Spring Fishing is here ! May is the time to hit the flats for trout and reds.

Spring Fishing is here !

 May is time to hit the flats for trout and reds.

Let's get you hooked up today on some fun family fishing !

Pensacola Fishing Report 4-29-2015

               

April showers bring May flowers, but enough is enough already. It’s been raining for the past two and a half weeks. We haven’t had the rain like we did last year from the 100 year rain storm when we got 28” –30” in 30 hours, but we have had something like 15” of rain and it has kept me off the water more than I like. I went out yesterday to do some pre-fishing for some upcoming trips and I was only able to fish for about 2 1/2 hours and then the storms started rolling in again. I did, however, find some nice redfish and a few good trout before Mother Nature chased me off the water.

 So what’s all this rain going to do to the fishing conditions? Some may think that it’s going to mess the fishing up. On the contrary, what it does is push the fish from the upper bay areas to the lower parts of the bay in large numbers. It congregates the fish in small areas, so when you do find them, you’ll have a nice day of fishing. That’s why it’s imperative as a guide to go scouting so my clients can enjoy the most productive and enjoyable fishing trip.

  Trout and redfish are two fish that can handle a lot of fresh water, but when trout are spawning they want a specific salinity level and will seek it out and move away from large amounts of freshwater. This is why fishing deep water after a lot of rain is a good thing to try. Deep water might be still be shallow like 6-8 ft instead of 3-4 ft.You might have to go deeper like 10-15 ft. It just depends on how dirty the water is and how much rain you get. Tides also play a huge factor here. On a low tide the fish will be out deeper looking for higher salinity levels and on an incoming tide the fish will move back up on the flats with the cleaner water moving from the deep to much shallower water in search of crabs, shrimp and smaller bait fish to feed on.              

Because of all the rain and wind, I’ve only been out a few times on the flats fishing for trout this April, but I don’t get discouraged and neither should you. Last year’s 30 inches rain event didn’t hurt the fishing for May. It was just the opposite. Last May was some great inshore fishing as was June, and I believe that this May will be the same. Last year in May many clients caught big trout and lots of them along with a lot of redfish. I’ll be out as much as I can next week scouting some areas I fished last year and new areas, and I’m sure I’ll find the fish and get the pattern down so my clients have a productive trip.                          

Let’s talk about what true inshore fishing is. I’m a true inshore fisherman, as I don’t fish the gulf much at all. I will go out along the beach/gulf certain times of the year only if it’s calm.  I don’t take you out in rough seas and never will. If you like tossing artificials like you would bass fishing, then I’m your guy. I specialize in light tackle flats-inshore fishing for trout, redfish, bluefish, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel and whatever else is cruising the flats. There are not many guides in my area that fish the way I do. A lot of them are nearshore - inshore fishing guides. 

They use a lot of live bait, live cigar minnows and cut bait and very little if any artificials. I do use live small pinfish and shrimp from time to time if needed for kids, sometimes under a popping cork for those who are not skilled at working artificials or if the conditions really call for a live bait presentation,  but artificials is what I like and most the time we catch more than with the live baits. 

Other guides do a lot of snapper / king fishing and will take you out in the Gulf even if it’s a little bumpy. With my style of charters you’ll never have to worry about getting beat up and sore on a fishing trip except for your arms, which might be a little sore from all the fun fishing you’ll be doing! 

I’ve spent years and hours to try and mastered my area for inshore fishing. I have many honey holes as back up if one is not producing the way I like. Light tackle inshore fishing is the style of fishing I love and I hope you give me a chance to show it to you.

I’ll be out on Sunday and a lot next week scouting and running some trips near the end of next week so stay tuned for some good reports.

Thanks for stopping by.

John

www.megabiteinshore.com

www.saltwateracademy.com