Blackfin, mahi, sails, wahoo and pomfret? All are target species off the Treasure Coast in March. While most of our good fishing takes place over the reefs and small seamounts out of the St. Lucie Inlet, this is the time of year to sometimes venture a little further.
March kicks off the âEast Sideâ yellowfin tuna season along with our spring mahi run and when they are here itâs nothing short of National Geographic. Expect more sargassum weedlines and bigger fish cruising them.
Now is a great time of year to use that downrigger weâve been pulling our dredges with for what it was made for. Bigger mahi, sails, tuna and of course wahoo and kings will all be susceptible to a down bait. The Cannon TS10 offers a cycle mode that triggers lazy fish into biting and also has auto deploy and retrieve. One of the coolest features is it can all be done through an app on your phone via Bluetooth. With such a variety of fish around in spring, I definitely recommend a mixed spread. Try to include a dredge and or a chain teaser, a couple or three small ballyhoo (dink baits), a bigger bait (Islander, Bart, Scylla…) and a down bait (rigged with a wire leader). Keep an eye out and fish around weed lines, color changes, current edges and bottom structure from 65-to-300 for best results.
On days when you decide to go way out, I recommend running rather than trolling, there is a lot of dead space between 300 and wherever you want to be on a given day, youâll see what youâre looking when itâs worth stopping. Obviously look for things like floating, fish busting, tide rips, and birds.
March is one of my favorite swordfish months too. There are some really big fish around and also a good amount of bycatch, both top and bottom. Not every bite is a sword, there are sharks, tuna, rose fish, squid and the beautiful pomfret. Always have a bait ready for mahi, a sail, tuna or even a marlin you might see cruising.
Whatever you, your family and friends decide to target this month, I hope all your fishing is Off The Chain.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Scott Fawcett
Off the Chain Fishing Charters
Phone: (772) 285-1055
Email: fishscottyf@bellsouth.net
www.offthechainfishing.com
