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Reports & Forecasts: March 2009
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
March is a transitional month. With water temperatures rising, trout should begin their annual migration to the deeper reefs around the lake. However, a lot of big trout action can still be found on the flats on the north and west banks. A great place to look for school trout is along the south bank. By the end of the month, they should start to get pretty thick on the reefs around the Old Jetties. This makes things convenient because of the predominant south wind. The flounder run will be in full force by the middle of March. Good flounder fishing is always a blessing because the wind is sometimes a problem. Good spots to try are the cuts in West Cove, cuts along the east bank, and cuts in the ship channel. For flounder fishing, a Berkley Gulp is great to have in the arsenal.
Redfish are always biting in or around the weirs. With water coming out of the marsh, fish the lake side of the weir, if it's going in, fish the other side.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
There aren't many people on the water lately in Galveston's Bays, but the fishing is decent. In fact, James predicts that the fishing in the near future will be the best in the state. "As far as just catching fish, it will be off the chain this spring, I just about guarantee it. That hurricane seemed to do these bays a lot of good. Right now, the reds are pretty easy to catch in Trinity. It's still salty and green. Keying on slicks and bait are the ticket there. There are some quality trout biting soft plastics for drifters in Tabbs and Burnet Bays. You won't catch a bunch over there, but solid fish up to six pounds are there to be had. I also found some nice fish in the south shoreline coves of West Bay the other day. Mostly, the fish in there are dinks, but usually there's one or two big fish hanging around with the small fish. Patience is required when working the coves with Corkys, MirrOlures and topwaters, but it can pay off in March."
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Fishing is excellent at times in East Bay, but not consistent yet. That should change as we roll into March. "There have been some big trout caught around here lately, several over seven pounds and some over eight. Rollover Pass is giving up a few and of course the shorelines in East Bay. We are fishing an eleven a.m. to dark day on all trips right now, but I'll be back to the morning sessions when the water warms up in March. We've been having our best luck on suspending lures like the Catch 2000s, Catch Vs and Corkys. The redfish in the marsh has been the most consistent thing; the trout bite is more of a one or two days a week kind of deal. If you are on the water the day before the front hits, it can be phenomenal. Again, all that should become less severe with the arrival of spring. The bite will be more consistent day to day, the tide will be higher and the shorelines should give up some real nice trout."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
"I expect the glass minnows to be arriving by the time this issue comes out," Randall says. "I always look forward to that every year. We should have an excellent spring of fishing. The bays are salty and green and there's more grass along the shorelines than I've ever seen. It'll be anybody's guess where the schools of minnows will go, but finding them will be a guaranteed ticket to finding the fish. Also in March, we tend to get some good full tides in the afternoon. That'll be welcome too, after this persistent low tide. It seems to send the fish off into no man's land. But once the equinox tides roll in, the fish will be easier to find, especially the bigger fish. One of the best ways to fish the glass minnow run is to work the shallow flats in the vicinity of the Pass. It pays to stay shallow if you are after big trout too. Topwaters work well, of course, but don't neglect the old Sand Eels; they look a lot like a glass minnow!"
