The View: March 2022

Sweaters or short-sleeves, waders or wading wet, March has been known to present that dilemma. Shell or mud, sand or grass, another of March’s many puzzles. You have to work both types of bottom structure. Depending on the water temperature, the fish could be on any or all of the above.

We have all heard the word “transition” in the fishing genre. In fact, I believe it is the most overused word in the fishing language. However, if ever there was a month to use the heavily clichéd term, March is it.

Those sunny, mild March days send fish to the sand and grass. But, they aren’t far from the mud, either. If you can find a spot with mud and grass you will probably find the fish. Winter is one of the determining factors in March’s fishing outlook. Lingering winter keeps fish in deep, muddy haunts – a mild winter enjoys swelling tides, pushing fish to the shallows.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with a slow-sinker. The water temperature dictates, but chances are they are going to hit a slow-sinker anytime they get ready to eat.

It is not revelation, but the wind blows briskly in March. We fish in all kinds of wind, unless it is not safe. If we didn’t fish in the wind, we would only fish about twenty-percent of the time.”

If winter winds persist, find the nearest deepwater channel and try natural baits. Spots like the Colorado River and Diversion Channel in Matagorda and Caney Creek in Sargent harbor winter fish. Never discount boat harbors either (if authorities permit fishing). Most harbors are deep, and the waters are much warmer during cold snaps. Plus, consider how many boaters dump their bait in the water at the end of the day. The fish aren’t stupid, they know where to get an easy meal.

Matagorda Harbor, Palacios Harbor and the Palacios Pavilion pier are good cold water spots. Carolina-rigged shrimp, Berkley Gulps, or other scented baits are good choices for mangrove snapper, trout, redfish, sheepshead, and sand trout.

Though many will claim the only way to catch a lunker trout is to wade, Matagorda anglers know otherwise. You have just as good of a chance, weather permitting, of catching the largest trout of your life while drifting over shell in five feet of water.

I fought it for years, but the fish keep on telling me they like it in the deep water, too. Shorelines once littered with acres of seagrass are now reduced to mud. When we lost the grass we lost a big part of the population of large trout that traditionally staged there during winter and early spring. That’s not to say there aren’t large trout on the shorelines, just not as many. Numerous trout tournaments over the past decade have been won by pluggers tossing lures out of the boat over East Bay’s deep shell.

New trout regulations go into effect this month. Please be good stewards of our natural resources and, if you don’t have a reason to harvest a trout, give it back to the bay. Consider the contribution a greater conservation effort could generate. A little from everyone is a whole heck of a lot.

March is all about the weather – consult a forecast before casting.

Sunrise Lodge will be at the Houston Fishing Show at the George R. Brown Convention Center, March 23-27. Come by and shake our hand and say hello.