It’s May, and in the cooler months leading up to now the guides have been finding pre-spawning trout scattered throughout much of our entire San Antonio Bay system, to include lower salinity areas like that of many of our inland estuaries and rivers. However, and as we progress through this month, most all of the trout that are large enough to spawn should soon begin congregating in the larger, more prominent bays. Contributing heavily to these spawning activities also are May’s water temperatures and the length of the days during this month. Needless to say, the spawn will turn-on in full force this month and, consequently, so will the trout’s appetite.

Now then, when we talk about spawning trout, we’re talking about larger-sized female trout. In their younger years, these females probably feed mainly on shrimp and other small crustaceans. However, as they reach their third and fourth years of life, they probably start eating small baitfish like glass minnows, and such. But, as these “big gals” continue to grow, their favorite food becomes larger baitfish like that of mullet and croaker. This is the reason why avid live-bait anglers start looking forward to May, as this is when croaker fishing kicks-off, with their primary targets being areas associated with sand and shell mixtures, or grass-lined potholes if they can find them.

For the artificial enthusiasts, May generally marks a couple of different types of annual regimens. The first being that this will be the month that die-hard wading anglers will no longer need to wear their neoprene or breathable chest-waders, and the second is that regular success on top water baits probably isn’t too far off in the future. It’s in May when anglers should toss smaller top water baits in calm, shallow waters, and larger and noisier surface walkers in heavier chop over deeper water. If you don’t find the bite on top, throw a suspending-bait in the lower portion of the water column until you draw a strike. Regardless, the month of May can’t be beat for having fun. It’s just that simple!