On the Water: March brings warming waters, good fishing
Good things happen this month on the waters around Southwest Florida. The kick-off to the spring fishing season is in full effect as we transition out of winter to the warm days of spring.
For the next couple of months or until daily afternoon rains begin, we experience the clearest water of the year along our coast. It’s the perfect time to explore the inshore and nearshore waters, learn new areas and look for fish or locate and mark structure that looks fishy.
Over the winter months we have endless days with low tides and little water to navigate. That will change and make it possible to fish areas that were not accessible over the past several months. Spring tides arrive with higher water over daytime hours. Yes, we still have low water, but not all day, every day.
This is the month to catch the largest seatrout of the year. They are aggressive as they head into spawning season and feed on a variety of baits. It’s common to catch trout to 24 inches with the possibility of even larger fish. They are often in schools — if you’re lucky enough to come across a school of big ones, it can provide non-stop action.
As the coastal waters warm, it triggers some of the best snook fishing of the year. When the water rises to 70 degrees or above and holds, the snook become very active, on the move and hungry. Like many of our gamefish, their primary diet consists of oily bait fish that invade the warming waters. Snook of all sizes are a blast to catch. Snook season reopens this month.
Higher water this month allows for good opportunities to catch redfish along mangrove shorelines and oyster bars. It’s possible to catch redfish, snook and large seatrout from the same area along shorelines and oyster bars. Anglers looking for a challenge have early morning low tides to hunt redfish tailing over the shallow flats.
The winter sheepshead run winds down over the month. There’s still a chance to land big ones around inshore structure and nearshore reefs. Sheepshead got a late start this year, with improved catches as we closed out February. Good action will continue into the month. Inshore, tasty pompano and permit are caught fishing with shrimp or small pompano jigs. They often run in schools and prefer a hard or sand bottom along channel edges, bar drop offs and around the beaches.
Spanish mackerel is a great fish to catch as they are ferocious feeders, lightning fast, run in schools and offer a great fight. Prepared fresh, they offer excellent table fare that is often overlooked. To me they are the perfect fish when looking for fun and action. When mackerel are present, odds are good that sharks are nearby — sharks love snacking on mackerel.
Offshore, on days with calm seas, there are good opportunities for a variety of fish including reef dwellers like snapper, grouper, grunts, porgies, sheepshead and others. As the water warms, schools of fast-moving Spanish and king mackerel, false albacore or bonito, and possibly some blackfin tuna, are making their way up the coast and busting up any schooling bait fish they encounter, often well within sight of land. Cobia are prowling gulf waters, and many are hooked around artificial reefs. They can get big; keep a few heavy rods rigged and ready, you never know what may show up. Tripletail is a possibility. Most are sighted hanging under floating debris, buoys and structure. Tarpon start showing off the coast, beginning to the south and moving north. Just how early this happens in the month is based on the weather and water temperature.
March weather is often all over the place. Cool days, windy at times and perfect sunny days are expected as we move into the warm season. As of this writing, red tide in area waters has dissipated and fishing has improved as a result.
Overall, it’s a great month to get on the water and enjoy good fishing.
Stay up to date with fishing regulations by visiting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission at: www.myfwc.com. Also, upload the Fish Rules app on your phone. It has current regulations with pictures to help identify fish. If you turn on your GPS location the Fish Rules app updates to your location. In my opinion, it is more accurate and up to date than FWC’s
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, please contact us at Gulf Coast Guide Service — call or text 239-410-8576; website at www.fishpine island.com; or email gcl2fish@live.com
Have a safe week and good fishin’
As a lifetime resident of Matlacha and Pine Island, Capt. Bill Russell has spent his life fishing and learning.