Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Florida Sportsman

Energy earned for energy spent. More and more these days, that calculus contributes to my overall satisfaction as an angler. I burn fuel to catch fish, I feel good when I come home with fuel for my body. Nothing beats Spanish mackerel for this equation. When they’re running—which is right now for much of Florida—it’s usually a simple affair to get the boat out along the beach and catch a few with jigs or spoons. You might have a pier or favorite surf fishing beach where you can intercept them. Surely you’ve heard that Spanish are best when eaten fresh. Today, tomorrow: Great! Day three, pushing it. Frozen? No thanks. Me? I can take a day’s catch of Spanish and fuel myself for almost a week. By way of example,…

The power-to-weight ratio of Mercury’s 5.7L V10 Verado outboards stands out right away: These are 350- and 400-horsepower engines weighing as little as 695 pounds. I’ll spare you the math but encourage you to look around and reflect on that. They’ve a small footprint, too, mounting down to 26-inch centers, if called for. Performance? Oh yes. High displacement, quad-cam design; torque-optimized spark timing; performance-tuned intakes and a Revolution X propeller engineered for the package promise gratifying low-end power and high-end performance. This unique combination suggests installation options for a variety of fishing boats, from singles on large hybrid bay boats to multi-power options for the biggest center consoles. We put three 400-hp V10 Verado outboards through unique fishing applications during filming of our Florida Sportsman Sea Trials episode. Two 25-inch…

It’s no secret that summer months bring flocks of tourists to the Florida Keys. The crystal-clear waters, the colorful reefs abundant with life and a weeklong trip of “no worries” all play a role in the allure of this vacation paradise. Shops are full of quirky, one-of-a-kind art and treasures. Restaurants serve up deliciously flavorful seafood. And don’t forget to top off any adventure with that other famous invention of the island chain, key lime pie! The 100-mile-wide Straits of Florida aligned between the sun-kissed island chain and Cuba carry schools of brightly colored dolphin up and down the deep blue currents. Warm water flowing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean give dolphin a moving buffet that keeps them on the feed year-round whether they’re moving north…

Freshwater catfish are among the tastiest fish swimming in Florida waters. Easy to target for anglers of all skill levels, freshwater cats can be found almost anywhere in our state, from small urban ponds to massive rivers and big lakes. Just about any kind of gear can pass as “catfish tackle,” along with just about any kind of natural bait or store-bought stinky versions specially made to attract catfish. Join in on the action, grab your rod and go! You’ll soon be “cool as a cat” and filling a cooler with tasty fish. The first step in targeting freshwater catfish is to find decent fishable waters. You won’t have far to look because chances are, your closest body of water will have some type of freshwater catfish thriving in it.…

As our Southwest Florida winter season starts to wane and spring-time conditions begin to dominate the forecast, anglers can expect a plethora of amazing fishing options in the 10,000 Islands region. Known traditionally as a predominantly breezy month, March usually delivers significant swings in the weather as nature attempts to convert winter to spring in the Everglades. Sudden temperature swings from the mid 40s to the mid 80s are common and stimulate a feeding response in certain fish. One of my favorite fish to target this time of year, is the Spanish mackerel. They are bullet-fast swimmers and ravenous feeders that willingly strike a wide variety of natural and artificial baits. Known for spectacular runs, skyrocketing acrobatics and razor-sharp slashing teeth, Spanish mackerel are a pelagic species which roam the…

The winds of March can blow the barn doors off at times, but usually they’re the last gasp of winter in the West Central Region. The first day of spring settles into the Suncoast on March 20. Weekly cold fronts begin to lose their punch and area waters clear as winds subside and temperatures rise. The first whiff of orange blossoms tells me that snook are heading out to the mouths of the rivers and creeks to forage for food. March 1 marks the reopening of snook harvest season in the region. Move your clocks ahead an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9 to make your early morning hours a little brighter. Last year, an early warm-up pushed whitebait onto the flats until a rogue cold front blew them…

