Early Season Hot Spots

Hit these sweet spots for your first fish of the spring.

By Tom Schlichter

Every crew wants that first fishing trip of the spring to set a positive tone for the year ahead, and there’s no better way to make that happen than by getting off to a quick start. Problem is, from the fish’s viewpoint, in most coastal saltwater fishing environments the water is still relatively cool. That can leave your cold-blooded quarry feeling quite sluggish and, thus, somewhat ambivalent about engaging with serious enthusiasm.

Of course, there are some proven techniques designed to manage this exact dilemma. Slowing retrieves to a crawl, choosing live or cut bait over artificials, and opting for smaller, soft-plastic lures with limited tail action and lifelike color patterns are solid examples. All these modifications are worthy of consideration, but be warned: They only arm you for battle. Searching out some sweet spots is where the war is won.

There’s no doubt in my mind that targeting warm pockets is the most important key to early season success on the inshore scene. After all, the most popular sportfish species will naturally gravitate toward warmer temperatures when they find them at this time of year. An increase of only two or three degrees can make a huge difference in their willingness to feed and, thus, your odds of success. Find the preferred habitat your primary target enjoys, centered in a warming pocket, and the fishing can be prime—even on day one of a new season.

The back story here is that over the winter many fish simply depart shallow coastal waters in favor of deeper offshore haunts where the temperature may be less prone to quick fluctuations than on inshore flats. Other species, like snook, redfish, and speckled sea trout along the southern coast, or juvenile striped bass in more northern waters, instead run up and seek refuge in tidal rivers and creeks, which offer more protection from the cold than open bays and larger estuaries. In either case, as these fish trickle back toward the shallows come early spring, they are driven to find warmer water that will kick their metabolism back into a higher gear.

One of my favorite early spring areas to probe are hard bottoms near creek outflows. I’ll give you that expansive mud flats can warm up quickly, but a smaller flat with a mix of rocky bottom, some larger stones, and oyster beds dispersed between sandy patches also warms up fast. This scenario offers not only the crabs, shrimp, and crustaceans found on mud bottoms, but plenty of baitfish exiting from upstream that are easily ambushed along a nearby marshy point or from behind hard structures like oyster sets and scattered boulders.

Pocket waters along island edges and cuts between small islands are other great spring starting spots. This is especially so when mangrove borders or overhanging brush are part of the landscape. Look for tiny, protected coves with divots in their vegetation where predatory fish can lurk in several inches of water. Time your exploration of these potential hot spots to late morning or afternoon when the sun is shining right where you hope to cast. Fish light, fish tight, and should you spot a decent target, tease it out of the brush with a slightly short cast, painfully slow retrieve, and a smooth hook-set.

Yet another early season hot spot worth investigating, especially for larger predators returning from ocean waters, is the back side of an inlet. As water enters the bay and begins to slide down the beach, it often eddies upon bumping the first shallows encountered. On the ebb flow, however, warmer water here may be pulled from farther back on the flats, carrying with it small baitfish, crabs, and shrimp that are drawn into the eddy pool, serving as a natural chum click. This is a terrific place to drop a fly if you’re game for such encounters.