What’s Biting in March on Long Island?
There’s a term my friend and co-worker, Adam Eldridge, uses for the cold, wet, and dreary days associated with early March: he calls it “Farch,” which is a combination of February and March conditions that sounds as ugly as it looks. In Farch, air temperatures teeter between frigid and frighteningly mild, storms frequently roll through, and overcast skies dominate the forecast for weeks at a time. But, as the saying goes, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” To anxious anglers in New York, the back end of March is when the young fishing season takes a turn for the better.
March starts off feeling like an extension of winter. Trout fishing is the most popular bite, and after some potential winter snow melt or frigid, late-winter rains, the Connetquot and Nissequogue rivers may be fishing very well due to higher water. When the rivers flood, their currents increase with the volume of water, which slowly erodes the riverbanks, claiming terrestrials like ants, beetles, and crickets. As a result, terrestrial flies all perform well during periods of snow-melt or early spring rains because they imitate easy meals for trout that stage on current seams near the river edges.
This year was a mild winter for the most part, and with a lack of ice on freshwater ponds, rainbow and brown trout stocked last fall become active prior to the spring trout stockings. A few smaller ponds here and there may have skim ice, but larger, open bodies of water will be locations for bass fishermen or those targeting panfish and pickerel to try.
Freshwater Options
In early March, yellow perch school together to spawn. They fatten up ahead of time, which can lead to some fun ultralight fishing. Yellow perch will aggressively strike lures like floating Rapalas, lipless crankbaits, curly-tail grubs, paddletails, and inline spinners, a great option to help shake off the rust of a sedentary winter. Yellow perch are not shy this time of year, and in many cases, they’ll strike lures in yellow perch patterns. They present a great opportunity to take the kids fishing on a local pond with some PowerBait or nightcrawlers to see what you can catch on a basic fish-finder or bobber rig.
It is worth keeping an eye out for the spring trout-stocking announcements from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as well. The spring stocking means plentiful brown, brook, and rainbow trout are introduced into ponds from Queens to the Forks. The action is fast and exciting with a 7-foot medium-light power rod, a 2500-size spinning reel, and 6-pound-test fluorocarbon line. In many ponds where trout are stocked, anglers stand a chance to catch multiple species per outing, including other popular freshwater targets like chain pickerel and largemouth bass.
Chain pickerel put on the feedbags early in the month, before and after they spawn, and depending on water temperatures, largemouth bass will join the pickerel and perch party. The bass hang out in deeper water for the most part, so a great way to catch them in the spring is to use crankbaits that can effectively bounce off cover like rocks and timber, or suspending jerkbaits, which will draw reaction strikes from wary bass. Lipless crankbaits are also deadly when fished along weed lines, near drop-offs, and over grass beds. In shallow areas of open water, lightweight inline spinners are another tantalizing option that catch many bass, but spinners risk being attacked by pickerel. Make sure you keep a good pair of pliers and a lip grip on hand to handle these fish with care and avoid injury from hooks or prickly pickerel teeth.
By mid-March, many surfcasters are dying for some nighttime action. Aside from chasing spotty holdover stripers, night-shift surfcasters can scratch the itch to get out and fish for a rare specimen in Long Island freshwater ponds: walleye.
Walleye are not exceptional fighters, so the allure of this style of fishing comes more from the anticipation of a bump in the night. These large members of the perch family have been stocked by the DEC since 1994 to control white perch populations in two lakes: Lake Ronkonkoma—the unforgiving kettle lake that holds the title of Long Island’s largest freshwater body—and Fort Pond in Montauk. These two lakes are deep enough to sustain healthy walleye populations, and although these fish don’t reproduce here, they grow to substantial sizes by gorging on the abundant white perch.
Avid surfcasters jokingly refer to walleye as “green weakfish” due to their silvery-green colors, yellow fins, and fang-like teeth, creating a surprising resemblance to weakies. They eat suspending jerkbaits, white or gold paddletail swimbaits, curly-tail grubs, lipless crankbaits, and small poppers, but cast with caution. Walleye linger in shallow water at night to feed on unwitting schools of baitfish by using their keen eyesight. They are picky and often difficult to locate, but Long Island’s walleye serve as an enjoyable, downsized warm-up to night fishing for weakfish and striped bass—both of which will migrate into New York waters in a month’s time.
Seasonal Preparations: Looking Ahead
The saltwater season kicks off next month beginning with the tautog season opener on April 1, and then picks up steam with the opening day of striper season on April 15 for all New York waters south of the George Washington Bridge. In anticipation of it, now’s the time for any last-minute reel servicing, pre-season rig-tying, and replacing old terminal tackle with new hardware on high-use lures.
To save time when it matters most, tautog rigs can be tied and easily stowed away for future use. When it comes to plug maintenance, don’t miss out on a cow striper or big, ornery bluefish because of weak split rings or a rusted hook. The saltwater off-season is a time for organization, reparation, preparation, and some freshwater endeavors peppered in between the tedious tasks we endure each Farch so we can enjoy the next nine months to its fullest.
Source: https://onthewater.com/whats-biting-in-march-on-long-island
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