Although the hot weather has been here for some time, the catches have been surprisingly good. Of course, it's an early morning bite and is usually over by 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. for me. I try to get on the water at first light when the water is the coolest it's going to be throughout the day.
At first light, topwater chuggers have produced heart stopping strikes from trout, snook and even some redfish. Redfish are more difficult to hook on a topwater lure than snook or trout, mostly because of their under-slung mouths. Chug Bugs, the 5M series Mirrolures and Bomber Long A's in black backs and chrome undersides are their favorites. As the light comes up more, a switch to white with a red head might be advisable.
Subsurface, I'm still having great success fishing the Deadly Combination rig (Cajun Thunder or Old Bayside Paradise Popper) with a shrimp imitation about two feet under it on a light fluorocarbon leader. Vary the intensity of the pop with the float depending on the water/wave conditions. The bigger the ripple on the water, more noise will draw more fish to the shrimp. Conversely, when it's a very light ripple, tone down the noise. When it's slick, I take off the float and just bump the shrimp along the bottom. I get more strikes with a yellow colored float than any other color by a wide margin. And, I've tried all the colors on the market. Lime green is the next color in the hit parade. Orange is the all-time worst color for me. This, of course, is not a scientific survey, just based on my experience. Also, the floats with the brass beads on the bottom are far more productive than the ones with the plastic beads.
As the day wears on to late morning, the fish move to deeper water and are very lethargic and difficult to catch. Look for a flat edge with deeper water nearby.