May has been brutal thus far with lots of cold weather, rough water, rain and northeast winds. This weather has changed the patterns of fishing for this month. The high surf of the oceanfront has been silent for the most part with the coastal ponds as well as the Bay offering far better fishing.
I am finding a lot of fish in "small" spots close to shore. These are places like outflows, sandbars, grassy dropoffs, etc. These are protected spots in which the nasty weather has little effect. I suspect the fish are grubbing along the bottom feeding on morsels of food like grass shrimp and worms. I have seen no bait around. In the past sandeels as well as bay anchovies have been around at this time, but I suspect the cold water has delayed that. There are also no big numbers of large menhaden around. I know that there have been a few small pods roaming the mid Bay, but no big numbers which is also unusual for this time of year. I suppose their presence is never a guarantee. We all know their numbers are in steep decline.
My best producers for May have been plastics on jigheads (Zoom flukes in albino color) as well as Hogys (white is best in 6 or 7 inch....see photo). My friend, Dennis, is really banging them on a rainbow trout colored 7 1/2 inch Slug-Go. Fish these plastics with no weight and a single hook up front.
