Bay County Outdoors Inshore Fishing Report

Spring is hers and spring like fishing can be found throughout the bays. Speckled trout have started moving out of the deeper parts of the bayous and creeks towards the mouths where they have congregated in good numbers. The best bite has been on jigs fished near the bottom but plenty of other lures will get it done as well. When the fish are really thick and feeding I will usually go to a larger bait to try and weed out some of the bites from smaller fish. Bigger, solitary trout will be mixed in around the edges of the small fish in shallower water and there will also be some fish that are loners cruising the shore-lines looking for mullet schools.

Also cruising shallow shore-lines are schools of good sized redfish. Most of the redfish are upper-slot fish with several fish mixed in up to 30". I target them mainly midday after the sun starts warming the shallows and the fish get a little more inclined to chase and eat a lure. I typically use DOA Lures or Storm 360 Coastal soft plastic baits presented to fish that I see or a feature that looks like it might house a good fish. In addition to the plentiful amount of redfish in the shallows there are also big schools in deeper water hanging around big points. The best way to find which points are holding fish is to look for activity of various kinds in the area. That could be other kinds of fish feeding, birds working baits, or baitfish schools that look or act nervous. At this point I will use my Humminbird Down and Side Imaging Sonar to look for fish in the area. Once fish are located on the sonar simply Spot-lock with your Ulterra trolling motor and start fishing.

There are a bunch of sheepshead around at the moment making their way toward the pass. Im sure there are already plenty of them there but on a daily basis I have had schools of them swim by me on the flats headed that direction. They are one of the hardest fish around to try catch in clear, shallow water but when they get into deeper water with structure they let their guard down and chew pretty good. Live or dead shrimp or small crabs fished on the bottom work the best but sometimes if they are feeding good you can catch them on natural colored soft plastic jigs.

Good luck. If you have additional questions about what's biting, how to catch them, or you would like to book a trip give me a call or shoot me an email.

Capt. Nathan Chennaux
Captainnate@baycountyoutdoors.com
Phone: 850-258-7235