Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 4/1/26-4/15/26

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 4/1/26-4/15/26

By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Springtime fishing was in full showout mode through the previous fortnight as the sheepshead bite peaked during that period. The weather was fantastic most of the time, and the water remained clear and mostly calm for all but one day. Consequently, the sheepshead bite at the Gulf State Park Pier was off the chain in mid March with some really solid prespawn females caught that tipped the scales into double digits. Then the bite of male sheepshead took over as the spawn commenced through the last week of the month until the Gulf got rough and dingy for several days.
Live shrimp seemed to be the preferred bait, and it wasn’t much use fishing with anything else. As a result, live shrimp were very hard to find at times, for the shrimpers and for the anglers. As usual this time of year, some live bait shops resorted to having live shrimp trucked in from the Florida Big Bend in a valiant effort to keep up with demand. Still, there have been so many anglers in the area (during Spring Breaks) that it was difficult for baitshops to stay fully stocked.. And will remain so until the supply of locally caught shrimp increases and/or demand decreases.
Catch efforts from the west jetty at Perdido Pass have been good at times as well for sheepshead, though the seawall and under the bridge were not as productive this season for some reason. Spanish mackerel have been hit-or-miss from the jetty and the pier lately, but again the seawall has been lagging far behind. On the beaches, pompano remain relatively scarce and many that have been caught were small or undersized. The same story with flounder, as mostly undersized flounder are being caught in the surf and from the pier. Part of that story though may well be the lopsided angler effort in favor of sheepshead though.

The wild sheepshead bite anglers have experenced through the past month is set to wane through the coming weeks, especially after the full moon April 1st. That is no fooling. But anglers can expect to see more numbers of other fish species as the Gulf water temperatures rise to near or over 70 degrees. The warmer water attracts more fish into the area including more varied and abundant baitfish. So far most of the available food fish nearshore has been in the form of scattered schools of one to two inch long mullet. Squid are also in the mix, and they are a favorite meal for early arriving spanish mackerel. Some anglers on the Gulf State Park Pier took advantage of the abundance of squid to catch their own for calimari. But artificials like the infamous Gotcha plug are a favorite lure to catch spanish mackerel. This easy casting, darting lure with two sharp treble hooks catches mackerel in the mouth or anywhere else it touches. But just as easily they catch a lot of careless anglers too. That’s why they call it Gotcha! Many resident mackerel fishers prefer the locally made ½ to ¾ ounce white jigs like the Looney Jig that has been around for over 45 years. It resembles a squid and ports only a single hook to minimize accidental hookings. Be sure to add a leader though, made with 20 to 40 pound monofilament to help protect your investment by detering those ultra sharp spanish mackerel teeth.
Once the Scaled and False herring (locally called LYs) begin to show up and hang around the pier and in Perdido Pass, larger predators like king mackerel, jack crevelle, bull redfish, and cobia will be close behind. Water temperature is the critical factor to get these baitfish to move inshore and attract gamefish within reach of shorebound anglers.
More pompano should be on the prowl in the surfzone during this period as their potential prey items like mole crabs (sandfleas), coquina clams, augers, ghost shrimp and other benthic invertebrates become more active in the warming waters. Anglers should study the water and waves to understand the beach and surf zone geography and look for the most likely locations these fish should be feeding in and concentrate their fishing effort there. Success though often means adjusting to conditions as they change through the course of each day in order to identify a feeding pattern the angler can take advantage of in the future.
Variable factors such as wave height, direction and duration along with water clarity and tidal movement are very critical in determining when and where fish feed in the surf. Even cloud cover, wind direction and speed can control aspects that trigger the fish’s urge to feed. Surfcasters should experiment with bait placement, terminal rigs, and other presentation issues to find what the fish will bite at a given time on a given day.
As with last month, this fortnight begins and ends with a NEAP tide. The accronym means Near Even As Possible, in reference to the change in water level controlled by the tides. Less tide change means weaker tidal current at locales like Perdido Pass and Little Lagoon Pass. Slow water movement is often equated with a slow bite, even in these locations. But our tidal movements are not very strong during the week between NEAPs either. So, it doesn’t take much wind to have a profound affect on the tidal current at any specific location. Identifying, and even predicting these phenomenon can be a great aid to angler success.
Speckled trout is another resident fish species that moves into the lower estuaries and surf zone to spawn in the spring. At times when the weather and water cooperate, specks can be caught in good numbers on a variety of lures. Topwater lures that chug or splash across the surface, like Heddon’s Spook, and Rapala’s Skitterwalk are standards to fish in this manner. Specks can be caught on a wide variety of lures that take advantage of the varied food sources they are looking for. Many different spoons, plugs, and jigs work on these trout staging in the surf zone a short distance from shore. Many anglers prefer to wade fish after them, but waders are recommended because the water is still relatively cool to human skin. At least Southern human skin 😉 LOL