I have been fishing for over half of a century, but when I first came to the inshore fishing area at Sunset Beach, I was essentially clueless. The Sea Trail Fishing Club has been very beneficial to improving my knowledge of inshore techniques. I also found a unique website at SaltStrong.com that featured inshore fishing tips. Although there is a wealth of information on the ‘free’ site, I decided to join the ‘Insider’s Club’ which features weekly ‘Game Plans’ that are tailored to different areas along the eastern coast from Maine to Mexico. So this week I decided to feature a few tips that are relevant to this area.

Since the locale weather conditions are fluctuating rapidly from warming to cooling, Spring fishing is usually a challenge not only for anglers but also the fish that are trying to find both warmth and food. During the colder months, trout and redfish move up into creeks and backwaters. But as the weather warms a migration occurs to open waters. The continued warming and cooling trends are sometimes confusing and keep fish on the move. During these periods, fishing transition zones may be the key. In order to find and catch fish during these crazy frontal weather changes it is important to be versatile. 

In the Spring, fish are moving relative to both weather fronts and the time of day. Wind direction is another factor to consider when trying to locate these fish. The fishing hot spots of today may not be the same tomorrow.

Last week I mentioned that the white paddletail or some facsimile thereof is one of the most versatile lures. The 4-inch variety is similar to the size of baitfish found this time of year and can be rigged with different weight jig heads to fish the top, middle and lower parts of the water column. Fish deeper in cooler weather and more shallow as the water warms. For shallow presentations this lure can also be made to be relatively weedless by keeping the barb of the hook close to or slightly imbedded.

THE LURE OF FISHING – CHOSE THE RIGHT LURE FOR THE SITUATION

There’s a lot that goes into choosing the right or wrong lure for the situation you’re fishing but it mostly falls into three categories: Profile, Size and Color.

The Right Profile: There are two major profile categories: Baitfish and Crustaceans. What are you seeing, and which one should you use? Well, it primarily depends on what you’re seeing the fish eating when out on the water. If you see trout blowing up on baitfish along the surface, then go with a baitfish profile. If you see redfish tailing and digging in the mud for crabs and shrimp, use a crab or shrimp profile.

Another rule of thumb: If you can’t see anything is this: crustacean baits are better in colder months because baitfish are less prevalent this time of year, and baitfish profiles are better in warmer months.

The Right Size: When choosing what size lure to use, you want to match the hatch.

If you’re seeing 3″ glass minnows get eaten, use a 3″ lure. If you’re seeing 6″ mullet get eaten, use a 6″ lure. If your not seeing either: Either guess or go back to the Profile question.

Another good rule of thumb to remember is that baitfish are smaller in spring and larger in fall, so a good plan is to use smaller lures in the spring and larger lures in late summer and fall.

The Right Color: If you’re fishing in clear water, use natural or light colors.

If you’re fishing in dark water, use either darker colors or those that reflect lots of light. The bottom line is that, within the light and dark categories, all colors do not work all of the time. Sometimes you just have to experiment so don’t get hooked on one color if it isn’t working for you.

This was previously posted but was mentioned again by President Steve Heins in the April Club meeting)

Matthew Wallin, Eastern Regional Director of the Coastal Conservation Association of NC gave an interesting talk about the goals of the CCA and pending NC legislation restricting fishing for Speckled Trout. He encouraged the membership to use their voices to protect their rights to fish for Speckled Trout. If this is a concern to you and you want more infomation please go to: –

https://forms.gle/hCBG7vEYfHX6SNmUA

MISTAKE #1: INCORRECT RIGGING  –  WHATKNOTS

Soft plastic lures rigged correctly will move naturally through the water. Whereas baits rigged incorrectly will spin unnaturally and won’t entice fish to bite. When that happens, you won’t catch as many fish as you could. But incorrect rigging isn’t just about how you put soft plastic lures on hooks, but also knots you tie with your lures. Most lures need to erratically dart around for them to be effective, and when you’re using artificial lures, it’s important to work it the correct way to convince a fish to strike. And one of the things you can do to help yourself is to use the right knot with it. There are two types of knots when you’re tying on lures: Snug knots and Loop knots. Snug knots are great for lures that you do a constant retrieve with, while loop knots are great for lures that you need to put action on.

Lures to use a Loop knots with include paddletails, soft plastic jerk shads, spook-style topwaters, and twitchbaits. Snug knots work best on spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and popper-style topwaters. Although, if a lure has a split ring, then you would tie a snug knot no matter what type of lure it is. For instance, some spook-style topwater lures come with split rings on the end, so you would tie a snug knot to the split ring because the split ring is already acting like a loop by giving the lure room to move. Another thing is that snug knots are stronger than loop knots, so keep that in mind when trying to decide what line size and/or drag setting to use.

As reported by Alan Trojan

Alan Trojan, Clint Morschauser, and Jeff Titus reported a good day on the water last Friday. They went out on a charter from the docks at Ocean Isle with Captain Tripp Hooks during a falling tide in the morning. The water temperatures were up to 64 degrees. Fishing live shrimp on Carolina rigs resulted in catches in the Intercoastal between Calabash and the Little River. All three limited out on trout, the largest being 22 inches!

In other news, Brian Brambaugh and Mike Shannon reported a few undersize trout, a black drum and a lot of croaker and smaller fish caught mainly on artificial baits along the marshes near the Sunset Beach bridge. Surveys with the locals indicated that the bite was slow but picking up. Alan says its time to get out on the water and to signup for the fishing tournament. You never know when the big one bites!

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.