March Fishing Madness!
[dropcap[A[/dropcap]s I write this article we are still in February and the fishing at the barrier islands has been fantastic. Now going into March it looks like the same exciting fishing will continue throughout the month, and if we get a warming trend, well, expect inshore catches to heat up too. The main players at the barrier islands continue to be the big black drum and redfish. The massive schools of black drum have been fish in the 25 to 50-pound class, and on light tackle itâs like hooking onto a Volkswagen, a slow and steady powerful pull. This is all sight fishing, and a sight indeed to have hundreds and hundreds of these big fish circling the boat in 2 feet of crystal clear water (check out the videos on Facebook at Robert L. Brodie or TEAM BRODIE CHARTERS).
Weâve been feeding them live or fresh dead shrimp on a Carolina-rig or jigs tipped with the tasty crustaceans. My clients are instructed to cast ahead of the fish and let them swim to the bait laying motionless on the bottom. Since we are fishing with 12-pound test spinning tackle it takes a while to land these big fish, but itâs much more of a challenge this way. The redfish have been prowling the flats too, and there have been schools of both big bull redfish, as well as schools of the smaller slot fish in the 18 to 25-inch class. Most of the redfish and black drum schools have been separated into their specific species with the black drum hanging father off the islands, and the redfish schooling closer to the shore line. Redfish tend to be a lot more skittish in the shallows than the drum and a long cast is generally the ticket to success. And like the drum itâs best to place your lure or bait out in front of the fish so it passes their nose without any splash down noise. Plenty of the big bull redfish will be in the 40-inch class, and unlike the slow steady pull of the drum expect the reds to peel line of the light tackle like youâve hooked a freight train. A recent inspection of the stomach contents of the redfish revealed they have been feeding on mantis shrimp, and their stomachs have been packed with these sandy bottom dwellers. Mantis shrimp live down in those little holes you see at the isleâs shallows, and black drum, redfish, Florida pompano, and sheepshead love to dine on them. And yes, they are a killer red snapper bait too. By the way, Berkley Gulp makes mantis shrimp baits coming in a variety of sizes and colors. The mantis shrimp found in the redfish were solid white in color and 3 to 4-inches in lengthâŚjust saying. The sheepshead spawn should kick in good throughout March too, but it seems the bite has been rather slow this year considering all of the cold weather weâve experienced, and the water temperature being in the forties hasnât helped matters. But they should show up good in March at some point, and they will be hungry ready to devour live shrimp. The fish havens around the barrier islands will be holding good numbers of white trout and ground mullet as they prepare to invade our inshore waters. Fish haven like FH-8, FH-9, and FH-10 for example will be good sites to find some early season white trout, and there will be bull redfish in the area feeding on the trout too. Cut croaker, mullet, or squid fished on the bottom will be the best bet to entice these bottom dwelling trout, and a small 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook is a good choice to boat plenty for a fish fry. Also, numerous small sharks will be following the trout inshore so be ready for an extra hard fight, cut leaders, or reeling in half a trout. By the way, the barrier islands may give up some southern kingfish aka âwhitingâ and Florida pompano in March by fishing the surf with live or fresh dead shrimp. Pick a really nice weather day and if you find clear water these two species might deliver some early season light tackle excitement, and excellent eating too. Back inshore the Keesler Reef is a good site to get an early run of white trout and ground mullet, and if the weather warms up by the end of March the trout and ground mullet should be on all of our coastal inshore reefs.
Be sure to check out the TEAM BRODIE CHARTERS web site at www.teambrodiecharters.com com for all of the latest photo and articles of up to date catches. Bottom line, March will be an excellent month to catch fish here in south Mississippi, and April will blow March out of the water. RememberâŚlife is shortâŚletâs fish!