The good news about March is that as the month goes along things are supposed to get at least a little bit calmer. I, for one, certainly hope so. I’ve had about all the wind I can stand for this winter. If, and only if, we get some flat seas in March, there is bound to be outstanding offshore fishing. March used to be my favorite time of the year to fish for big sea bass on the partyboat grounds. Make no mistake, sea bass are getting squeezed out of our nearshore reefs (along with most other species) by the explosion of red snapper. We have continued to harvest everything off the reefs, while banning any harvest of ridgeback sharks and red snapper. We have an unprecedented imbalance on Northeast…

Twenty years ago, it took direct hits from Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne to get water over my Stuart, FL seawall. This past fall, all it took was a big moon and a high tide. Similar “blue sky flooding” is happening even more frequently to our south, in Miami Beach. Flooding, storm surge damage and stressors to our coastal habitat seem to be here to stay. What to do about it? In my neighborhood, two of my neighbors, in the last year, built higher seawalls, at about $600 a foot. In the City of Miami Beach, they’re not only raising seawalls, they’re building roads and sidewalks on top of roads and sidewalks. But is building higher walls or pancaking roads on top of roads sustainable? Probably not, and thankfully there are…

Wild turkeys are my favorite hunting prey, not just because they taste great, but because they provide interactions that attract me. What other prey can you have a conversation with? They are smart and cunning deserving my total admiration. I roast my Toms upside down so that any fat and juices run down into the breast meat. After several great meals there is ample meat left on the carcass and so in the spirit of nothing goes to waste, I remove all meat, brown and white. Some of the brown leg meat is too sinewy to eat and becomes crab bait, but the overall edible haul is good. Here, I make it into a tasty roll with a dipping sauce. Here’s a tip: If you make and have leftover turkey…

Spring fishing is upon us. It’s all about being prepared, so when the weather breaks, you can take advantage of it and get some of the most sought-after species the Florida Keys are known for. A longer colder winter may delay the spring arrival of the large tarpon biomass, and it could slow the seasonal arrival of the schools of permit on the wrecks and reefs. But I’m willing to bet that as soon as the winds turn and blow from the tropical southeast, the fish will show up. Tarpon are always a tell-tale sign that spring has sprung. Tarpon can be easily spotted from far away by the way they breach the water gulping air. They roll in many of the large channels throughout the Lower Keys. We call…

A prime transition month for anglers in the Southeast Region is March. As winter gives way to spring, water temperatures rise, and both resident and migratory species are on the hit list, often making for a nice mixed-bag day of fishing. The inshore fishery for resident species like snook begins to warm up with the water temperature. But at the same time, it’s still cool enough to keep transient species, such as pompano and bluefish, around. Water temperature is typically in the mid-70s but can vary as a late season front pushes through or a trend of summer-like weather graces us with its presence. On the cool days, focus a bit more on the migrators, on warm days try for the locals. The lack of rain this month makes for…

March recalls many spring breaks and memories of warm, breezy weather, drift-fishing over grassflats, while casting at white sand pockets where seatrout wait to ambush almost anything that swims by. This early in the year, before the shrimp arrive, we’ve done well throwing 6-inch Twister tail jigs in white or chartreuse. Use white in the morning for maximum visibility, then green in the afternoon. That large bait size draws strikes of all size; unfortunately, even smaller trout will sometimes inhale it. These jigs also attract early mackerel, seabass and flounder. Guides with their big boats depend on these “deeper water” drifts in five to 10 feet to keep the rods bent and at the same time, avoid the shallows with their prop-bending limestone outcrops. Guides also depend on live pinfish…

One of the transition months in Florida is March. For anglers this means going from good fishing to great fishing. Not only will the fishing for year-round resident fish improve but a whole new group of migratory game fish will move into the Northwest Florida region. Anglers need to keep an eye on the water temperature to predict when the Spanish mackerel, kingfish, cobia and pompano move in. Some of them begin showing up when the waters warm to the high 60s and low 70s, but 75 degrees produces the most fishing action. Recently, warming trends seem to be reflected in slightly earlier fish migrations. Last year, however, there were fewer kingfish and they arrived later than usual. Fishing along the numerous Gulf beaches here is a good way to…

