We are starting to see the pompano show up to our area in some decent numbers. Currently they are not super thick quite yet but in certain areas you can find good concentrations. They love a docks goofy jig, nekid ball jig or a small bucktail with short feathers bouncing just off the sandy bottom along our beautiful beaches or adjacent to the channels of our outer bay areas. Right now, the hot spots seem to be around the sky way approaches, Fort De Soto and around pass a grille but a few have been caught around Johns Pass too. You want to use lighter tackle like 15-20lb floro leader and a lighter braided line with lighter spinning set up. Something for great casting distance but also super sensitive. Also, keep in mind when working your artificial for these guys you don’t really need to bounce it very far off the bottom only 4-6 inches. You can also use sandfleas for these guys if you would prefer live bait, and sometimes shrimp too but the sandflea is king when it comes to pompano bait. Keep in mind, these guys like clear nice calmer waters its tough to get em when the water gets stirred up or if its turbulent due to wind or seas.
Sheepshead are still biting well around our local piers, docks, jetties, seawalls and bridges. They are prolific through the early spring but especially behind a cold front when that water gets chilly and stirred up a bit, they seem to bite even a bit better. Due to this, we should see some great sheepshead action this weekend.
Great redfish action this past week in our back bay waters. Right up against the mangrove shore lines and shallower flats seem to be working well, but the dock lines still a great spot for them too. Smaller live pinfish are great live bait options, but live shrimp will work too or even cut dead bait. If you are going artificial the gold spoon of soft plastic paddle tail would be my suggestion this time of year.
Snook around this week too, not biting quite as well but we saw some nice ones caught around the back bay and upper bay areas. They are definitely moving back in a ways due to the recent cold snaps. Remember, when using artificials to retrieve more slowly than normal when the water gets cold. Residential dock lines are a great area to target around the mouths of the bayous or rivers, but we are seeing them throughout the back bays too. Dock lights at night will also produce the snook if you can’t get after them during the day and sometimes at night you can find even better action since they tend to be more concentrated around the docks holding bait and casting some warm light.
Trout action great lately throughout the area from the beaches through the passes to the back and upper bay areas on the flats, docks, bridges, piers and more. Specifically, the silver trout seem to be the most active around the bridges, passes and on the beaches while speckled trout can be mixed in with the silvers but are primarily more of the back bay waters area right now themselves.
