In this week’s Northwest Florida Fishing Report, host Joe Baya checks in with Evan Wheeler of Tall Pines Tight Lines for an inshore look around Pensacola, then heads offshore with Capt. Adam Peeples of One Shot Charters out of Destin. The big theme this week is a classic late-March transition: offshore anglers are seeing good opportunities for wahoo, swordfish, and open-water tuna when weather allows, while inshore trout fishermen are dealing with a day-to-day mix of winter holdovers and early spring movement.
Conditions Recap
A warm stretch gave way to another late-season cold front, creating the kind of unstable pattern that defines March along the Emerald Coast. Offshore, the weather windows were fishable and productive, but scattered grass, changing current, and inconsistent bait made things far from automatic. Inshore, negative morning tides, bluebird post-front conditions, and sharp temperature swings kept trout fishermen guessing. The overall takeaway is that fishing is improving, but anglers still need to stay flexible and fish the conditions in front of them instead of expecting a full spring pattern every day.
Offshore Report
Joe starts offshore with Capt. Adam Peeples, who reports a productive weekend out of Destin despite fishing that was a little slower than the weather might have suggested. On Saturday, his crew caught a nice wahoo at one of the FADs almost immediately after putting the first bait in the water, then spent time swordfishing and released a couple of smaller fish. On Sunday, they ran into open-water tuna action on the way offshore, with blackfin, skipjack, and yellowfin mixed in, before going back to swordfishing and boating a couple more swordfish.
Adam says the FADs, including the newer inshore ones, are well worth checking this time of year for wahoo. Even when fish are not heavily grouped up, the chance at a quality bite is there. His approach is to pull a varied spread rather than rig strictly for one species. That mix often includes Nomad diving plugs on the corners, Mold Craft lures, and Islander-ballyhoo combinations. When a wahoo bites, he prefers to keep the boat moving at first instead of immediately slowing down and clearing lines, because that violent strike can open a large hook hole and any loss of tension can cost the fish. He also notes that leaving other baits in the water can turn one hookup into multiple fish.
On tackle, Adam says he runs mono instead of wire on his trolling setups, usually in the 200- to 250-pound range, because he believes it gets more bites and he does not lose enough lures to cutoffs to justify the tradeoff. He has been critical of early durability issues with Nomad DTX-style plugs, but says recent design improvements look promising and the lures unquestionably get bit. Offshore anglers should also be ready for plenty of scattered sargassum right now, because grass is everywhere and can make trolling a chore.
Swordfishing has been fairly steady, even if many of the fish showing up are still on the smaller side. Adam describes this stretch as sporadic rather than truly hot or cold, with better consistency usually building as May approaches. He recommends paying attention to moon phase, especially the days leading up to the full moon, which can be especially good for swordfish as spring progresses.
When those open-water tuna schools show up, Adam likes to keep spinning outfits rigged and ready with swimbaits and poppers, though he says swimbaits have become his favorite because the single hook tends to hold better. Live bait is another strong option when available. For gear, he says most anglers are well covered with 6500- to 7500-size spinning reels loaded with 65- or 80-pound braid. More important than the reel is the rod. He prefers a longer rod, around seven feet, with a fast tip and enough backbone to launch a two- to four-ounce bait a long way while still handling heavy drag on big tuna. His setups on the Iceman are custom Poseidon rods, built specifically to sling those baits and put real pressure on the fish.
Inshore Report
On the inshore side, Evan Wheeler says March remains one of the most challenging but rewarding months of the year around Pensacola. Depending on the day, anglers can find fish that still look like they are in a winter pattern, others that are easing into spring, and some that seem to be acting more like summer fish during warm afternoons. The problem is that all of that can change fast when temperatures crash again overnight or a front blows through.
Evan says big trout right now are balancing several things at once. They are looking for warmth, looking for forage, positioning around likely spawning areas, and still staying close enough to thermal refuge that they can slide back to safety if another cold snap hits. That is why these fish can seem scattered and why they may show up in very different places from one day to the next. He has been catching trout from very shallow water out to deeper zones, but many days have been tough because the fish are not showing a lot of obvious signs. Birds are loafing, water movement has been minimal with negative tides in the morning, and post-front blue skies have made trout sluggish and noncommittal.
Even so, Evan reports some quality fish over the past couple of weeks, including several big trout and some even larger fish that were lost. He says confidence matters a lot this time of year, but so does understanding what kind of confidence bait you need. In one category are search baits, meaning lures you can throw when you are not exactly sure where the fish are but want something that will get bit if fish are present. In the other category are more surgical baits for specific spots and specific fish, when you believe a big trout should be sitting in a certain place for a very particular reason.
For search work, Evan says lure choice has to match depth and how much water you need to cover. If he is covering deep water quickly, he is more likely to throw a jighead-rigged soft plastic or a MirrOlure. If he is working a more defined shallow area, a weightless Original Slick Lure becomes a better tool because it suspends in the strike zone, casts a long way, and moves naturally over tricky bottom. For anglers trying to build confidence with speckled trout, that kind of lure can be a strong starting point, but only if they learn how to work it properly in different depths.
When he is specifically targeting a big trout on artificials, Evan says his choices tighten up. On top, he likes large surface baits such as Heddon One Knocker Spooks. For subsurface work, he likes a MirrOlure Catch 2000 Jr. because it lets him imitate a mid-column mullet while still covering water efficiently. In soft plastics, he will throw the OG Slick Lure shallow, the Slick Lure Jr. on a jighead in deeper water, or long, darting plastics such as Down South Lures, Big Smooth-style baits, and older Saltwater Assassin or Norton sand eel profiles. He often fishes them on lighter jigheads with a loop knot so the bait can swim naturally over likely holding areas.
Evan also points out that this is a time when anglers should think carefully about handling big pre-spawn trout. His preference is to release those larger fish so they have a chance to make their first major spawn of the season, while keeping smaller trout if someone wants fish for the table.
Best Bets This Week
Offshore anglers should keep an eye on the weather windows and stay ready for multiple opportunities on a single run. The FADs remain a strong option for wahoo, swordfish action is respectable and should only improve as spring progresses, and any surface activity from tuna is worth stopping for immediately. Inshore, anglers should expect the trout pattern to remain transitional for at least another week or two. Fish that were feeding during warm afternoons may slow down after the latest front, but many of the same areas should continue to produce as long as fishermen stay patient, match their presentations to the depth and conditions, and focus on likely staging zones near spawning water.
