When I wrote the February article, I had no idea the winter would last as long as it has, but good news has arrived. Four martins showed up in the gourd houses and the robins came for just a day, but they both told me that spring would arrive early in March.
All of this indicates that it will be a better year for good spring fishing. The speckled trout will come on strong and the sheepshead, pompano, whiting, and redfish will really be hungry, and there will be plenty of bait to bring them in. The flounder will follow soon after the water temperature rises above 70 degrees.
The offshore fishing will be much better as the winter weather moves out because they have not had anybody disturbing them except occasionally for a good couple of months. I don’t know what we are going to do in order to get our bait through the red snapper to try to catch a grouper or scamp or even an amberjack. The red snapper have grown so large that they are attacking the large amberjack bait on the way down. You don’t even dare try to use a duster to catch an amberjack. It will have a red snapper on it before you get fifty (50) feet. This is all exciting news for all of us that have been watching the weather and just waiting on a beautiful, calm day to go offshore fishing in deep water.
Don’t forget to file a float plan, and let somebody know when you are going to return.