There will be days in the month that are fishable in the deeper water. This is the time to go get on the trigger fish and B liners. Traditionally the wind blows hard the entire month of February and March but when you find an opportunity, take it because this time of year can be magical. All the warm water will be pushed out to a solid edge of cold water. Try to find at least 140’ to 180’ depths with structure and good marks of fish. Chances are these marks are going to be trigger fish and be liners up in the water column. The larger triggers and B liners will not necessarily be at the bottom but exactly the opposite, the larger ones a lot of times are on the top of the marks. This is a good place to break out the Hilow rig with small circle hooks and cut Squid. Depending on the current, you can get away with 4 to 8 ounces of weight. I prefer level wind (conventional) reel for this style fishing, and I mark my line at the 100 foot depth. When you get barely past this mark, use your thumb to start letting the baits down slowly until you find the fish. Trust me, they will let you know when you get there. Using circle hooks, when you get the first fish on, don’t wind it up, leave it there for a few more seconds and let the second fish get onboard the ride upwards to “da box”. This is true with circle hooks…
Don’t set the hook. Just let the rod bend over and you got him. Like I say, the larger fish are typically at the very top of the mark. If you get all the way to the bottom chances are, it will be a grunt, pinky or Seabass, which is OK too by the way.
Be sure to verify regulations for what you can and cannot keep, for example, pink snapper.
If you have the weather, go far enough that you get to at least 68° water to start fishing. This is a great place to fish the light line and there’s no telling what you’ll catch out there this time of year. Certainly Kings, Bonita, dolphin, etc., but there are Wahoo to be caught out there as well. If you can jig up a small snapper of any kind don’t hesitate to put it out on the light line, those big Wahoo love a small B liner, or one long as your boot, and if you’re going to go to this measure, put that bait out on a rod that has the line capacity and backbone to catch a big Wahoo. If you catch a Bonita, fresh chunks on the circle hook are irresistible to the triggers and B liners.
Cut these in no larger than 1-inch cubes. Chances are if you make it far enough to get into the warm water, you’re going to need a minimum of 8 ounces of lead to get to the bottom. The current is usually running pretty hard out there. There’s only so many windows of opportunity weatherwise to get out there in February and March, but if you have that opportunity, take it. Take your kids dressed properly in layers and make sure they have good fitting foul weather gear on top of several layers of warm clothes. You can always take clothes off because it will warm up out there, but you can’t put on clothes you don’t have in the locker. Here’s another word of advice; take plenty of pictures and videos of your kids harvesting some really healthy dinners. They will remember these trips the rest of their lives.
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