Captain Bob Bushholz
Jensen Beach, Florida
(772) 225-6436
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ALL YEAR LONG!!!!' | | Fishing Report for
March 4th, 2004
"March Madness"
March is here, bringing warmer weather to the
Treasure Coast. Slowly our water temperatures will rise from the chilly 62
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 finally coming
alive. Last month's water temperatures all but shut down these fish until
10-11 a.m. 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. 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 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 105 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!
Can hardly wait for my new offshore boat (25' Parker Pilothouse) that
I plan on ordering later on this year. I will be running both inshore
trips with the pontoon and offshore with the new boat. I really do miss
the offshore action.
Remember, with all fish limit your take, don't take your limit !!!
Capt. Bob Bushholz
(772) 225-6436
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