May Flounder Trip / Need Advice

[Stormin' Norman]

I'm planning a trip to the back bays of OC and AI for either May 6 or 12. I've only fished these areas in the late summer, so I'm a little uncertain of what to expect this early in the year.

Can anyone give me advice on what I can expect to find during early / mid May. Mostly I'll be drifting a minnow / squid combo for flounder. But probably will also be tossing some BAs and jigging some metal around the inlet.

Will the flounder be back up in the bays by then? How about stripers, blues, trout?

Hoping to get a shot at the larger flatties that all seem to be gone by the end of the summer :D

Thanks for the help.

Norman

[longfin2]

Norman, forget the minnow squid combo. Get yourself up on a flat in 4-6ft of water thats next to a channel. Tandem rig 2 small (I like 3/8 oz.) bucktails or use the heaviest spec rig you can find. A 3-4" nicely tapered piece of squid on each hook, drop it down right next to the boat and jig it while you're drifting, keeping it as close to the boat and straight up and down as possible. If you feel ANYTHING different , set the hook, NO dropback. I fthe water is clear you can watch them hit it or follow it to the boat. If you miss one get it right back down on his head and he'll hit it again. Contrary to most peoples beliefs, flounder will chase a bait avery long way, they don't just lay there doing this:rolleyes:

[Water_boy]

I've fished OC a couple times in early May with mixed results. From what I can tell the weather has a big effect on the fishing and it can be hot or cold. Look for warm sunny days, not after a cold, wet, windy front. Seemed to me that I did better on the outgoing tide on the edge of the flats, when the tide is coming in stay away from the inlet.