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
The decision of which bay to fish in the Matagorda area is largely dictated by the tide level according to Don. "When the tide is high, East Bay becomes good. The grassy coves will fill up with water and some big trout will be in there with all the bait. In fact, there was a trout nearly nine and a half pounds pulled out of there just the other day. When the tide is low, West Bay is generally better. A low tide will stack most of the fish in the deepest guts coming in and out of the coves over there, especially the redfish. There will be trout in there with them too, mostly small ones compared with the trout in East Bay. Of course, wind dictates where to fish too. West Bay is better when it's windy, because there's more places to hide. Drifting is good in East Bay on lighter winds. Try the Exude RT Slugs when working the mud and shell. They have a little tab on their tails that gives them great action."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
February was not as exceptional as we expect in terms of catching big trout. Extremely low tides have kept most of the trout in our area in the rivers and most of those fish are on the small side. I am hoping that the month of March will bring in some bigger tides to cover up the mud and shell flats and encourage the big specks to return to their normal haunts. Locating mullet will again be the key to finding trout along with focusing on a bottom consisting of mud and shell mixed. Corkys will still be the most productive lures with pearl/black and pink hologram the best colors. Thank goodness for the redfish; they are giving us consistent pulls when the trout bite has been slow. Gold quarter ounce weedless spoons with a Gulp teaser and cracked crab have accounted for the best bites. March should be a better month as tides will move back up and the fish will follow the bait onto the flats.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Fishing in March in the POC area is predictably dependent on the strength of the winds and the tide level. "I like to focus on drains that go into the marshes. The trout and redfish can really stack into those guts. I'll focus on catching them with soft plastics mostly. We will throw topwaters some, but I'm quick to get off of them unless the fish are really making it easy. The other thing that can be productive in early spring is fishing the shell reefs surrounded by deep open water. Of course, in order to make that work well, the winds need to be light, at least lighter than normal for this time of year. Again, it's mostly a soft plastic thing, but topwaters will work when the fish are feeding most actively. So the key is to stay on top of the wind and tide situation. If it's windy with a high tide, back lakes are typically best. On a low tide with high winds, the drains fill with fish. Light winds allow us to get at the fish on the reefs."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
"In March, I like to fish back bays and lakes targeting both trout and redfish. The redfish are plentiful and we do catch some of our largest trout of the year in March typically. I will throw topwaters, especially Super Spooks, and of course I'll still rely on my Norton Sand Eels in plum or pumpkin/chartreuse. On those days when I leave the lakes and back bays, I'll favor areas in the open bays with hard sandy bottoms. Seems our fish around here start to prefer the harder bottoms when spring arrives. There are great areas for that in Corpus, Aransas, San Antonio and Copano Bays. Fishing has already picked up around here after a lull with the really low tides of winter. As the water warms and rises a little more, it should only get better in terms of a day to day bite. Normally, we see a run on some big trout in the vicinity of the Port Aransas Channel in early spring and as warm as it's been, that might happen a little early this year."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
March marks the beginning of our spring time fishing. Large shoals of jack crevalle weighing 14 to 30 pounds show up at the water's edge and sharks of several species become more available. Slot and oversized black drum, redfish and pompano continue to be available and whiting are abundant and at their peak sizes of the year. But March can also be some of the toughest fishing of the year with Equinox high tides and long periods of high winds. The sargassum is usually at its worst during March and April. Check tide forecast levels before planning a trip and avoid traveling during high tides and avoid periods of excessive NE winds. Fishbites and fresh-peeled shrimp fished on the bottom will take all of the smaller species. Watch for diving brown pelicans for jack crevalle and sightcast to them with any artificials or flies. Sharks are often caught on casted baits as they come quite close to shore during March. Fresh whiting is the preferred bait. Heavy spoons and Rattletraps work well on speckled trout and redfish.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
As expected, the water temperature dropped and this caused the fish to go down deeper. We've been looking for fish in areas with muddy bottoms or areas with a mixture of mud and shell. Having to slow down the retrieve speed of our lures has really tested our patience, especially when going after trout. Our patience has paid off and the rewards have been very good. The redfish have been plentiful and the speckled trout have been showing up in good numbers, most between 18 and 24 inches, with a few of them reaching 30 inches or more. Depending on when the cold fronts stop reaching the Laguna Madre, the water temperatures should begin to rise and make the trout and the reds more aggressive. In March, I'll still be looking for areas that have mud or mud and shell bottoms. If the water clarity is not good, I'll be using artificials that are brightly colored, smelly and noisy, which will be easier for fish to find.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Fishing has been good in the upper reaches of the ULM lately, Joe says. "The water around the JFK Causeway is in beautiful shape. The clear water on the flats gives great opportunity for sightcasting. We've had a lot of bright days in recent weeks, making it possible to see the fish easily. The tide has been really low, and that actually helps too. In March, we'll probably have some higher tides overall, but the clear water appears destined to stay. If the tide does come up, the clear water should push farther to the south. I will be looking to make some runs in both directions as spring kicks in. Nine Mile Hole can be awesome for both redfish and trout on spring tides. Shamrock Cove can be good too. I'll be throwing my old standby paddletails and other soft plastics when fishing conventional tackle. And of course this clear water makes the fly fishing potential improve, especially on days with lighter winds."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
"Anybody who doesn't like the idea of a five fish trout limit should be forced to see how good it's made the fishing over here," Bruce beams. "I can go out on my dock and catch five twenty inch trout in the lights on any given night in no time flat. It's just awesome. We are catching plenty of 25 to 29 inch trout on our charters lately. The fishing's really good. March should be exceptional too. With the channel opened better and more water moving, the early spring pattern should be predictable. The trout will start to move toward the east shore in anticipation of the spawn. Flats adjacent to the entrance of the pass will be key areas for the spawning sows as they are looking to drop their eggs in some kind of current. We'll be throwing topwaters a lot, bright colors unless it's windy, which it often is. Then we'll switch over to darker colors in the murkier water. The reds will be doing their standard trick, attacking and wrecking our plugs!"
