Captain’s Corner: Mike Gore

For the third week in a row now, we have seen a 2-day cold front push down with high winds. While this can make fishing a little tough, it is keeping our water temperature in check. Cooler water temperature now will only make for amazing fishing in April. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month has in store for us. The fish have seen a lot of pressure by fishermen as of late. Fishing later in the day this time of year can help you avoid the crowds.

Snook are eating the best on the bottom of the incoming or the top of the outgoing tides. Try looking for them further out on the grass flats. You will want to free line a scaled sardine on a 1/0 hook with 20 or 30lb fluorocarbon leader for the best results. If the bite slows down I have found that chumming aggressively helps.  

We are starting to see more and more Redfish show up daily. This is a good sign that we may see big schools start to form as the month goes on. Look along mangrove shorelines or the top of bars when the tide is high. You will want to look in potholes and the edges of bars and flats when the tide is low. Scaled sardines, shrimp, and cut bait have all produced good numbers. If using shrimp or cut bait, make sure to use a small split shot and try to keep your bait in the potholes.