Pompano. The silver bullet of surf catches, these fish are prized for their dogged fighting ability and their mild meat. These are migratory fish coming from the south and from deeper water looking, in particular, for sand fleas, shrimp and small crabs. If you are new to pompano fishing and just want to catch one of the danged things, do this: fish live or very fresh shrimp on the bottom during an incoming tide. Use a half-ounce egg sinker and twenty-pound mono leader. The incoming tide will tend to wash your rig toward you, just keep the line tight by slowly taking in slack. Remember that pompano like to feed very close to the breaking waves. More experienced pompano hunters will use Nylures tipped with sand fleas at the East End on the bay side of the point during strong out-going flows.
Spanish mackerel. These speedy predators with the neon colors are feeding mainly on white bait (pilchards, menhaden, etc) so they are often targeted with silver spoons and other flashy, fast-moving lures. The mackerels charge through schools of baitfish in a slashing attack, leaving many wounded minnows and parts of minnows tumbling toward the bottom. Many times the larger mackerel are patrolling the bottom feeding on the cadavers with a minimum of effort. That is why oft times pompano anglers, fishing their jigs on the bottom consistently catch bigger Spanish that anglers targeting them with fast moving spoons. Speckled trout. Our most popular game fish. There are two types of specks: those that live on the beach side and go deep into the ocean during the winter and bay trout that go up the rivers and creeks. To find the trout in the surf look for the deepest water between the sand bar and the shore; the deeper water will look darker. The surest way to find out if there are any trout in the hole is to toss in a live shrimp, either weighted or free-lined. You shouldn't have to wait long, after five minutes go to the next hole. On the bayside look for big trout in very skinny water around oyster bars or grass lines near deep water. One nice thing about spring surf fishing is that there is dependable action during the convenient daylight hours; so bring a chair, slosh on the sunscreen, and prepare to enjoy the day because at some point during the incoming tide there will be fish along the length of the beach. In spring, patience is an easy but necessary ingredient for a successful fishing recipe.
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