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fishing's been phenomenal; mostly mild weather's kept the LLM unseasonably warm and an explosion in the trout population has added weight to our boxes. Some days we've had to stay at it a little longer to find redfish small enough to fit inside the slot. Oversized reds and nice trout are hanging out together in shallow water; we've had to move to deeper potholes only when water temps drop. When it's windy, there's no problem limiting out, so our focus has been on which presentation will work best with our Gulp 3 inch shrimp. Freddy says, "On calm days use the Flats Equalizer cork, from Precision Tackle, so you don't spook them, or the Cajun Thunder, when there's more chop. Later, when you're moving deeper for trout, use a 12 to 15 inch 20 lb. leader tied to a quarter ounce jig head with a Gulp under the Cajun Thunder. We've also had success chasing reds with Flats Intruder quarter ounce spoons in gold and copper."
Jeff and Mary Poe | Big Lake Guide Service | 337.598.3268
March is a transitional month. With water temperatures rising, trout should begin their annual migration to the deeper reefs around the lake. However, a lot of big trout action can still be found on the flats on the north and west banks. A great place to look for school trout is along the south bank. By the end of the month, they should start to get pretty thick on the reefs around the Old Jetties. This makes things convenient because of the predominant south wind. The flounder run will be in full force by the middle of March. Good flounder fishing is always a blessing because the wind is sometimes a problem. Good spots to try are the cuts in West Cove, cuts along the east bank, and cuts in the ship channel. For flounder fishing, a Berkley Gulp is great to have in the arsenal.
Redfish are always biting in or around the weirs. With water coming out of the marsh, fish the lake side of the weir, if it's going in, fish the other side.
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures | silverkingadventures.com | 409.935.7242
There aren't many people on the water lately in Galveston's Bays, but the fishing is decent. In fact, James predicts that the fishing in the near future will be the best in the state. "As far as just catching fish, it will be off the chain this spring, I just about guarantee it. That hurricane seemed to do these bays a lot of good. Right now, the reds are pretty easy to catch in Trinity. It's still salty and green. Keying on slicks and bait are the ticket there. There are some quality trout biting soft plastics for drifters in Tabbs and Burnet Bays. You won't catch a bunch over there, but solid fish up to six pounds are there to be had. I also found some nice fish in the south shoreline coves of West Bay the other day. Mostly, the fish in there are dinks, but usually there's one or two big fish hanging around with the small fish. Patience is required when working the coves with Corkys, MirrOlures and topwaters, but it can pay off in March."
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service | 409.996.3054
Fishing is excellent at times in East Bay, but not consistent yet. That should change as we roll into March. "There have been some big trout caught around here lately, several over seven pounds and some over eight. Rollover Pass is giving up a few and of course the shorelines in East Bay. We are fishing an eleven a.m. to dark day on all trips right now, but I'll be back to the morning sessions when the water warms up in March. We've been having our best luck on suspending lures like the Catch 2000s, Catch Vs and Corkys. The redfish in the marsh has been the most consistent thing; the trout bite is more of a one or two days a week kind of deal. If you are on the water the day before the front hits, it can be phenomenal. Again, all that should become less severe with the arrival of spring. The bite will be more consistent day to day, the tide will be higher and the shorelines should give up some real nice trout."
