus on the shallow flats and/or shorelines with lots of life (birds, bait, and any feeding activity)

– Mid-Day: The fish can be both shallow or deep at this time… typically the best bet is to target the zones with the most bait that’snear structure such oyster bars, shoreline points, potholes on grass flats, etc.

– Evening: This is often a great time to target slams up on the flats or along shorelines in the shallows because they’ll often be actively feeding just like they were in the morning.

– Night: The shadow lines of docks and bridges with bright lights can be very effective. You might also target the same zones that were effective during the twilight periods because fish will often hang in those same areas to feed throughout the night.