Florida Gulf Coast Fishing Report – March, 2017

March Madness is not just about college basketball. March can bring madness to those of us who love to fish as well. March is usually the month when things start to come alive on the west coast of Florida but Mother Nature will be the determining factor. As water temps slowly climb the bait will appear back on the flats and become the food of choice. Big Speckled Trout fishing should be good this month on both live bait and artificial lures on shallow dark bottom flats. Big trophy sized Snook will slowly start their push from the deeper back water winter time haunts out onto the Flats for the spring feed. They are usually very hungry as they poor out due to the warming water and a need to fatten up for the summer spawn. 

Redfish schools will appear on the flats in mid-March as they seem to know that the bait has shown up and they’ve come enjoy the easy feast. New schools of Redfish will be skittish for several days as they move from the deeper water up onto the flats but once they settle down it is game on. Live Pilchards, Pinfish or cut Mullet will all work on the Redfish as will any number of artificial lures. I prefer the Mirro-Lure Lil John XL in molting as Redfish can’t resist this little mullet imitator. March is also a great month for early morning top water action on big Speckled Trout, Snook and Redfish. Stick with natural colors for your top water plugs this time of year and fish the Mullet schools as rummaging Mullet kick up a great deal of crustaceans on the flats for gamefish to forage on. As water temps near that magical 72 degree mark the beaches will come alive with Kingfish. Anchor up or slow troll areas of hard bottom or structure such as reefs and wrecks and catching that big Kingfish becomes a real possibility. Large Treadfin Herring, Pilchards or even silver spoons will all produce Kingfish in late March. March can be windy so pick your offshore days wisely. Of course, this is all part of fisherman’s March Madness. If Mother Nature’s in a good mood then all of this will happen, if not it’s any body’s guess!  

Catch Capt. Michael Anderson every Saturday morning on News CH8 at 6:30am for the Reel Animals Fishing Show and Saturdays for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00am to 8:00am and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the TA Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7am to 9am or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish.