Freshwater
Central Florida—Bass are bedding on the north end of Lake Kissimmee, where Skinny Dippers, Eager Beavers and Paca Craws with a 1 ounce tungsten weight have been the favored baits for sight casting the big females on the spawning beds. Lake Toho and the Harris Chain are seeing a marked increase of bedding females, and expect the best spawning period of the year to take place over the next three weeks. Warm weather will have the fish on the move and up shallow ready to do their thing. Live shiners fished on the grass lines will also take bass to 10 pounds or more.            

On Lake Kissimmee, the crappie are starting to move into grass, but can still be caught in the open channels in 6-8 feet of water on live Missouri minnows. For anglers working the grassy islands in the middle of the lake, a chartreuse jig with a minnow has been the hot bait, although a blue and white jig has also been producing. 

Lake Okeechobee—Randall Tharp caught a four-day bag of 101-pounds, 12-ounces to win the FLW tournament last week on Lake Okeechobee, testimony to that the big lake is back to historic proportions. Tharp was flippin’ the outside grass mats and mud tussocks with the best action coming in the middle of the day. When the moon is not full or new, the larger fish have moved off to the first point of grass near the spawning areas where they’re staged and eating SPRO Aruca Shads and other lipless crankbaits. Flipping the hydrilla and pepper grass areas at Second Point and just outside the Clewiston Channel will lead to limit stringers of fish, and with the warm weather you can work a Bass Assassin Logger Toad through the thick grass for some surface-busting strikes.            

Warm weather has the crappie fishing looking more like its spring peak, with anglers catching 25 fish limits of fish to 2 pounds using minnows near Nubbin Slough, the Harney Pond Canal and the mouth of the Kissimmee River. Bluegill have also heated up, with fish being caught on crickets, red worms or small white or yellow popping bugs.       

Saltwater 
 Florida Panhandle
Inshore— The redfish are stacked in East, West and North Bays in Panama City, according to Capt. Pat Dineen of Flyline charters. This is the time of the year when the reds school up in balls, and can be caught on fly or with soft plastics like Bass Assassin Copper Juice colored 4 inch sea shads. Spotted seatrout are starting to move onto the flats with the warm weather. Most of the fish are schoolies, with the Stinky Pink colored Assassin Sea Shad with a 1/8 ounce jighead the top offering. Destin Pass is full of large redfish in the 20-30 pound range, and those fish will jump on a chartreuse Assassin swim bait on a 1 ounce jighead or a chunk of mullet fished on the bottom. Cast the jig up-current and allow it to hit bottom, then back it back with the tide all the way to shore.  

Offshore— Bottom fishing is the hot action right now, with amberjacks, snapper and grouper very thick in 80-100 feet of water. Butterfly jigs will get you all the action you want from the reef donkeys, but a live hardtail will catch the larger fish. All the reefs and rockpiles from 60 feet of water on out are covered in grouper right now, and there’s a good number of snapper also in the mix. Drop down a standard bottom rig with a whole squid to get the fish going, and once they get picky change over to live pinfish or pigfish. Grouper season is still closed in the Gulf, but catch and release action is fantastic right now.   West

Central Florida
Inshore—Warm weather has the ladyfish, jacks, seatrout and redfish on the feed from Little Sarasota Bay to New Port Richie. Watch for diving birds and schools of mullet which indicate redfish in the area. The trout are in open water over patch grass/sand bottom in 2-4 feet. Lemon Bay has been a great spot to fish chrome colored Zara Spooks on the warm days, and green and gold glitter jerkbaits on the cooler days. A DOA standard shrimp in Glo color is also taking a lot of reds right now. This is the time of the year when the sheepshead spawn, so live shrimp, zebra mussels, sandfleas or fiddler crabs fished around the bridge pilings or piers will get you a nice sheepshead dinner.  

Offshore—Grouper are the mainstays offshore, although the mangrove snapper are there if you can get a bait past the grouper, which must be released. Live pinfish or sandperch are great baits for both species. Spanish mackerel are hit-and-miss, as are kingfish, with the best action coming in the next month or so. Live blue runners and threadfins will be the offerings of choice.    

Southwest Florida  
Inshore—Find the clean water and you’ll find the seatrout and redfish, particularly in Pine Island Sound. Work the outer edges of the bars and watch for diving birds. Paddle-tail grubs in rootbeer or motor oil are producing, as are topwater plugs like a silver Rapala SkitterWalk. Most of the reds are being found in the clear sandy potholes on the flats. The tarpon bite in Florida Bay is hit-or-miss, with snook picking up the slack on the slow days. Warm weather has both species active early in the day, and feeding on the falling tides. Tarpon to 120 pounds were taken this week in the southwesterly facing bays of Chokoloskee.  

Offshore—Snapper fishing has been outstanding for mangrove snapper from Stump Pass south. The majority of anglers are concentrating on fishing hard bottom from three to seven miles from shore, and chumming heavily with glass minnows, ground chum, chum balls and live pilchards. Shrimp, squid and pilchards are the top baits, either freelined or fished on a 3/8-ounce jig. Rough seas have hampered offshore fishing the last week. 

 Florida Keys
Inshore—Spanish mackerel, bluefish and sharks are the mainstays on the flats of the Upper Keys and Florida Bay. Redfish action has been on the slow side, but there have been school-sized fish taken in some of the holes of the rivers in Florida Bay, as well as around the islands. Live shrimp on a ¼ ounce jighead have been working on the reds. The edge of the park boundary has been producing big trout to four or five pounds around the channel edges for anglers using live pinfish for bait. Cobia haven’t shown up around the wrecks yet, but Goliath grouper are still there to provide plenty of action.    
Offshore—The sailfish bite has been very slow due to the warm winter, but anglers looking to tangle with some big fish can visit the Islamorada Hump for amberjacks to 100 pounds and a good blackfin tuna bite. Kingfish are the mainstay on the outside edge of the reef in the Upper Keys. Down in Key West, blackfin tuna and big kingfish are the rule, with most of the reefs and wrecks seeing good action from the kings on live blue runners. Sailfish action has been slow, but bottom fishing has been fantastic for everything from amberjack to cobia. Small yellowtail and mutton snapper are on the patch reefs, so you have to really work at it to catch enough keepers for a meal. Look for the yellowtail bite to improve over the next few weeks.  

Southeast Florida 
 Inshore—Tarpon fishing at the inlets has been outstanding for fish to 130 pounds, either in the inlets or around the bridges at night. Live shrimp or crabs have been the preferred baits. The winter spinner shark bite off Palm Beach has kicked into full gear, with sharks from 60-100 pounds eating everything from live blue runners to chunks of jack cravalles and red flies with a popper head. Spinner sharks are popular because they fight like a cornered raccoon and jump like a tarpon. There have been two schools of spinner sharks off Palm Beach—one around McArther Park and one down towards Sloan’s Curve. Big jacks can be found in Palm Beach inlet.  

Offshore—Despite great water and current conditions the sailfish bite has been almost non-existent. Dolphin have been the mainstay in 100-300 feet of water with most of the fish under 15 pounds. There are still some kings and mutton snapper down deep, so run a live bait on a downrigger and you’ll get a shot at them. Most of the kings being caught are over 30 pounds. Spanish mackerel have been a no-show, but there are some cobia trickling down in the Blowing Rocks area of Jupiter.    

East Central Florida
Inshore—Pompano action has been really slow due to the unseasonably warm winter, but that’s really sparked the snook and seatrout bite. Snook to 20 pounds or more are being caught around the bridges right now by anglers using live shrimp or chartreuse flair hawk jigs. Seatrout action is hot on the flats of the Indian River from Vero Beach south to Stuart, with topwater plugs, live shrimp and Drunk Monkey colored Assassins the top offerings. Sheepshead can be found on the flats and around bridges, with live shrimp or fiddler crabs the preferred baits.    

Offshore—Everyone is hoping a little blast of cool weather will spark the cobia action. Cobia were starting to push into the area in late January, but warmer temperatures have pushed the fish back north. Typically the cobia run takes place in this region right around Valentine’s Day. Chartreuse colored jigs and live threadfins of pinfish are the preferred baits. Sailfish action is slow, but anglers trolling ballyhoo in 90-210 feet of water are getting their shots at fish on a daily basis, along with scattered dolphin, wahoo and kingfish. There are some big kings out of Fort Pierce in 65 feet of water. Those fish are eating live blue runners or bluefish.

Northeast Florida
Inshore—Sheepshead action is outstanding right now in the inlets around Daytona and New Smyrna Beach, with live shrimp the top bait. Fish to seven pounds are being caught on the slack tides. Spotted seatrout and redfish have been feeding on live shrimp or gold spinnerbaits up in the creeks and around the edges of the oyster bars on the outgoing tides. We’ve been having some really extreme spring tides lately, so be careful going too far up the creeks, or you could get stuck..    

Offshore—Blue water trollers are catching wahoo and the occasional sailfish in 120-200 feet of water when the weather calms enough to let the boats get out. Rigged ballyhoo have been the baits of choice for both species, and be sure to have a wire leader if chasing wahoo. There have also been a few straggler kings over hard bottom in 40-60 feet of water, with rigged ribbonfish the offering of choice.