Thomas M. party, tough weather conditions with Bay Flats Lodge Captain Steve Boldt March 10, 2014.
As the March weather begins to warm the environment, the trout and the reds will start to move into water that’s nowhere near as deep as that which they have been in over the past few months. Spring will bring with it more sunlight each day, which means that the shallows along many of our local flats areas should begin to warm a little bit more with each passing day. As this warming trend unfolds upon the shallows, area baitfish will relocate to the flats and will begin to become very active as the days continue to get warmer. And wherever the bait goes, so shall the trout and the reds. Over the past winter months, the water has been cold, and so have the fish, so they are now ready to fulfill what can sometimes be witnessed as being a very aggressive appetite. And because the fish will become more active this month due to their desire to satisfy their craving for food, anglers wanting to get in on some hot trout action should always make it a point this month to focus on locating active bait whenever possible.
Springtime can mean altering winds and altering tides, which often leaves bay waters disturbed and discolored. When this happens, don’t be discouraged. Learn to look for signs of fish being in the immediate area. If you see a mullet jump out of the brown water, stop for a few moments and observe the entire area before you leave to look for cleaner water elsewhere. If you see a lot of mullet jumping, disregard the fact that the color of the water doesn’t look appealing to you. There is bait in the water, and it is being driven to the surface by hungry predators. Drop anchor and setup a wading session with a top water or plastic bait of your choice. We have recognized extreme success more times than I can remember in water that looks just terrible. Fishing with top water baits in these conditions can often require a huge amount of persistence on behalf of the angler, so it may be necessary for the top water enthusiast to prepare mentally ahead of time, as you’ll most likely need a lot of patience in these conditions. Some of our best results in discolored water have come from the use of dark slow-sinkers, twitch-baits, and assorted plastic tails. A few of the more popular slow-sinking baits include the Corky, the Corky FatBoy, and the Catch 2000. As for twitch-baits, the ones that have consistently produced for us over the years come from MirroLure, and include some of the ever-popular models like the 51MR and the 52MR. But when it comes to plastic tails, there are a lot of them to choose from. And with mullet being a primary bait target right now, anglers should strongly consider paddle-tail models like the Killer Flats Minnow, the Red Killer, or the Flapp’n Shad.
On cooler mornings this month, we will start out our day over mud and grass simply because this is where the fish may prefer to be since the water temperature may not yet be as warm as the fish like it to be, and the mud helps to keep things warm. However, as the sun rises into the late-morning sky and is given an opportunity to heat things up a bit, we will move our efforts from above the mud to above that of hard sand or shell. As a matter of fact, my time-of-day preference for fishing in March is from noon to dark, instead of first thing each morning. Why? Simply because of the warming factor this month. The shallows are generally going to be warmed substantially by the end of each day this month before the sun goes down for the evening. The nights this month may still be somewhat cool, so the fish will often tend to relocate to deeper water environs during the nighttime hours, only to return to the shallows the next day once the water has been given a chance to warm once again. Now then, I realize a lot of coastal anglers only have limited amounts of time to fish, and that “blowing” the morning may not sound too appealing to most, but it is something you can certainly take into consideration next time you’re out on the water this month.
Like we discussed earlier, with this month being the official start of spring, there will be windy days for us to contend with. However, if you happen to be fortunate enough to be out on the bay fishing on a day absent of much wind this month, you should strongly consider taking advantage of the situation by focusing your attention on one of the many shell pads that happen to be sprinkled around the San Antonio Bay vicinity. The shell acts as somewhat of a safe-haven for many, many members of the marine food chain. Because of this, hot trout action can often be the result over the shell this month, especially whenever given low wind conditions, afternoon warming, and greener water. Some of our best-catch days have occurred in just these same conditions atop many of the oyster reefs in San Antonio Bay this month.
Even though March does signal a time for warming, that doesn’t mean we’re completely safe from experiencing another couple of cold days this month. Stray frontal passages this month could still inject a day, or two, of cold weather. When this happens, you’ll have to try locating the trout in places other than the shallows. We like finding bait and bird combinations in these instances. For example, on cold days when we happen upon finger-mullet activity where we see Cormorants operating, we know there are trout and reds in the area. All that’s left to do is to pinpoint their exact holding spot.
The arrival of spring is upon us, and this change in seasons will most certainly mean more boat traffic on area coastal waters. Be safe, be courteous, and obey the law. There’s a lot of water out there, and there’s plenty of room for all of us to enjoy it together.
