By Capt. Jamie Thrappas, Yellow Dawg Fishing
March is usually a really fun month to fish, it’s spring break for most of our visiting customers who have been freezing to the north all winter. I often get a kick out of them dressing like it’s summer while I’m still wearing my hunting gear to stay warm in the morning. We will get a roller coaster of weather with a few cold fronts that will still push through but these fronts usually get the fish fired up!
The sheepshead bite usually peaks in my opinion right around the first 2 weeks of March during the later part of their spawn. I’ve caught a few in the 12lb range this time of year but getting them at 4-6 lbs in March is a good average size. As I’ve mentioned before my favorite baits for these guys are fiddler crabs and sand fleas but I also have gotten some of my biggest sheeps on shrimp! I almost always dead stick a halved blue crab when I’m targeting sheepshead as March will also produce some big black drum around the inlet, so keep that in mind when you’re getting robbed by the convicts with the funny teeth.
Another thing I suggest having ready is a rod with a gotcha plug or a silver weighted spoon ready to roll. The Spanish mackerel will typically show up this time of year along with the blue fish, while I’m not a fan of blue fish I do love catching Spanish mackerel and making my famous smoked fish dip with them. I suggest a small piece of wire 6-8 inch long so you can save your lure but you can also beef up to heavier leader like 40# to avoid break offs. The key factors to finding Spanish mackerel is seeing them break the surface and also the birds will typically be above the larger schools. When you find them it turns into some nonstop fun for everyone but as fast as it starts it will stop as these fish move fast so be prepared to capitalize!
If you would like to get out there and see what March has to offer give me a shout, we have moved our boats to Ponce Inlet right at the Lighthouse and we have a Hook and Cook deal where you can walk right off the boat and into Hidden Treasure Restaurant and get your fish cooked, it doesn’t get any fresher than that! As always if you see us out there say hello!