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 | 979.864.9323
"I expect the glass minnows to be arriving by the time this issue comes out," Randall says. "I always look forward to that every year. We should have an excellent spring of fishing. The bays are salty and green and there's more grass along the shorelines than I've ever seen. It'll be anybody's guess where the schools of minnows will go, but finding them will be a guaranteed ticket to finding the fish. Also in March, we tend to get some good full tides in the afternoon. That'll be welcome too, after this persistent low tide. It seems to send the fish off into no man's land. But once the equinox tides roll in, the fish will be easier to find, especially the bigger fish. One of the best ways to fish the glass minnow run is to work the shallow flats in the vicinity of the Pass. It pays to stay shallow if you are after big trout too. Topwaters work well, of course, but don't neglect the old Sand Eels; they look a lot like a glass minnow!"
Matagorda | Don Wood
Bay Guide Service | 979.240.4137
The decision of which bay to fish in the Matagorda area is largely dictated by the tide level according to Don. "When the tide is high, East Bay becomes good. The grassy coves will fill up with water and some big trout will be in there with all the bait. In fact, there was a trout nearly nine and a half pounds pulled out of there just the other day. When the tide is low, West Bay is generally better. A low tide will stack most of the fish in the deepest guts coming in and out of the coves over there, especially the redfish. There will be trout in there with them too, mostly small ones compared with the trout in East Bay. Of course, wind dictates where to fish too. West Bay is better when it's windy, because there's more places to hide. Drifting is good in East Bay on lighter winds. Try the Exude RT Slugs when working the mud and shell. They have a little tab on their tails that gives them great action."
Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com | 979.240.8204
February was not as exceptional as we expect in terms of catching big trout. Extremely low tides have kept most of the trout in our area in the rivers and most of those fish are on the small side. I am hoping that the month of March will bring in some bigger tides to cover up the mud and shell flats and encourage the big specks to return to their normal haunts. Locating mullet will again be the key to finding trout along with focusing on a bottom consisting of mud and shell mixed. Corkys will still be the most productive lures with pearl/black and pink hologram the best colors. Thank goodness for the redfish; they are giving us consistent pulls when the trout bite has been slow. Gold quarter ounce weedless spoons with a Gulp teaser and cracked crab have accounted for the best bites. March should be a better month as tides will move back up and the fish will follow the bait onto the flats.
Port O'Connor | Lynn Smith | Back Bay Guide Service | 361.983.4434
Fishing in March in the POC area is predictably dependent on the strength of the winds and the tide level. "I like to focus on drains that go into the marshes. The trout and redfish can really stack into those guts. I'll focus on catching them with soft plastics mostly. We will throw topwaters some, but I'm quick to get off of them unless the fish are really making it easy. The other thing that can be productive in early spring is fishing the shell reefs surrounded by deep open water. Of course, in order to make that work well, the winds need to be light, at least lighter than normal for this time of year. Again, it's mostly a soft plastic thing, but topwaters will work when the fish are feeding most actively. So the key is to stay on top of the wind and tide situation. If it's windy with a high tide, back lakes are typically best. On a low tide with high winds, the drains fill with fish. Light winds allow us to get at the fish on the reefs."
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service | 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
"In March, I like to fish back bays and lakes targeting both trout and redfish. The redfish are plentiful and we do catch some of our largest trout of the year in March typically. I will throw topwaters, especially Super Spooks, and of course I'll still rely on my Norton Sand Eels in plum or pumpkin/chartreuse. On those days when I leave the lakes and back bays, I'll favor areas in the open bays with hard sandy bottoms. Seems our fish around here start to prefer the harder bottoms when spring arrives. There are great areas for that in Corpus, Aransas, San Antonio and Copano Bays. Fishing has already picked up around here after a lull with the really low tides of winter. As the water warms and rises a little more, it should only get better in terms of a day to day bite. Normally, we see a run on some big trout in the vicinity of the Port Aransas Channel in early spring and as warm as it's been, that might happen a little early this year."
