Big Wild Wonderful June!
Well, if you don’t learn anything else from reading this editorial you have already learned that I love June. And if you are a coastal fisherman, what’s not to love about it? Many days we get more bites than we can shake a high-modulus graphite rod at, and that’s no exaggeration. As you read through this issue you will find that many of our fishing professionals are in full agreement. “The month of many bites,” is how an old-timer once described it to me.
Why is June’s fishing so good? Actually, it’s kind of a perfect storm that happens every year at this time. Powerful tides have been building since the Equinox; that’s the day the hours of daylight and darkness became equal in the northern hemisphere and it happened on March 20 this year. You may have noticed the tides have been running higher than normal and the currents have been stronger. That’s all part of it. Water temperature, too, has been on the rise, and forage species that sustain our game fish have been migrating into our bays from the gulf – menhaden, glass minnows, and mullet. Which is an important part of their life cycles. Describing the backstory that sets the stage for June’s fishing as a perfect storm is, again, no exaggeration.
Another hugely important element that lends to June’s magic is that the kids are out of school for the summer. Think back to your own school years, was there anything on earth as important as your parents taking the whole family fishing for a weekend; better yet heading to the coast for a full week? Wholesome family time spent outdoors is absolutely invaluable. Get them registered for the CCA STAR Tournament. They could end up winning a valuable college scholarship on top all the great fun they’re having.
What about in your own fishing career? June was always a standout month for me. Unlike springtime when the wind is either howling from the north or screaming from the south, whenever it’s not raining in horizontal sheets. June weather is tailor made for fishing. Not too hot, not to cold, and mostly calm, or at least fishable wind.
