Sometimes Plan B is the better choice

For me, May is the beginning of the warm water fishing season. With water temperatures returning to the 70 degree range, the number of available fish species explodes. 

In May, one of the biggest fishing challenges is deciding what to fish for.  

On Saturday, the weather forecast was for light winds and calm seas — perfect conditions for targeting cobia and spadefish over the artificial reefs. This was Plan A.

However, upon arriving at the end of the jetties, it became clear an alternate plan was needed. A cool north easterly breeze was creating washing machine conditions. Rather than slog through the slop to the reefs, I implemented Plan B. Targeting big redfish around the rocks of the jetties.

Using the trolling motor, I positioned the Pathfinder within easy casting distance of the rocks.  Then I began casting a Pearl Z-Man 4-inch Jerk ShadZ on a 3/8-ounce jig to irregularities in the jetty.

After a few casts, a bluefish ate my lure. A few more casts produced a Spanish mackerel. Soon, weakfish and sea trout were added to the list of species caught and released. 

The bite was varied but a bit slow. So, I moved to another section of the jetty. After positioning the boat near a low spot in the jetty, I cast the Jerk ShadZ right next to the rocks and let the cur-rent bounce it into the channel. This is a highly effective technique for catching redfish. 

It is even more effective at catching rocks.

For the next hour, I caught a lot of rocks and lost a ton of lures. Thankfully, persistence eventually paid off and a school of decent size redfish took up station adjacent to the boat. For 30 minutes, the bite was on fire.

On the ride back to the boat landing, I thought that was a good day of fishing. Steady action, lots of species.

Not bad for Plan B.

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at capgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.