Padre Island National Seashore
Billy Sandifer | Padre Island Safaris | 361.937.8446
March marks the beginning of our spring time fishing. Large shoals of jack crevalle weighing 14 to 30 pounds show up at the water's edge and sharks of several species become more available. Slot and oversized black drum, redfish and pompano continue to be available and whiting are abundant and at their peak sizes of the year. But March can also be some of the toughest fishing of the year with Equinox high tides and long periods of high winds. The sargassum is usually at its worst during March and April. Check tide forecast levels before planning a trip and avoid traveling during high tides and avoid periods of excessive NE winds. Fishbites and fresh-peeled shrimp fished on the bottom will take all of the smaller species. Watch for diving brown pelicans for jack crevalle and sightcast to them with any artificials or flies. Sharks are often caught on casted baits as they come quite close to shore during March. Fresh whiting is the preferred bait. Heavy spoons and Rattletraps work well on speckled trout and redfish.
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut
Robert Zapata | [email protected] | 361.563.1160
As expected, the water temperature dropped and this caused the fish to go down deeper. We've been looking for fish in areas with muddy bottoms or areas with a mixture of mud and shell. Having to slow down the retrieve speed of our lures has really tested our patience, especially when going after trout. Our patience has paid off and the rewards have been very good. The redfish have been plentiful and the speckled trout have been showing up in good numbers, most between 18 and 24 inches, with a few of them reaching 30 inches or more. Depending on when the cold fronts stop reaching the Laguna Madre, the water temperatures should begin to rise and make the trout and the reds more aggressive. In March, I'll still be looking for areas that have mud or mud and shell bottoms. If the water clarity is not good, I'll be using artificials that are brightly colored, smelly and noisy, which will be easier for fish to find.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez www.sightcast1.com | 361.937.5961
Fishing has been good in the upper reaches of the ULM lately, Joe says. "The water around the JFK Causeway is in beautiful shape. The clear water on the flats gives great opportunity for sightcasting. We've had a lot of bright days in recent weeks, making it possible to see the fish easily. The tide has been really low, and that actually helps too. In March, we'll probably have some higher tides overall, but the clear water appears destined to stay. If the tide does come up, the clear water should push farther to the south. I will be looking to make some runs in both directions as spring kicks in. Nine Mile Hole can be awesome for both redfish and trout on spring tides. Shamrock Cove can be good too. I'll be throwing my old standby paddletails and other soft plastics when fishing conventional tackle. And of course this clear water makes the fly fishing potential improve, especially on days with lighter winds."
Port Mansfield | Bruce & Brandon Shuler
GetAway Adventures Lodge | 956.944.4000
"Anybody who doesn't like the idea of a five fish trout limit should be forced to see how good it's made the fishing over here," Bruce beams. "I can go out on my dock and catch five twenty inch trout in the lights on any given night in no time flat. It's just awesome. We are catching plenty of 25 to 29 inch trout on our charters lately. The fishing's really good. March should be exceptional too. With the channel opened better and more water moving, the early spring pattern should be predictable. The trout will start to move toward the east shore in anticipation of the spawn. Flats adjacent to the entrance of the pass will be key areas for the spawning sows as they are looking to drop their eggs in some kind of current. We'll be throwing topwaters a lot, bright colors unless it's windy, which it often is. Then we'll switch over to darker colors in the murkier water. The reds will be doing their standard trick, attacking and wrecking our plugs!"
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com | 956.943.2747
Fishing's been phenomenal; mostly mild weather's kept the LLM unseasonably warm and an explosion in the trout population has added weight to our boxes. Some days we've had to stay at it a little longer to find redfish small enough to fit inside the slot. Oversized reds and nice trout are hanging out together in shallow water; we've had to move to deeper potholes only when water temps drop. When it's windy, there's no problem limiting out, so our focus has been on which presentation will work best with our Gulp 3 inch shrimp. Freddy says, "On calm days use the Flats Equalizer cork, from Precision Tackle, so you don't spook them, or the Cajun Thunder, when there's more chop. Later, when you're moving deeper for trout, use a 12 to 15 inch 20 lb. leader tied to a quarter ounce jig head with a Gulp under the Cajun Thunder. We've also had success chasing reds with Flats Intruder quarter ounce spoons in gold and copper."