What’s on the move during the month of April?
April is the soft opening of the inshore fishing season. Water temperatures are slowly climbing, salt marshes are stirring back to life, and baitfish are on the move. For many anglers, it’s a time to shake off the winter rust. But for the observant few, April offers a chance to pattern the first waves of forage – and to fish smarter because of it.
Understanding what bait is active, where it’s holding, and how predators interact with it, can mean the difference between casting practice and consistent action. Here’s a breakdown of what’s swimming now, and how you can match the hatch for April success.
Killies
These hardy little forage fish are among the first to show consistent activity each spring. Mummichogs, often called “killies” by local anglers, inhabit shallow tidal creeks and salt marsh edges, where mud warms faster than open water. You’ll find them finning along the edges of ditches, paddling in warm puddles, and hiding in eel grass.
Predators like schoolie striped bass, winter flounder, and early-run weakfish snack heavily on these fish, especially during a rising tide when mummichogs spread out across the flats.
Target the edges of marshes or creek mouths on a flood tide with small, dark-colored soft plastics in the 2 to 3-inch range. Jig slowly and stay tight to structure. A small jighead with a black Keitech or Zoom paddletail is deadly here.
Spearing
Silversides are the classic “bait ball” fish – slim, silver-backed, and always on the move. They start appearing in April in sandy shallows, marina pockets, and open bay flats. If you spot a flash in the shallows or a nervous scatter along the surface, it’s likely spearing.
These are a favorite early-season snack for schoolie stripers, hickory shad, and even weakfish that might show up that by month’s end.
Cast small slender plastics like Albie Snax, Zoom Flukes, or epoxy flies. Use a dart-and-pause retrieve just under the surface to mimic panicked bait. Fish often swipe rather than strike – stay sharp on the pause.
Grass Shrimp
Grass shrimp may be tiny, but they’re a massive part of the early-season food web. They cling to submerged vegetation, especially eelgrass, and are flushed out by tidal movements –
especially during night tides with a soft moon. Grass shrimp hatches often trigger brief but furious feeding windows, particularly for weakfish and smaller stripers.
Go small and subtle. Use pink or clear shrimp-pattern flies or tie a small teaser above a light bucktail. Slowly drift or twitch along sod banks, grass beds, or the edges of shallow channels. Night fishing can be particularly productive when these critters are on the move.
River Herring & Alewives
By mid to late April, river herring and alewives begin their spawning runs up tidal rivers and creeks. These baits bring in a better class of striped bass – 28-inch fish and up – that stage near chokepoints like bridges, culverts, and fish ladders.
Though you can’t legally target or harvest herring as bait, you can imitate them with big-profile lures and fish the ambush points where stripers lie in wait. Use 5- to 7-inch swimbaits like Savage Gear Pulse Tails, Storm Shads, Gags Shads or Tsunami Shads. Work them slowly just above bottom structure near tidal inflows on the outgoing tide. Look for signs of life – a heron posted on a bank is a giveaway that herring are moving.
Sandworms & Bloodworms
While not baitfish in the traditional sense, worms are an essential part of the early spring menu. On sunny days, worms wriggle out from the mud and attract flounder, schoolies, and the occasional early blackfish. You’ll often see birds picking at mud flats after a warm tide, a good visual cue.
Use real worms or Gulp. Sandworms rigged on hi-lo rigs or Dropper setups. Fish slowly, close to bottom, and let scent do the work. This is especially effective in warmer back bay creeks.
Bunker (Menhaden)
No baitfish flips the inshore switch quite like bunker. While adult bunker typically show up toward late April into May, warmer springs and south winds can push them in earlier.
At the same time, juvenile bunker (peanut bunker) that overwintered in creeks and bays begin to stir, drawing attention from schoolies, cocktail blues, and even early weakfish.
Look and listen – bunker schools are easy to spot with their nervous flips, occasional splashes, and oily slicks. Cast large paddle-tail swimbaits, bunker-colored plugs, or slow-trolled mojo rigs. If you’re boat fishing, snagging and rehooking on an inline circle hook techniques can be lethal once the bigger stripers are confirmed.
Use mid-sized soft plastics like Storm Shads, Tsunami Swim Shads, or smaller walk-the-dog lures if smaller bunker are around. Fish them with slow, steady retrieves around back bay coves, creek mouths, and marina edges – anywhere you see bait flipping in tight pods.
April fishing is often less about covering miles and more about tuning in to the first signs of life. Keep your eyes open – bubbling along a shoreline might signal shrimp, shimmering flashes could mean spearing, and a swirl by a culvert could mean bass on herring. Match the size, shape, and movement of the prevalent bait, and you’ll find yourself on the bite sooner than most.
Photo Caption – Find the bait and you will find the fish during the month of April.
