Inshore
April fishing brings fishermen closer to the act of catching. Bait shops will start to carry what you need to get the fish’s attention — live shrimp. Pair the shrimp with traditional adjustable floats from large to small and popping corks and you’ll be catching fish in no time. Redfish, spotted sea trout, and flounder can not resist this winning combination. Another way to present live shrimp is to “just fish naked” with a light leader, small split shot, and small hook. All you need to do is hook your shrimp up under the horn and cast into place. The shrimp goes where it thinks it is safe, which is just about where the fish are waiting. Whatever you do, don’t forget your dip net or camera. You’ll want to get a picture of your catch.
Bottom Fishing in the Sound
The sounds come alive with everything from whiting to sharks to bluefish to stingray. It’s fun just dropping a line down to the bottom and seeing what might bite your hook. Even the smaller fish offer some nice action when anglers use small pieces of shrimp on light tackle rigs. Use these smaller fish, either whole or cut in chunks, rigged on heavier tackle to attract the big fish bite. The best news I can share when fishing in the sound is the bigger the bait the bigger the fish! It’s all up to you!
Offshore – Artificial Reefs
With water temperatures rising, fish will be on the move. The more a fish moves, the more it eats, which plays right into the fishermen’s hands. Artificial reefs can hold the attentions of all sorts of fish from bottom to top water. When bottom fishing, you could catch black sea bass, flounder, bluefish, whitebone porgy, summer trout, cobia, and other biters. On the top larger Spanish mackerel usually feed on any bait that they can find whether it is on the surface or right on the bottom. Just because you can’t see the mackerel on the surface certainly doesn’t mean they are not there. My advice is to use the ever-popular small to medium Clark Spoon. Troll the spoons deep or pitch them right over the structure! Don’t forget to bring along a suitable dip net as you’ll likely need it to land this fish.
