Page 72 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2016

SPORTS & OUTDOORS bite time SPRING
fishing
sStory and photos by Kyle Johnson
pring is finally here, and it’s the best time of the year to fish because it can be the easiest month for finding fish, and it’s perfect for family fun fishing.
One of the most sought after fish here is speckled trout. In the winter months, when the temperature drops, the trout make their way into the back
bayous and rivers. This means that most of the time there is no long boat ride or lots of money spent on fuel. During the spring, a few of these trout can still be found in their winter holes. They will start their transition out to open water and like to hang out around the close inshore reefs. Live shrimp is a great bait for trout, but artificial bait will work just as well. The trout will be getting out of that winter mode and will most likely want their artificial bait worked a little faster, but some will still want that easy meal. I find that slowly bumping a soft plastic like an Egret Baits Wedgetail Mullet on a jig head around the reefs is very effective this time of year. This is also when the oh-so-exhilarating top water lure bite kicks into full swing.
An easy target for family fishing is sheepshead. These fish fight hard and they don’t call them the “bay snapper” for nothing; they taste good. Fishing for sheepshead is some of the easiest fishing around and it’s great this time of year. Simply anchor close to the Biloxi/Ocean Springs bridge, Bay St. Louis bridge, or Bay St. Louis train bridge and throw down some live or dead shrimp. On a clear day you can see them feeding on the barnacles that are built up on the columns. A helpful tip is to bring a metal scraper and scrape off some of those barnacles to really get them going.
Fishing for monster bull redfish from land is about as good as it gets. Soaking a whole or cut piece of fresh
mullet is key to landing these big beautiful fish. I have my best luck going out to the end of a pier on the beach and throwing that mullet as far as I can. Waiting for fish to hit is a great time to let kids catch bait such as croakers and white trout on smaller poles to learn how to reel in fish. www.kylejohnsonfishing.com
72 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • March 2016
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Captain Jeremy Mchugh with two healthy speckled trout.
Blake Johnson with a fat redfish he caught while fishing with his Uncle Mike Anderson.
Kyle Perry and his son Kaeden with
a nice Sheepshead.
Misty Perry with her kids Kaeden and Kylynn catching big redfish.
Landon Rhodes and Troy Helwig enjoying some early morning trout fishing.