As we head into early March, the bay waters are warming and weather this week was fair for coastal anglers. The sluggish winter pattern is slowly fading and fish are becoming more aggressive in their feeding habits. On Wednesday, we fished using live shrimp under a popping cork on the protected shoreline of East Bay. We boxed about a dozen nice trout in the 2 lb. range and a few keeper flounder. There were also a lot of undersized trout hitting. Morning tides were low, which pushed fish out off of shoreline but still reachable when wading. The tides were at near normal levels in the afternoon later in the week when east-southeast winds returned. We decided Friday evening to take a ride out to the bay reefs close to shorelines out of Siever's Cut and we found fair numbers of trout on dark-colored soft plastics. Bay reefs should heat up in the weeks to come, weather permitting. On Saturday, we took a short run down to the Baffle Point area along the rocks and used live shrimp under a popping cork. There were bull reds there to strip some line. Lots of fun and sore arms! We also had slot reds in the 22-24 inch range. If winds stay out of southeast and the Mother Nature cooperates, look for the Bolivar shorelines to get HOT for Spring Breakers. On Saturday evening, I was looking in front of the house along the bulkhead there were tons of little baby shrimp waiting to move out into the bay. This will happen soon. There are also lots of bait fish staging along shorelines and marsh drains already. So, when fishing these areas, make short moves and stay patient. We took a ride on Sunday morning to look at different areas around Pelican and Sand Islands. The water was very nice in those areas and showed good sign. Until next week, see you on the water.
Capt. Ronnie Scheck
