By, Capt Roan zumFelde
March is here and everyone will be looking for bedding bass this month. Whether on lakes or canals the bass should be hungry for forage to sustain themselves through the spawning time on the new moon and full moon. I am a big believer in not messing with the fish on the spawning beds, but if you must disturb them, please catch and release them swiftly and gently. The pre-spawn and post-spawn fish should be very aggressive and searching out food which means top water baits should be on fire. Great month to fish, no excuses!
Lake Okeechobee I would expect roughly the same conditions on the lake to apply from last month. With the exception being an actual increase in the spawning fish this month. Top waters near the spawning areas where the bass are staging or coming off the beds should be excellent. Capt. Jo Gene says “The Big O, Lake Okeechobee is LOW, boaters must know where they’re going. Set down, idle in and then possible trolling motor. On the southwest side, Hareny Pond Canal area and west side, Indian Prairie Canal area, bass can be caught on a black/blue jig with a June bug trailer, a weightless Senko style soft plastic worm and noisy shallow diving crank bait.”
Trafford fishing should be as good as it will get this month with large numbers of bass being caught. Water levels should have the bass positioned on the outside reed patches, so dust off your pitching sticks and get fishing. Come check out our new TFO Bass rods at the shop. We also carry the Professional and Inshore series of TFO spinning rods and a full line of TFO fly rods.
For the Everglades Canals this is the month that everything starts to come into alignment. The canals across I-75 should be excellent for both bass and cichlids. Hopefully for you bass guys there will still be cool water temperatures which will reign in the cichlid onslaught and give you a few more bass especially early in the mornings. The Peacocks will still be a little shy this month, they are going to need a little more warmth to the water for them to really turn on. If you want to target the bass and the larger bass, try larger flies and worms. This is going to give you less strikes but it might help you put a true lunker on the line.
Come visit Mike and me at Mike’s Bait house and Indian Pass Outfitters on Danford Street, next to Bayview Park in Naples and we can talk fishing. We carry a full line of tackle including: fly fishing needs and both saltwater and freshwater gear, food, drink, and bait. Thanks and good fishing. Roan z