The past month has been unbelievable in the Horseshoe area. The weather has been unseasonably warm and kept the water temps up and the fishing hot. This is only going to get better this month plus we will start to see the winter tides start to go away as well so no more fighting extreme low tides. If you are breaking your boat out of storage make sure and do a good walk through and make sure everything is in order before you stick it in the water.
The redfish have been schooled up really well the past three weeks and I expect the same to continue. Paired with the gin clear water this has made for some great site fishing. Nothing beats seeing the fish, making a good presentation then watch that fish eat your bait. With the warmer March temps the topwater bite will come on strong to. This is by far my favorite thing to do. You will see some epic strikes and have plenty of drag peeling action. The mirrolure she dog or top dog jr. are my top two baits to throw. If I am in skinny water I will throw the jr., a bigger topwater will spook more fish than it will catch. If they are shying away from the topwater bite I will pick up a Zman Diezel Minnowz on a 3/8 or ¼ oz jighead and make a steady retrieve varying my speed until I find what pace the fish like.
The big gator trout have also showed up in great numbers. If you are lucky enough to catch one of these beautiful fish I ask that you turn it loose. There are plenty of lower slot trout that you can take for table fair. We want to help sustain this great fishery by turning these big breeder fish loose. The Paul Brown Devil has still been the ticket to put extremely good numbers of trout in the boat. The topwaters will also produce a lot of action.
If you are ready to come explore these great waters and have an epic fishing trip give me a call and I will get you set up. I still have a few open dates available. Until next month have fun, be safe and take your kids fishing.
Capt. Craig Spitznogle
Florida Flats Charter Co.
(352) 445-4978