Turn to hard-plastic baits to catch redfish and speckled trout this month
A few years ago, I made a trip with Capt. Charlie Thomason out of his dock in Hopedale, for what I hoped would be some April speckled trout and redfish action. Thomason didn’t disappoint. His tactic then was to start our trip fishing the pass between Hopedale Lagoon and Lake Ameda with hard baits. We tossed shallow swimming crankbaits, fancasting on all sides of the boat, and we did the same with topwater baits also. We’d drift at times, stick at times, troll at times, and moved elsewhere under outboard power at times; and over the course of the morning we slammed some beautiful trout, or rather, they slammed us!
I asked Thomason recently what his tactic would be for this April. His response: “Exactly the same.”
“April is deep in the trout transition period between winter and spring; the weather is still quirky and there’s not much bait in the water,” he said. “What bait you do find is finfish; mullet, croakers, pogies and minnows, so that will be the primary food source for hungry specks and reds. Naturally, you want to match the hatch, and fish with a bait resembling what they’re primarily feeding on.
“That makes this prime time for hard-bait fishing. Try suspending baits, or slow sinking baits, which keep the bait in the strike zone a little longer, and toss surface walkers (topwater baits). All can produce some really nice fish this month, and experiencing the fish explode on them adds a whole different thrill for anglers. I absolutely love fishing them this time of year.”
Moving water
Thomason said the fish will tend to stage this month in 1 ½ to 5 feet of water, especially in areas that have a shell bottom. The water can still be chilly this month and the shells hold onto the heat making the water a bit warmer over them. Baitfish will congregate and feed in those areas and that will draw the specks and reds.
“You’ll want to find areas with moving water,” Thomason said. “It doesn’t matter whether the tide is rising or falling as long as it’s moving, but you don’t want it to be moving too fast. Too much current is as bad as not enough current, so seek those conditions and look for clean water, particularly in areas with a shell bottom or a half shell-half mud bottom.”
Thomason said a key factor is to fish the lee side of a shoreline when fishing hard-plastic baits.
“I know that seems opposite of the usual logic; which is the windblown side stacks up the bait so that’s where you want to fish with the wind against your back,” he said. “Which works fine when you’re fishing live or dead bait or jigs under a cork. But not for this kind of fishing. The windblown side is more turbulent leaving the water stirred up and stained, whereas the lee side will have the clearer water, which is important because the fish will be hunting visually. So, when you are fishing these baits you want to be throwing either directly into the wind, or at an angle alongside it.”
Adjust your retrieve
Thomason also said you’ll want to adjust your retrieve according to the weather.
“The fish will not likely be stacked up anywhere, but will usually be scattered and you’ll have to be prepared to move around and hunt for them,” he said. “One of my favorite places to do that in April is along the shoreline of the MRGO, anywhere from the dam in Hopedale all the way down to the rocks. It’s a perfect area for the baitfish to stage because it drops from 1 or 2 feet along the bank, down to 5 or 6 feet a short way out, and then it plunges to 20 feet or more.
“You’ll want to set up where you’re casting into the wind or diagonally alongside it, and if you’re using a shallow swimming or slow sinking twitch bait, toss it out, give it a twitch or two and let it sit for 5, 10, maybe even 15 seconds before twitching again, depending on the water temperature. If it’s warm you can be more active and aggressive and reel a bit faster because the fish will be feeding more aggressively. But slow it down on colder days, let your bait sit a bit before twitching and reeling to give them a chance to hit it. And the same thing holds true for fishing topwater baits.”
Thomason said you’ll be doing a lot of casting and retrieving, but your efforts should pay off with some explosive action.
Best baits
When asked about his favorite baits for April, Thomason said he likes the Catch 5’s or MirrOdine baits in the XL size.
“They resemble pogies and all fish love to eat pogies,” he said. “They’re easier to cast, have a larger profile and the specks and reds eat them up. I like the black back gold side or silver side colors with a white or chartreuse belly, or anything resembling a mullet. And the Paul Brown Fat Boy baits work extremely well right now.
“For topwaters, my absolute favorite this month is a She Dog or She Pup MirrOlure. The smaller baits are definitely more productive in early spring, and my favorites are the hot pink color, the bone color and the speckled trout or mullet color.”
Contact Capt. Charlie Thomason via his website: www.captcharlie.com.
