Spring Has Sprung and the Fish Are Hungry!
Capt. Joe Londot – Barracuda Bob’s Island Surf & Sports
Now that we’re finally beyond the reach of those pesky cold fronts, it’s time to dust off your trusty rods and reels, respool with fresh braid and get out there to target your favorite species.
As March progresses water temps will start climbing out of the 60s and into the 70 plus zone, with this warming bait will migrate northwards from sunnier climes and into our nearshore and offshore areas. This rapid influx of bait will be followed by hungry predators looking to gorge themselves after a winter of privation.
Inshore look for redfish to start congregating on the shallow flats near mangrove shorelines and oyster bars working the bottom for crabs, shrimp, worms and anything else that appears edible. Look for schools of mullet milling around and free-jumping, as the reds will be close by eating anything the mullet flush out. Be careful not to spook the fish by moving in too close or tossing your baits directly into the school, it is better to use long casts and either overshoot the schooling fish or cast to the outside edges of the activity.
While live baits like big shrimp or small pinfish will score well, this is a good time to throw a Gulp plastic tail pinned to a jighead. You’ll want to hop your rig slowly back towards you so the fish can see the movement and the splash of sand it makes, then let it sit static or a moment or two before hopping it again. Some of the biggest reds of the season will be taken using this method.
Hungry trout will be patrolling the grass flats covering Clearwater Bay and St. Joseph’s Sound; it won’t be unusual to find them in very shallow water during low light hours. This is a great time to deploy a topwater lure like a MirrOlure Surface Walker or Zara Spook Jr. As the sun comes up the trout will head for deeper flats, so break out some big live shrimp, pin them under a popping cork and work all the grass flats you can reach. The jig and tail combo mentioned for reds will also work well here, just cast out as far as you can and work the lure back with a jigging motion just clearing the tops of the grass.
Schools of Spanish mackerel are marauding all around the Causeway bridges. Live shrimp pinned to a long shank hook and floated under a bobber will score plenty of fish, but when the schools blow through it’s best to switch to a Gotcha plug, silver spoon or diamond jig. Just cast these deadly lures out as far as you can and reel them in as fast as you can while jigging them along. Mackerel love to attack shiny, fast-moving baits and will compete with each other to see who nails it first!
There are so many great fishing opportunities to talk about this month but there just isn’t enough space in this column to address them all, so plan to stop into Barracuda Bob’s on the Dunedin Causeway. Here you can pick up the baits and rigs you’ll need and get the latest on what’s biting out there and where to find them.
The friendly and knowledge crew at Barracuda Bob’s has been directing anglers to fish in the Clearwater/Dunedin/Tarpon Springs area for eight years now and we have everything you’ll need to enjoy a fun and productive day on the water!