By Jason Prieto
March is the month that officially kicks off spring fishing every year. It’s a month that both the bay and gulf come alive. As our big schools of bait show up in the bay the big fish are eager to eat just about everything you throw at them.
Snook takes the stage this month. While there is a ton of fish to target and all are fun, Snook fishing is something special. People every year come from all over the country to catch Snook and anyone who can Snook fish in March won’t be disappointed. Bait of choice is whitebait. It’s a little tough to get as waters are still cold but it will be worth the effort. Snook fishing with whitebait in March is an absolute must. Look for fish of all sizes to start to push out of the rivers and head toward the passes that lead in and out of the flats. Fishing the stronger tides will provide more fish and Snook feed best during these times. My favorite rig is free lined bait with 30 lb Ohero Fluorocarbon and 1/0 Daiichi Circle hook. Season opens for Snook this month but this doesn’t mean you have to keep them. Every year the slot gets fished out and that’s what the slot is designed to do, but ask yourself in the spot you fish, how many slot fish do you see when you leave? Typically there are a bunch of smaller ones mixed with a few slot fish. Simple math tells me that it won’t take many trips to clean those fish out. So the question to ask is if it is better to catch that fish later in the year for an epic fight, or do we keep him and know that it is one less fish we will be able to target. Just some food for thought.
Trout fishing is also at its peak. Trout is a great fish for us as they are great eating and love artificial baits. Using the Mirolure baits is a great choice or if you are throwing soft plastics, the Mirrolure Lil John and the Zman Minnowz are good choices as well. Greenbacks are also a great choice and I do really well using the Cajun Thunder floats with them because they love any kind of surface disturbance.
Redfish is last but not least on the list. I would expect big schools to start showing up toward the latter part of the month. As we get our higher tides during the day and water temperatures rise you will see more Redfish show up in decent numbers and breeder fish will also move in. Tight lines!
