With warmer weather sticking around more often, the water temperature will slowly rise over the next 2 or 3 weeks. After this temperature rise, the fish should get in gear! We have a full moon on the 21st causing some slow tides till the 24th.   The week prior to the moon and the week following the moon should be present great opportunity to catch fish!  Strong tides, gin clear water pushing from the Gulf, and the increase in water temperature will bring all the fish in the area to life.   Sheepshead are gathering near the passes and beginning to hold in larger groups.  Live shrimp and fiddler crabs are the best options for catching sheepshead.  The pass, bridge, and surrounding area will produce some great catches well into April. 

Carolina rigging a 1/4oz. to 1oz. egg sinker with a 20 to 30 pound fluorocarbon leader is the ticket to catching short biting sheepshead.   A #6 or #4 Eagle Claw Khale hook is my favorite sheepshead hook.  Live shrimp broken in thirds or fiddler crabs are on the menu for sheepshead almost always.  Adjust your weight according to the water depth and speed of the tide or current.  When sheepshead seem to bite everything but the hook try lightening your lead and fishing with NO leaders.  Split shots work great in these inland situations.

Speckled trout will begin showing signs of life over the next few weeks as well.  These fish are beginning to move southward from the rivers and creeks throughout the area.  Heavy rains will sometimes speed this process.  Free lining live shrimp around grass and structure is the secret to catching spring speckled trout.  A Berkley Gulp is a great substitute for live bait.  The Gulp 3” shrimp and Gulp Alive! Minnows are great trout baits when catching schooling fish.  Rigged on a 1/8oz. to 1/4oz. jig head, these baits are deadly.  Hard plastics in small sizes this time of the year will do well with trout around piers and grass flats.  Try the MirrOlure Mirodine and MiroMullet or the X-Rap series.

Late March should provide anglers with opportunities to do battle with slot sized redfish near and around the pass.  Check docks with good current for redfish.  Carolina rig under the up current and down current side of the pier can lead to big redfish action.  The   jetties are a great place to find bundled redfish during the spring also.  Live shrimp, fiddler crabs, sand fleas, and most baitfish will entice a hungry red.  Berkley Gulps are great for redfish schooled under piers in heavy current.  Rig Gulps on a 3/8oz jig head and work the edges of the structure just like you were bass fishing. 

The Pompano will be lurking around toward the end of the month.  There is nothing better than a Connor’s Hand Tied Pompano Jig tipped with a Gulp sand flea for catching Pompano.  Carolina rigging with a shrimp, fiddler crab, or sand flea will do the trick as well.  Look for these fish around the pass and along the beaches on hard incoming tides.  A depression in the sandbar or a deep drop off can hold pompano on the beach throughout the next couple of months.  Fishing the pass on hard incoming tides is the ticket to catching pompano.

The end of the month will also open the 2008 cobia season.  The first fish is typically caught around mid-March.  The first big push of migrating cobia is usually seen around the beginning of April.  Many boats will be cruising the beaches, sight fishing for cobia by the end of the month.  Good luck and have a great season!

March is a great fishing month in OrangeBeach.  The sheepshead provide hours of fun for all anglers!  Trout, redfish, and pompano all begin their annual spring time bite.  Cobias begin migrating through our waters!  Warmer weather beckons us to the water!  Have a great March!