Fishing Report 3/12

Recent warm temperatures and lower river levels helped the bite in early March. However, the rivers are back on the rise in a big way due to significant rains upstate in Montgomery and Birmingham. Fishing will be challenging this week in mid March in the Delta.. Warmer weather will help everything, especially to the south.

Before the river rise, Captain Lynn Pridgen of http://captlynnsinshoreadventures.com/ was catching redfish and sheepshead in the Mobile River. The trout were also biting at Daphne when the wind is right. The fish in Daphne may hold despite the muddy water being dumped into the Upper Bay. Trout will start showing up at the shoals and in Grand Bay, as the water temperatures rise. Flounder have also started to trickle back in from the annual winter run in the Gulf. Sheepshead are starting to get thick around structure in the bay and Mississippi Sound.

Pompano should begin running along the beaches. The ground mullet are already biting fairly well along the beaches, along with a few reds. Cobia are probably more likely to start showing up around April 1. They migrate from east to west, so they show up in Destin and Pensacola first.

Pre-spawn bass fishing can be really good, or really challenging. Cold temperatures this year have delayed the bite until mid-March on some lakes. Conditions were tough on my recent trip on 3/5, after lows below freezing to start the day

We started out fishing small Zoom Flukes drop-shot style. The bite was slow, so I switched to a Strike King Red Eye Shad. This is the same bait that Kevin VanDam won the Bassmasters Classic with. I hooked a nice heathly 4 pounder right away. This was a loner though… Later I caught two smaller fish on a spinnerbait.

Look for fishing to really improve with the warm days we have enjoyed recently. Bass will be heading to the flats and I expect excellent bass fishing in ponds, lakes, and other areas not affected by the Alabama and the Tombigbee.