Fishing in March: What's Biting
The species with the strongest bite in March across the lakes in our guide, how to fish each one and where to go.
Rainbow / Brown Trout
In spring, lakes at 45-55F bring trout to shallows and inlets, 3-15 ft. Small spoons, spinners and PowerBait draw strikes. Browns often feed at low light.
Try: Small spoons, Inline spinners, PowerBait.
Full Rainbow / Brown Trout guide →
Walleye
After ice-out, walleye gather near tributaries and rock and gravel shorelines at 40-50F in 3-12 ft. They feed best at dusk and into the night. Jig-and-minnow, stick baits and slow crankbaits work well.
Try: Jig with minnow, Nightcrawler harness on a bottom bouncer, Crankbaits.
Crappie
At 50-60F, crappie move from deeper brush to shallow coves, bushes and docks in 3-10 ft. Small jigs or minnows below a float find them. Fish early in the day.
Try: 1/32-1/16 oz jigs with soft plastic bodies, Live minnows, Small spinners.
Largemouth Bass
As water climbs from the high 40s into the 50s, bass slide out of deep winter spots and stage on points and channel edges in 5-15 ft near shallow coves. Warm afternoons push them into the shallows to feed. Slow-rolled spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and lipless cranks find them well.
Try: Plastic worms (Texas, wacky, Carolina), Jigs with craw trailers, Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits.
White Bass / Wiper / Striped Bass
At 50-58F, white bass run up rivers and tributaries to spawn. Wipers and stripers also move to shallow flats. Small jigs, spinners and minnows in current are great.
Try: White jigs and curly tails, Spoons and slabs, Inline spinners.
Full White Bass / Wiper / Striped Bass guide →
Smallmouth Bass
When water reaches the mid-40s to low 50s, smallmouth move from deep wintering holes to rocky flats and points near spawning areas, usually 8-20 ft. Tubes, hair jigs and suspending jerkbaits crawled along rock are tops.
Try: Tube jigs, Drop-shot with small minnow plastics, Ned rig.