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Mid-Coast Bays: March 2009
March marks the beginning of what I call my busy season. As the weather stabilizes I have far fewer cancellations. March also marks the time of year when the water temperatures start to stabilize for longer periods of time. This in turn allows the fish to get better acclimated to their surroundings allowing them to feed for longer periods of time. This makes it somewhat easier for fishermen to predict their feeding patterns.
March also marks the time of year when we get a huge influx of glass minnows as they work their way into our shallow bay systems, finger mullet too will be moving from their deep hideouts of winter into the shallows as the water continues to warm up. Shrimp will also begin to show in March as the water temps rise. This is the time of year that I will have a topwater lure tied to my rod more often than not. During very calm periods, in the clear shallow water, I like to start with the MirrOlure brand MirrOmullet. One glance tells you the MirrOmullet is very close in size and shape to its slow-sinking cousin, the Catch 2000 Jr. The MirrOmullet has itself over and over again in the calm, clear shallows.
During heavy winds and rough chop, yes even the back lakes get choppy during the springtime blows; I will usually start with a He Dog or She Dog. The old stand by Top Dog and Top Dog Jr. should not be forgotten as they still catch just as many fish. It is probably more of a matter of preference when it comes to what the fish are wanting any given day. The He Dog and She Dog have higher pitched rattles then the original Top Dogs and Top Dog Jrs.
One thing I always do when using any sort of topwater is to rig with a loop knot to connect it to my line. I know some people put split rings on their plugs but I personally believe the loop knot allows the topwater more freedom of movement than any other connection. I have become so fond of this knot that I have also been rigging my jigheads and other lures the same way over the last few years. As far as colors for my topwaters, I try to stick with the natural colors like the 808, CHPR (chartreuse back and belly with pearl sides) and CRBL (blue back with chrome sides).
The next bait in my arsenal for the springtime wades for my snaggle-tooth friends will be the new MirrOdine XL which is a larger version of the original MirrOdine. I have caught fish with this lure all year and enjoyed exceptional results this past winter. It is a suspending twitch bait that is also an extremely slow sinker. The redfish and trout have really seemed to savor this lure when nothing else seemed to be working. Again, I like the natural colors green or olive back and they all have the chrome sides that flash like a real bait fish.
For the Grand Finale I will always have the Saltwater Assassins in plum/chartreuse and morning glory. I rig these on a 1/16 oz Assassin Jighead in the unpainted variety. I also tie these with a loop knot.
If you are targeting really shallow fish with grass on the bottom and your lure keeps raking grass you should try switching to a Mann's Waker. This lure will pull more redfish from the ultra-skinny water than anything you have in your box. I use the croaker color almost entirely.
In March you should concentrate most of your efforts in our back lakes. I don't look for the majority of our fish to show up on the outside sandy shorelines until early summer.
Fish Hard, Fish Smart!
March also marks the time of year when we get a huge influx of glass minnows as they work their way into our shallow bay systems, finger mullet too will be moving from their deep hideouts of winter into the shallows as the water continues to warm up. Shrimp will also begin to show in March as the water temps rise. This is the time of year that I will have a topwater lure tied to my rod more often than not. During very calm periods, in the clear shallow water, I like to start with the MirrOlure brand MirrOmullet. One glance tells you the MirrOmullet is very close in size and shape to its slow-sinking cousin, the Catch 2000 Jr. The MirrOmullet has itself over and over again in the calm, clear shallows.
During heavy winds and rough chop, yes even the back lakes get choppy during the springtime blows; I will usually start with a He Dog or She Dog. The old stand by Top Dog and Top Dog Jr. should not be forgotten as they still catch just as many fish. It is probably more of a matter of preference when it comes to what the fish are wanting any given day. The He Dog and She Dog have higher pitched rattles then the original Top Dogs and Top Dog Jrs.
One thing I always do when using any sort of topwater is to rig with a loop knot to connect it to my line. I know some people put split rings on their plugs but I personally believe the loop knot allows the topwater more freedom of movement than any other connection. I have become so fond of this knot that I have also been rigging my jigheads and other lures the same way over the last few years. As far as colors for my topwaters, I try to stick with the natural colors like the 808, CHPR (chartreuse back and belly with pearl sides) and CRBL (blue back with chrome sides).
The next bait in my arsenal for the springtime wades for my snaggle-tooth friends will be the new MirrOdine XL which is a larger version of the original MirrOdine. I have caught fish with this lure all year and enjoyed exceptional results this past winter. It is a suspending twitch bait that is also an extremely slow sinker. The redfish and trout have really seemed to savor this lure when nothing else seemed to be working. Again, I like the natural colors green or olive back and they all have the chrome sides that flash like a real bait fish.
For the Grand Finale I will always have the Saltwater Assassins in plum/chartreuse and morning glory. I rig these on a 1/16 oz Assassin Jighead in the unpainted variety. I also tie these with a loop knot.
If you are targeting really shallow fish with grass on the bottom and your lure keeps raking grass you should try switching to a Mann's Waker. This lure will pull more redfish from the ultra-skinny water than anything you have in your box. I use the croaker color almost entirely.
In March you should concentrate most of your efforts in our back lakes. I don't look for the majority of our fish to show up on the outside sandy shorelines until early summer.
Fish Hard, Fish Smart!