March can bring some great days of fishing and some terrible days of weather to the lagoons of east central Florida. We may still have cold fronts pushing through the region bringing high winds and low temperatures or we may finally experience a warmup this year. Wind and water levels will probably be the most important factor when looking for fish this month. Even moderate winds can churn up the bottom making the flats in the center of the Lagoon a muddy mess. High winds can turn the entire area south of Oak Hill into a mud puddle. This makes sight fishing difficult and affects the ability of the fish to see your lures.
Redfish, trout, and black drum will be the three main species to target this month. Many of the reds and drum will still be in schools. Early in the morning, it can be difficult to determine if a school of fish is redfish or drum. If you are throwing lures to a happy school of fish and none are biting, good chance they are drum. While they will sometimes eat lures like the DOA shrimp, most often you will need dead or live shrimp, crab chunks, or other natural baits. Even then, do not be surprised if the drum to not bite. They are notorious for having lockjaw even when you may see them tailing. Redfish, on the other hand, are much more aggressive. Show them something to eat before they are racing away from your boat and they are usually quire cooperative. I prefer a 3” DOA Shad tail on a light jighead bounced along the bottom. This lure even has excellent results when cast in front of schools that are running away. Approach the flat quietly and watch for even the slightest disturbance on the surface. With the lack of grass, you do not see them tailing as much as they used to.
Trout can be caught in both shallow and deeper water. The larger fish can often be located in very shallow water, usually where some mullet are handing around. Average and smaller trout will school in depressions, sloughs and off the edges of flats. Use jerkbaits or topwater lures for the shallow fish and jigs for those in deeper water.