The chicken rig is a classic Florida bottom fishing rig that can be configured for whatever size leader, hooks, or target fish you’re after. It’s perfect for triggerfish, covered in this month’s feature, and also excel-lent for snapper, sheepshead, grunts, seabass and just about any other schooling panfish that lives on or near bottom. Not really ideal for groupers and amberjacks, but in heavier tests and with hardware (three-way swivels instead of knots), it can be modified for the heavies. Basically, the chicken rig is a terminal leader with a sinker at the bottom and one or more hooks positioned above it in series—generally two. Central to its construction is the dropper loop knot, a handy little knot every fisherman should learn. The dropper loop gives you a stiff mini-loop…

“ Boat Ramp Etiquette” really got the guys fired up on a recent episode of the Florida Sportsman Action Spotter Podcast. I host the podcast and always enjoy getting fishing reports from around the state—but I especially enjoy when the captains get passionate about our weekly special topic. Here were a couple of highlights from the regional guides. “Stay in your lane,” was what Northeast Florida guide Capt. David Borries contributed. Each boat ramp is designed to accommodate a certain number of boats at a time. Pick your lane and stay in it. “Headlights off while backing down a predawn boat ramp,” said bluewater captain Craig Sutton, with decades of experience in Florida. Captain Jim Ross, of East Central Florida, was adamant about people doing their prep work, either at…

They lack the size and fight of big amberjack, the status of red snapper or the speed of king mackerel. Yet most anglers these days celebrate bringing a good-sized gray triggerfish into the boat. And why not? Triggers have become widely recognized for their succulent, white fillets. Sure, it can be a bit of a chore to get to that meat, through triggers’ thick, leathery tough skin, but most anglers have learned how to do it efficiently. And triggers are, well... fish. That is to say, most fishermen out on a reef are after fish, and a trigger adds another species to a boat’s catch. Triggerfish have been important to Florida’s recreational fishery for a long time. Some old-timers can still remember back to the days when triggerfish weren’t a…

Spring starts on March 20 and regardless of whether you’re a local or visiting South Florida, before heading out on a fishing adventure, make sure the boat and gear are in top notch condition. March in South Florida is notorious for some very windy and rough conditions, but is also a great month for targeting some of the biggest fish the region has to offer all year. Nearshore, northward-bound migrating Spanish mackerel, pompano, jack crevalle, and offshore, sailfish, mahi mahi, blackfin tuna and oversized bluefish have been fattening up on shrimp and baitfish all winter long. Now they’re all on the move as they head to their summertime homes in the mid-Atlantic states. I’m talking about Spanish mackerel as big as 8 pounds, kingfish topping 50, bluefish to 20 pounds,…

March puts us into what should be the last part of winter fishing for Southwest Florida. We will still see some cold fronts make their way into the area, but these fronts will now be less frequent and less severe. This transition toward spring fishing is an exciting time as the fish that staged up in the area during the coldest of months are still here, while the slow warm up of water temperatures brings migrating fish from the south. Anglers have lots of options inshore, offshore and in freshwater, too. March also brings the last of our below mean low winter tides, that occur in the morning hours. These negative tides will now begin to shift toward the afternoons and evenings by month’s end. Water temperature dictates everything and…

Country music fans out there know the tune. “Bass-trackers, Bayliners, and a party barge, strung together like a floatin’ trailer park…” Conjuring images of boats packed together in the Redneck Yacht Club, Craig Morgan’s 2005 hit might have been singing about the springtime shellcracker fishing frenzy on Lake Kissimmee. Properly known as redear sunfish — for obvious anatomical reasons — shellcrackers are awfully fun to fish for, as evidenced by the flotilla of boats that prowl the lake in March. Now is primetime to find spawning aggregations and once a school is found, it’s easy pickings. Seasoned shellcracker hunters swear they can locate schools by the smell in the air. The legend goes, if you smell a muddy, fishy fragrance while exploring the lake, stop and fish. Apparently, concentrated schools…

March is the month everything begins to get active and turn on for the season. The only misconception is when it comes to the action, the light switch doesn’t always flip all the way on; it’s more like a dimmer switch and turns on very slowly. We’ll get beautiful weather days on the water that get folks excited only to get a cold front by the weekend. I love fishing this month, but not for the weather, for the sheepshead. Inshore and along the beaches we are going to count down days until we get water temperatures of 68 to 70 degrees. When that happens, spring patterns are finally here. All along the Panhandle region, the sheepshead bite will be peaking. Most of the year’s harvested fish will be caught…