Any advice? My Father-in-Law is coming into town this weekend, and I’m taking him fishing. Because of other obligations, we are probably going to be fishing the upper half of the incoming tide, then maybe the first hour of outgoing. I typically have very little luck fishing the high water like that unless I’m up on a flat for tailers (not the type of fishing he wants to do).
What types of areas would you guys try to fish in this situation? Maybe target trout with live bait on the bottom around 5-10’ ledges? For reds, maybe fish structure on creeks that don’t have lots of flats nearby? Fish submerged oyster banks with shrimp on popping corks?
I figure I’ll take live shrimp, maybe some live MM, and I’ll throw artificials the majority of the time to scope out the area as best as I can.
High tide is trout time. I usually look for deeper water flats, 4-7’ deep with steep drop off up against the bank. White shell banks or hard bottom banks with some live bottom and good current. Fish a MM under a cork with about 2-3’ of leader under the cork. Look for eddies or something to break up the current and let your bait drift through that area. Most of those areas will be nearer the ocean than the big flats that you catch reds on. This is mostly productive the last two hours of incoming and the first 2 hours of outgoing. If you catch ladyfish, you’re in the right spot, keep trying. Those trout move through in schools and you just have to be there when they are.
What TigerFin said plus live shrimp won’t get passed up by trout, reds, or flounder. Haddrell’s sells out pretty fast. The reds will be right on the grass line as the tide turns to outgoing, but trout are my main target during the upper stages of the tide when the water clears just about everywhere.