Goodwin uses 7-foot light to medium-light Star rods with Shimano Stradic or Penn Slammer spinning reels spooled with 6- to 12-pound-test line. "These rods have a medium action but are not too stiff or heavy. You need something with a little more backbone in case you hook up with that 5-pound flounder or that 10- or 12-pound drum, or God willing, one of those 6-pound-plus speckled trout," Goodwin said.

Goodwin uses a Carolina rig for live bait with a 14- to 18-inch fluorocarbon leader in 10- to 15-pound-test rigged with a 1/8- to 1/2-ounce egg sinker just heavy enough to keep the bait on the bottom and a Sea Striker wide-bend 2/0 or 3/0 hook. "You work these live baits slow or stopped. You want to put the bait where you anticipate the fish being, on the edge of the oyster rocks or the holes or sloughs of the creeks.

"Occasionally, stop all of these live baits and let them sit, and then move them slowly; they will do the work for you. When using the shrimp, you can turn it into a floating rig by adding a popping cork. Sea Striker has a great popping cork that you can add to your line without ever changing the rig," Goodwin said.

If no live bait is available, Goodwin switches to soft plastics. "The Got-Cha curlytail and paddle tails in 3- to 4-inch size are my favorites. White or red jigheads in 1/8- and 1/4-ounce are the best with a lime green plastic. Two more good colors are white and either smoke or charcoal. Fish these with a bouncing motion across the bottom," Goodwin said.

With so many opportunities across the state, these are just a few options with great potential, so lock the guns up and cast a line sometime this month.