By Capt. Glyn Austin
Through early February, our weather on the space coast has been very warm and it has kept the fishing very good. If the path continues through the month of March, fishing should stay good and get better. Warmer weather will keep the Snook, Redfish, Jacks and Sharks very active. A warm March with calm winds will help the cobia anglers get off the beach and looking for the migrating Rays holding cobia on them. However, if we get some more cold fronts through the month, the nearshore water will be too rough and dirty for small boat anglers to get out and search for the Cobia.
Warmer weather will also bring the bait inside along the beaches and the Tarpon and big Jack Crevalle will be right with them. We have had small schools of Tarpon along the beaches from Sebastian to Melbourne a few times in the last few months and the fish are feeding well. There are also plenty of Sharks, Bluefish and Mackerel on the beaches if the weather allows you to get out and fish the ocean. Fish big topwater plugs for the Jacks and sharks and scale down the plugs for the Bluefish. For the Tarpon as well as big Jacks, fish the Rapala Long Cast 14, Hogy Pro Tail Eels or the DOA baitbuster for good success.
The snook and Redfish bite in the inlet had been good through February and will remain good with the warmer weather. Live bait is the key in the daytime with shrimp and threadfins been the bait of choice. At night artificials will work well. Rapala XRap 14 and the Long Cast 14 are great plugs to fish from the jettys as well as from the rocks along the west side of the bridge.
Inshore fishing should be good as well as our spring mullet run heats up. When the schools of mullet fill inside the lagoon and the Creeks from Sebastian to Palm Bay and Melbourne, snook, jacks and trout will be hot on their heels. I like to fish a Rapala Skitterwalk V early in the morning around the bait pods and go deeper with the Storm GT360 Paddletail bait or DOA Paddle Tails as the sun comes up. Live bait will also work well fishing the bait pods as the predatory fish are normally below the bait pods.
Capt. Glyn Austin
www.captainglynaustin.com
321-863-8085
Glyn runs a 23’ Shoalwater tunnel boat which is comfortable for up to 4 anglers and will let us get shallower than most flats boats for inshore fishing and offers a smooth dry ride when fishing the Inlet and nearshore waters of Brevard County.