South Padre: March 2012

Sitting here to write this article I am suddenly gloomy realizing the cooler weather is now behind us for another year. The hours of daylight are increasing and the temperature is creeping higher each day. Soon the boat traffic of summer will return to our quiet Laguna. I go through this every year, you'd think by now I would have learned to deal with it, but winter is my favorite fishing season and I really hate to see it end.

As we enter March the cold fronts will be fewer but will still have great impact on our fishing patterns, mostly in the form of very strong southerly wind as each new front approaches. South wind tends to churn up most of our bay waters except for some areas with very heavy seagrass on the east side of the ICW, closer to the barrier island of South Padre. Despite the windy conditions that we should expect with the commencement of spring, the fishing should continue to improve as our bay water temperatures start to rise.

Currently, trout fishing is very good with easy limits and lots of solid fish to be released. Our main focus has been around spoil islands, drop-offs from shallow flats to waist deep water, muddy depressions near the ICW and waist deep potholes, but the bigger trout we are seeing have been up real shallow in gin clear water.

We are seeing good numbers of large trout laid up in the skinny and as always getting them to eat is usually much more difficult than finding them. These fish can be very spooky and any mistake in casting to them or sudden noise or movement will send them packing.

In sunny conditions they will not even look twice at a topwater. Gambler Flappin' Shads rigged weedless have enticed a few to bite. What works best is to leave them alone when they are unwilling to eat and then come back in a few hours and try again when they are feeding. Keeping an eye on tidal movement, moon activity and lively baitfish action can certainly increase your chances of landing that trophy.

Over the last couple of months our best days included low or falling atmospheric pressure and cloudy skies. Cold, misty days were the best of all. During high pressure and warming trends, we have found the fish a bit more scattered, the bite was generally tough, and we caught smaller fish on average.

In recent weeks I have fished from the Land Cut up north of Port Mansfield to the crystal clear flats of South Padre Island and trout numbers have been steady everywhere. Last month I mentioned that our redfish catches became more sporadic as you made your way south toward Port Isabel/SPI. That pattern continues to hold true for us. Redfish action has been very good north of the Arroyo.

What should we expect this month? For one, our water levels will rise as well as bay water temperatures. Expect the wind to be relentless. With the onset of rising water levels, fish will begin to migrate to flats that were just recently almost dry. Baitfish will become more visible and active on the surface. Trout especially will go on all day feeding binges as Mother Nature gets them ready to begin spawning. The main catalysts for spawning are increasing hours of daylight and warmer water temperatures with definite peaks occurring around new and full moons. These moon periods will also be your best chances to land a trophy fish.

This month also marks the Houston Fishing Show - an event I look forward to all year. Meeting lots of good people and seeing old friends again is always a lot of fun. This year's show is scheduled to run February 29 through March 4 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in the downtown area. I will be working at the Fishing Tackle Unlimited booth helping demonstrate and explain all the great tackle they have on display, especially my favorite FTU Green Rods. Come by and say hello. Give me an opportunity to show you some of the great products that I have been using and highly recommend… like the Costa Del Mar Man-O-War sunglasses, Simms waders, outerwear and clothing, and also all the fine wade fishing gear from ForEverlast Products. If I don't see you there, remember the pursuit of excellence is to fish hard, fish smart and fish every day you can.