r/DirtyCoastFishing

Good morning Dirty Coast Crew!

Back with another report and this one gets really
interesting!

This weekend is going to be a GREAT weekend to go out at any
time and still catch fish! As long as you strategize it correctly!

Fri-Sunday we have 4 
tide movements throughout a 24hr period. What that means is that the
tides will be changing more frequently throughout the days, and water will be
moving a lot, pushing bait fish in and out of the marshes and bays. About every
4-5 hrs there is a tidal change expected. The winds will be about 5-15 mph most days with an exception for sunday.
Sunday winds will range from 3-10mph throughout the morning.
The key is to fish it correctly. Id fish the end of an
outgoing tide at the mouth of a large marsh or lake. This is when the most bait
will be congregated in a certain spot. This is also when the fish will be
starting to push bait fish back in to the marsh once slack tide is over with.
And the fish will most definitely follow!

The tide will be starting to drop at around 6am so as long
as you’re in the water by 6, you should be fine. Youd be traveing to the mouth of
your favorite marsh or lake during the slack tide and will still be able to catch the end of the
outgoing tide at around 11ish. Since the heat starts cranking up around that
time, it might be smart to be in an area with some shallows around and some
deep areas close by as well. Just so if one 
area doesn’t work, the other should. As long as the baitfish are there.
One important thing that a lot of people miss is if there
are a lot of baitfish but nothing blowing up on it, or no signs of feeding
fish, id leave and try somewhere else. You don’t necessarily have to move far
away from where you're currently at but a slight movement or readjustment makes
a lot of difference.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to launch out of a marina and not
fish around it before you leave. Could be a last spot for one last cast😉
Plenty of times, fishermen on boats or any craft will just
head out of the area and go toward a destination that is so much further away.
But if you think about all the fish guts and bones that get tossed at these areas
when fishermen fillet their fish, it makes sense to fish this. The strong smell
will attract baitfish and game fish to these areas/docks. And it doesn’t necessarily
have to be near the docks, you could just hit a nearby shoreline with some decent
structure and you’ll get on something! Last time I went out, as I was launching,
a dude next to me caught a red off the side of the launch area while waiting for
his buddy to get back in the boat.

Rigging

Id still use croaker, they are getting smoked left and right
anywhere and everywhere! But if you know how to use a cast net or how to target
piggy perch, id do that! Those suckers are candy for trout! Probably more so than
croaker. Lures, again, id stick to simple colors, pink, white, dark. Don’t overcomplicate
it. The reason most people don’t catch fish is because they spend more time
changing out lures than actually casting. I keep 2-3 poles on me if in a vessel
and if wading, I keep 1 rod with a snap on swivel unless im using a hardbait in the A.M.
The 2-3 poles are each rigged differently. My ideal set up
is one with a snap swivel for easy change out of plastics. I only use this rod
for plastics! My second pole will be rigged for a topwater or twitchbait, and my
last pole will be rigged with either a live bait rig if im getting live bait, and if
not then I will also have it with a swivel and plastic. Only difference is id have one dark
and one light plastic on these rods.

Lastly,
any feedbck or anything i can add or remove, let me know! Sorry for the long read today.
For some reason i was in a writing mood yesterday.

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