PONCE INLET & BACKWATERS FORECAST

March means the start of nice weather is upon us. While we will still have a few cold days with a north or north east wind we will start to see multiple warmer days in a row. on the chillier days I will focus on sheepshead and black drum as I have been doing most of the winter months. They will be spawning and they will be hefty this time of the year. Structures like bridges , piers and rocks near the inlet will be the ticket to getting some of these tasty fish. on warmer days I will focus in the back country up north in the county near ormond at our shop in the High Bridge area for redfish. As the day warms these fish will be in flats feeding and sunning. They will tend to be schooled up and as you move around whether from shore , in a kayak or paddle board , or a skiff you will see these fish pushing water or even blowing up on bait. This type of fishing is by far my favorite, I love the spot and stalk aspect of it. As you spend more time doing this you will learn the difference between a school of mullet pushing water vs redfish, the redfish are more like submarines and will even sometimes make a wake. Soft plastics are my go to for this such as NLBN , Zman , Gulp, or Voodoo. Hard baits like topwaters by mirrolure or even suspended baits will work , I tend to use these earlier in the morning and then transition to soft plastics as the day goes on. It’s a numbers game and all about accurate casting and covering water, you want to be ahead of the fish and swim your bait right past their nose if you can. I’ve caught some of my best fish blind casting in the direction the school was headed. LAstly as the water temps start to warm I will focus on catching snook. The day time bite will be good but my favorite way of fishing for these fish is at nite in the dock lites. We will be offering more charters this year for this type of fishing so if you want to learn how it works give us a call. My technique for this is usually free lining live shrimp or bait fish such as pinfish or croaks through the light or on the edge of the light line. don’t necessarily focus on being right in the light , the bigger fish will be hiding in the shadows. There’s nothing like getting wacked by an upper or over slot snook when you least expect it. Give us a call if you’d like to get out there and experience these types of fishing techniques for yourself. As always have fun and if you see us on the water say hello!