Captain Bob Bushholz
Jensen Beach, Florida
(772) 225-6436
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ALL YEAR LONG!!!!' | | Fishing Report for
March 1st, 2005
"March Madness"
March is here, bringing
warmer weather to the Treasure Coast. Slowly our water temperatures will
rise from the chilly 57 degrees that we experienced early in the year.
Look for inshore fishing to improve dramatically, especially for snook
that have been struggling to just stay alive. Pay attention this month
to wind direction, which will dictate your fishing strategy. If it blows
from the east, surf fishing and offshore can get "sporty" to say the
least. Fishing inshore offers plenty of protected areas. As the water
warms up, you will also notice an increase in baitfish inshore. Early
morning flats fishing will resume so get those topwater lures ready!
Let's start with inshore and work our way out. If history repeats
itself, March could be an east shore bit zone with strong winds at times out
of the southeast. Shallow water early in the morning will pick up, throwing
topwater lures for trout and snook. Try to get up close to docks on the west
side or mangroves on the east side of the Indian River. By 9:00 a.m., drop
to 3-4 feet with soft rubber baits in the flats. I mainly use DOA shrimp and
CAL lures. Throwing both light and dark colors will produce a feeding
pattern. Water clarity can dictate choice in colors. If the water is dark,
throw rootbeer shrimp. In clean water I prefer a lighter color such as a
glow shrimp. Live shrimp on a popping cork is another great option. The main
thing is slowing down your bait presentation. Plenty of species also roaming
in the flats include pompano, flounder, jacks, bluefish, redfish, baitfish
and many others.
Area bridges will be holding plenty of mangrove snapper, sheephead,
black drum, pompano and everyone's favorite - snook. The snook will be an
early morning or night bit along the bottom. Gulfstream's flair hawks or
red-tail hawks, dragging slowly along the bottom seems to produce the best
result. If you can find mullet or pinfish, weigh them down with a 2 oz. egg
sinker with 4 feet of leader. Its amazing, but a crushed mullet head planted
on the bottom is very attractive to big snook.
In the St. Lucie north fork, look for deep holes around river bends.
Bounce a 3/8 oz DOA rootbeer terrorize along the bottom and hold on. Some of
these holes are quite deep, so work that bottom machine. Each year the St.
Lucie produces some monster black drum. A few weeks ago a 60+ pounder was
caught at Sandsprit Park off the bulkhead! Black drum regs are 14" minimum,
one over 24", with 5 fish maximum.
The largest pompano will be in the River, responding well to Gulfstream
redfish and shrimp jigs in the grass flats of Sailfish Point and deeper in
Hell's Gate area. From the quarter bridge on the Stuart Causeway, look for
the pompano brigade on the southwest section of the bridge, throwing
bullethead nylure jigs. When targeting pompano you can expect to find
ladyfish, jacks and blue runners as well.
Look for a strong trout bite with the early morning bite coming alive.
Also look in deeper channels in the Indian River like the Dolphin Grill and
Anchors Aweigh channels. Sheephead will be thick in the St. Lucie Inlet. Get
your bait to the bottom in a rocky area near slack tide (after high tide is
best) using a ¼ oz. trollrite and a small piece of shrimp. Before clearing
the detached jetty just south of the channel is an excellent bet. This area
was not disturbed during previous dredging. The water on the north side near
Sailfish Point is now much deeper than before and less rocky. Also just
outside the north jetty you will find plenty of sheephead, snapper, spots
and margates. Remember sheephead must be 12" to the fork with a 15 per
angler maximum. On Catch 22 we don't keep anything under 14" and only what
can be eaten in one sitting. Of course some people have a larger capacity
than others in one sitting. If you've ever cleaned a sheephead you know that
a 12" fish is not worth the effort.
Tarpon should begin to show up just south of the Stuart Causeway to the
inlet as well as further north around Nettle's Island and outside Big and
Little Mud Creeks. Live bait on circle hooks or sightcasting topwater
poppers, DOA baitbusters and terrorize will get their attention. As we
progress into the summer, the tarpon will get better and better. Last week
tarpon were rolling near Club Med in the North Fork.
