Both suspending lures and soft plastics will produce fish.
“I really love jerk baits early in the morning and on cloudy days,” Doc Weiss said. “Once the sun comes out good, they come off of jerk baits.
Chink Sumas adds that he will fish suspending lures, but that he prefers soft plastics.
“I feel better with plastic in my hand,” he said.
Fishing the area demands learning how to use artificial lures. No live bait is available during the later half of the October to March, when the area is productive. Using small hooks and bits of shrimp, Sumas will often fish for small croakers to use for bait.
The area will produce fish all day, but Weiss noted that early in the morning, late in the evening and an hour on either side of a tide change are most productive. Sumas agreed, noting that, although some tidal flow is necessary, a fisherman can find productive places to fish the area in weak as well as strong tides.
Like any place, Sumas said finding fish is the key. Weiss recommended going with a guide at least once, and then fishing it often to get familiar with it.
Sumas pointed out that fish follow a regular pattern, and that the pattern will be repeated year after year.
“Trout bite all year,” Sumas observed. “You just got to find them. During the spring and summer, we never fish here.”
The area is ideal for winter fishing.
“There is never a day we can’t fish,” Weiss said. “These are protected waters. The worse the weather is, the better the fish bite.”
