After what was almost a full week of near-perfect April conditions, the weather quickly changed, giving way to yet another windy, cold front. Although it was a subtle front, it was enough to drop water temperatures from a perfect 78 to 71°, basically overnight. Behind the front, we also experienced strong winds for a few days.
Changing gears from Tarpon fishing to hiding in the mangroves and catching snook, trout, and redfish was what it required to keep on fishing. Slow one-tide days did not help either, and not a single fish seemed to come easily. In the few days following the front, every part of fishing was a grind. Bait became hard to find, and moving around a lot was what it took to catch fish. Luckily, we have lots of options and, as usual, following a front, we had to change the target species for success.
As April comes to an end, we should be all but done with cold fronts, and conditions will become much more stable. Tarpon fishing will kick into high gear as these migratory fish show up in huge numbers throughout the month of May. We have already had a good start with lots of early-season fish showing up. The action on the causeway bridges has been very consistent on both live and cut bait…