The Benefits of April Showers
If there is one good thing about Springtime, it might be that even if the weather doesn’t always please us, it can be somewhat predictable. One thing you can count on is that there will be plenty of wind. The other factor that can be a guaranteed is that we will get some scattered showers throughout the short-lived season. Don’t let these spring rains discourage you though as they can be helpful. We all know the old adage of “April showers brings May flowers.” Well, it will bring flowers to your yard but it will also bring something just as great to your marsh.
As I am looking at the current radar for the next week, it is showing scattered showers popping up nearly every day. Of course this keeps me off the water but it gives me time to do a few things that I need to catch up on. One of those is some yearly maintenance on the boat, like changing the engine oil and some other basic PM stuff. The other is that I need to find some time for would be tying a few flies – my fly boxes have become quite depleted. It is that time of the year and I might as well knock it all out at ounce.
Once this rain is over I am going to want to be prepared for what’s bound to come. The best part of these showers is that the fresh water inflow to our marsh system helps bloom the wigeon grass in the back ponds…and this is exactly what you are wanting to find!
By now there should be a bit of fresh grass beginning to show in certain areas of some ponds. It will usually appear first in small patches along the shorelines or in the back of pockets. When the weather gets right and we get a little bit of rain and some good sunlight, the growth will really explode. I have fished a pond midweek that didn’t have much grass in it and thought that I would check back on it in a month. The very next day we got a good rain that was followed with a full day of sunshine and by the weekend, that whole pond had blossomed with good, thick grass. Also, what came along with the grass was quite a few redfish had moved into that pond as well. It didn’t take them long to figure out that is where they needed to be.
There is a lot more to the importance of seagrass than you might think. For starters, it gives the bottom a solid base and can help with erosion from tides and storms. There are several ecological benefits to it but I’ll let a biologist cover that in a proper way. Strictly for the viewpoint of anglers, it’s a must have. Good hearty grass beds give cover and homes to every kind of baitfish that lives in our estuaries: shad, mullet, shrimp, crabs, mud minnows, and the list goes on. Everything thrives in it! Another thing that the grass does is that it helps filter some of the dirt and particles in the water. The result is that it will clean the water and clear it up.
Fishing in the grass can have its own set of difficulties but with the right lures, it can be done very effectively. The first rule of thumb is to stay away from treble hooks. It is just too much of a hassle. If you want to and have the time, you can change the treble hooks out to singles and that will help but it’s not perfect. If you want to throw a topwater then I would recommend throwing a popping Spro frog. Trust me, a redfish will crush it! Another set up is to have a light belly-weighted widegap hook. With this, you can put on a swimbait and rig it weedless and won’t have to worry about hanging up in the grass. With that same hook, you can rig up a Ribbit frog which can also be worked as a topwater by reeling a little quicker or it can be slowed down and swam through virtually any portion of the water column. These are a few of my personal go-to lures when I find marsh redfish staging and feeding in heavy grass.
Spring is almost over and the dog days of summer will be here before you know it. I know that the current weather forecast can be tough for an angler but don’t let it get to you. Just remember, Mother Nature has a plan and with that, she’s going to bring anglers something great.