Most of the redfish have been concentrated north of the powerlines in
shallow water. Reds are easily spooked, so keep it stealthy. Soft Rubber and
gold spoons top the list. Further north into Fort Pierce and Vero north to
the Cape have always been the most productive areas for big redfish.
I normally begin my assault on tripletail around this time of year.
Channel markers and bridges will hold most of them. Soft rubber and live
shrimp are the baits of choice. . Last year was a decent season ending with
145. Most of these fish until April will be under 6 pounds, with the summer
catch averaging 8-12 lbs. Last year, on Catch 22, my anglers caught 8 fish
over 20 lbs. Great rod-pulling action and super table fare. Remember the 15"
minimum, and two per angler. I release all tripletail over 15 lbs which
allows the big females to reproduce.
Let's head to the surf, with bluefish and Spanish mackerel dominating
the scene in close all day long. Cut bait (mackerel, mullet, ribbonfish) on
the bottom attract the most attention. Normally 2 oz. will hold, but if the
southeast wind picks up, 4 oz. may be necessary. Once you locate these fish,
break out a small spinner, casting silver spoons or topwater lures for great
fun. Don't forget the steel leader for these toothy critters.
Look for large dark clouds in the water just outside the inlets and
along the beaches. This is the time of year to play with monster jacks
running 15 to 30 pounds. I ran a trip yesterday with one of my anglers
hooking up to a 20 pounder on 12 lb test resulting in a half hour battle.
Jigs, spoons and topwater poppers work great but nothing beats a live
greenie. I would suggest beefing it up to 20 lb mainline or expect a good
half hour battle on 12 lb.
Pompano will be out far, so break out the long rods. Double or triple
kayle rigs with sandfleas, shrimp and clam strips is the prime choice for
bait. When using these triple rigs, if you have a pompano on, let it set 30
seconds. Pompano run in schools, so why not catch 2 or 3 at a time! In the
surf, expect a 2 lb. average, with the larger one inshore. There are plenty
of sandfleas out there and it's worth taking the time to get them. Nary a
pompano can turn down a sandflea. For custom surf rods or any more
information on pompano fishing, feel free to call my friend, Ward Woodruff,
who is this area's pompano guru. He can be reached at (772) 334-1708 and
will be glad to answer any questions or build you that special rod.
Offshore should be great, with cobia topping the list. Last year's bite
was awesome. Large manta rays make their appearance this time of year and
the cobia can be found cruising underneath them. It's not uncommon to see a
dozen cobia under a single ray. Keep your eyes peeled for these rays and
have a Gulfstream cobia slayer ready to cast or add a chunk of cut bait or
large grub tail to a large bullethead jig. If the cobia come to the top
while anchored or drifting, toss them a DOA Baitbuster and hold on. When
boating these fish, have a cobia club handy and a cooler open. I've seen
some incredible damage from a thrashing 40 lb. cobia.
Dolphin should be in 120' to 250'. Last year in March, there were plenty
of dolphin in the 8-20 lb. class. There's no sense in keeping any schoolies.
At the rate of growth of these fish, by the end of summer they will be worth
catching again and you'll have yourself a "real" fish. It is really
aggravating to see boats coming in with multiple school-sized fish. Down in
the Keys (and some a little closer to our area), there are charter boats
that pose with as many as forty 3-lb. dolphin. You'd think they would be
embarrassed. There needs to be a legitimate limit on dolphin (say 28") and
watch the population skyrocket in one year.
Sailfish could be in really close, depending on the bait schools. Plenty
of kingfish are still in the area, inside the 6-mile reef. On the bottom,
large grouper and mutton snapper with some true red snapper have shown up
north of the St. Lucie Inlet. South of the inlet to Pecks Lake, the Spanish
mackerel are still in residence, hitting spoons, minnow jigs, tube lures,
shrimp tipped jigs. In other words, just about everything!
Remember, with all fish limit your take, don't take your limit !!!
Capt. Bob Bushholz
(772) 225-6436
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