Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly reports that as temperatures rise and even more bait starts to return in May the redfish should feed more regularly. The tailing activity at high tide should pick up as reds devour consistently available fiddler crabs, and fish should also eat better at low and moving tides in the creeks. Docks will continue to hold fish. If you can get live shrimp they are hard to beat, but finger mullet, small menhaden, mud minnows, and more will also catch redfish. Trout fishing should also pick up in moving water over shell bars, and both jigs and shrimp will catch fish - as well as finfish baits. Big roe trout will be in the main rivers to spawn. Topwater activity for both trout and reds should also improve this month during low light periods, but the most exciting development in May is usually that the cobia return in numbers to the Broad River. A few had already been seen by late April, and people will catch them both sight-fishing and anchoring baits on the bottom. Tripletail, bluefish, ladyfish, and other migratory species will also be around in ever-greater numbers, and the bigger flounder should continue to show up after starting to trickle back inshore during April. Finally, don’t overlook the sheepshead bite around docks and other structure on fiddler crabs – especially before it gets very hot and patterns change.

Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly **hidden content**) reports that in April redfish will be almost completely broken out of their tight winter schools on the flats, although there will continue to be docks that hold good numbers of fish. Although they can be a little finicky, cut mullet will be a good bait for reds this month as will live shrimp. As temperatures continue to rise they will feed more and more on fiddler crabs, and tailing activity should get better and better on high water. Trout fishing will also improve in April in moving water, with small live shrimp, mud minnows, and grubs all working. By the end of March big trout were already showing up and biting well. Topwater activity for trout and reds should also start this month during low light periods. This month many of the larger sheepshead that have moved offshore will return inshore, where they can be caught around docks and other structure on fiddler crabs. By the latter part of the month some cobia should arrive and perhaps other migratory species such as bluefish, ladyfish and more.

Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly reports that March fishing will depend on weather conditions, and at some point river flats redfish will start to break out of their tight winter schools. There were some early signs this was happening at the end of February. Early in the month sight-fishing should be productive, and both live bait and artificials can catch fish. Later in the month fish should start to spread out more and forage for fiddler crabs. At the same time, structure like docks that hold fish virtually year-round should fish well throughout the month. Trout should continue to get more active in March, particularly in clean, moving water, and they will take live shrimp fished on a jighead or under a cork. Finally, this month many of the larger sheepshead that have moved offshore will return inshore, but there are also plenty of small and medium-sized fish that never left. They can be caught around docks and other structure on fiddler crabs.