Black Drum The Fish to Target in Marco Island
Capt. Lisa Williams
April 1, 2014
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Whoever said that "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb" probably wasn't a fisherman, at least not in SW Florida.
March came in like a hurricane and only stopped to catch her breath a few times.
The high winds coupled with some frigid fronts passing through at least once a week, made for some slow fishing here in the 10,000 islands. The water temperatures were like a yo-yo, dipping and rising almost daily. This causes most of our fish species to go off of their normal feeding patterns.
However, despite Mother Nature's best efforts to ruin some of our clients fishing, they endured. Braving chilly mornings and howling winds there were still fish to be found.
Pompano, which usually begin to show up in March, were hit and miss, but when we did get some clarity back to the water they were hungry. Jigs in yellow and chartreuse were always the favorite tipped with shrimp and worked quickly over sandy bottom, produced good numbers on a few occasions.
Speckled Trout are sparse and spread out over a wide area, but slow and steady retrieves over grass beds and near tidal cuts produced a few nice specimens.
Black Drum saved more than one tough day of fishing. These brutes can be found in deep water areas in most of the backwater. Low and slow is the key to catching them. Drop your baits low to the very bottom of the water column and slow and I mean very slow movements have paid off in some nice fish.
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