March best bets

Report Date: March 1, 2008

Best Bets for March
Crystal River/Homosassa, Fl. The Nature Coast


March along the Nature Coast of Crystal River/Homosassa has been a much anticipated month. We are coming off an unusual up and down type winter and spring is about to spring and things are starting to warm up. Trout season reopens and it’s time to hit the flats in search of trout. According to Capt. Marvin Williams of Homosassa, who seems to always bring in his limit of nice trout, look for them over grass flats and mouths of rivers and creeks this month. As the water warms, check out your favorite grass flats in depths of 2 to 4 feet. Rocky points, oyster bars and sand bar drop offs are excellent too.

Some successful techniques to use for catchin your limit are:

1.( Plugs-like Mirrolure’s Top Dog and Top Pup and Catch 2000 suspend baits. Yozuri crystal minnow in a gold or orange/green color (I like the twitch baits which suspend). You can work them over shallow flats and a self respecting trout can not stand a twitch, twitch, pause type retrieve.
2.) live bait-shrimp under a Cajun Thunder cork fished about 18-24 inches deep. Pop the cork like working a top water plug, pause, then pop it again all the way back to the boat. Trout, Ladyfish, bluefish, pompano and Spanish mackerel all will succumb. Always float a live pinfish along, too.
3.) plastic grubs, like the Saltwater Assassins 4 in. sea shad in rootbeer or white with pink tail or electric chicken color fished on a 1/8 oz. Cotee Jig head, red or white, under a Cajun Thunder cork. Berkley Gulp’s work super also.
4.) On the Fly – As trout start to concentrate into good sized schools, get out your 4-6 weight fly rod, tie on a clouser minnow, green or red/white pattern or a shrimp pattern, and even a gold spoon fly and have at it.

For bigger trout, try using a bigger bait, like a live pinfish or finger mullet. Remember the old saying, the bigger the bait the bigger the fish…well, that holds true more times than not. The top water plugs and suspending type baits, like the Mirrolure Catch 2000 will work well. Try early morning and late evenings in low light conditions for best results. And especially a cloudy day is good for top water. Try working them over depths of 1 to 3 feet for best results.

The folks at Ed’s Bait & Tackle in Crystal River and MacRae’s in Homosassa will have ample supply of live bait and can give you an up to date fishing report as the guides come in with their catches. Give them a call.

As we say goodbye to February, we should start seeing some better high tides to be able to get back in the “skinny water” looking for redfish. March will be better yet and April will be prime. This is a good time of year to book your trips ahead. As the baitfish return and the water warms, the reds become more aggressive. It ought to be an awesome spring. Now is the time to respool those reels with new line, organize your tackle box, clean and oil the reels and get ‘em ready for ol’ spotted tail.

The grouper bite should be real good in about 30-50 feet of water. Trolling plugs will produce good sized fish as well as frozen or live bait fished over good bottom. However, March winds will decide the grouper’s fate this month. A unique method of grouper fishing in our area coming up this time of year, is shallow water plug casting to rocks and reef structure in 8 –12 feet of water. Using the lightest tackle available, even fly rods, to entice these rascals out of their holes can be one heck of a lot of fun.

Sheephead will be around rocky structure spawning this month. Find your favorite inshore rock pile, take some shrimp and a smaller hook and catch some big ‘un’s . Try chumming with small pieces of shrimp to get ‘em going.

Jeff shows off a nice mackerel

As our offshore waters begin to warm with springtime, look for mackerel to be showing up. In past years, we have had good runs of both Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish toward the end of this month. Look for diving birds or “muds” as we call them. A mud or mud slick is caused when schools of Mackerel, Blues, Trout and other fish stir up the bottom rooting for shrimp and other food. It’s not uncommon to see a one acre, or more, mud. This is like finding a bed of crappie or bream…you know they are there and concentrated. The only difference, you never know what species of fish you are going to reel in from one cast to the next. And that’s exciting!

March means it’s only two months to Tarpon season!! Book now. Drop me an email and I will hook you up for some fantastic springtime action!


Remember, take a youngster fishin’-- cause a child’s smile and a good day fishin’ is the best medicine for whatever ails ya.

Until next time…..”May God bless you with golden sunsets, gentle breezes to your back, good tides, big fish and tight lines always.”


Captain Ed Lewis
www.Redfishhunter.com /> CaptainEd@Redfishhunter.com
Ph (352) 817-1536 or(352) 629-9684

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