Dan Galusha shares the lures and techniques he employs to optimize his fishing success in the month of March.

March is one of those months that can be a weather forecaster’s nightmare. You can’t tell if it is winter or spring. In the same respect, the fishing can be just as unpredictable, up and down. Fortunately, a handful of lures can help anglers have a successful month of fishing if they are willing to switch techniques, rather than lures.

Here is the list of lures that I use, along with some colors. If you have favorites that are similar to the types mentioned, I’m sure they will work with the various techniques we’ll discuss later.

For hard baits, I use the Blitz Blade (Minnow and Spotted Goby) and Spyder Jig with Natural Forage Baits Mad Craw (black/blue); Bill Lewis Fishing Rat-L-Trap (Apricot, Yellow Perch and White Bleeding Shiner) and MR12 (Yellow Perch and Silverado); and Custom Jigs & Spins Wolfinkee and Tutso (anything with chartreuse and/or glow). In the soft bait line, I like the Z-Man Micro and regular TRD on a Shroom Head; Natural Forage Baits R4 Finesse Worm (black/blue), Swimbait (green shad) and Phat Shad (shad), all on B-Fish-N H20 jig heads; B-Fish-N Ribb-Finn (Oystershell) on H20 jig head or Casey’s Runner Head; and Blakemore Team Crappie Slab Dragger (white/chartreuse), Slab Caller (white/chartreuse and black/chartreuse) and Slab Runner (white and Cajun Cricket). Add to this white Crappie Nibbles and Kick’n Bass Crappie and Java scents.

This might sound like a little more than a simple handful; in actual size, that is true! But depending on the amount of colors and sizes carried, it would fit in a single, 3600 Plano tackle bag with about four 3600 Edge Stowaway Boxes. That’s not very large and is easy to carry. Plus, depending on what you think will work on a certain day, you could switch out lures to take less.

Now let’s put together when and how the list is used.

At the start of the month, it normally is still a bit of winter with colder water and may even have some ice in places. Because of this, most fish are still holding on or near their wintering areas. A few shoreline cruisers, such as bass and crappies, may be scouting out possible spawning areas and looking for some washed out food on a warm and windy day.

For bass at this time, I’ll fish deeper areas with the hard baits. I allow Blades and Rat-L-Traps to drop to the bottom and then rip them upward about 3 feet. Strikes normally come just as it is ripped upward, or as it falls—so watch the line on the fall for a twitch. The MR crankbaits are cranked down, allowed to wobble upward a few feet, followed by a sideways rip-and-pause retrieve. Vary the pauses until you determine how slowly the fish want the lure presented. Again, watch the line for a twitch on the upward wobble, but most strikes come just as it is ripped, making it feel like a sudden snag.

Not too far past this time, I’ll use Swimbaits and Ribb-Finns in the same way as the Blade, combined with some slow structure fishing and bottom bumping. Slow falls allow the blade on the Runner Head to rotate, with the bubbles and noise escaping from the Ribb-Finn’s ribs. With the Swimbait, the tail produces the swimming action.

Z-Man’s TRD (in both sizes and NFB R4 worm also come into play at this early time. Drop these lures to the bottom and allow them to sit before imparting a slow pull upward. There are days when a quick jerk upward, followed by a drop, will stir up some action. This occurs especially on mud, gravel or weed bottoms where the quick jerk throws up some bottom debris while making a little noise. Add some Kick’n Bass scent to these lures.

For crappies and bluegills, fish the Custom Jigs & Spins Wolfinkee and Tutso, Team Crappie Slab Caller, NFB Phat Shad and Z-Man Micro Finesse TRD under floats. Start by drifting them over deeper, wintering brush piles and weed beds. This is perfect for windier days where the bobbing float applies all the action needed. Also try a Kick’n Crappie on the Slab Caller with its absorbing body, and a Crappie Nibble.

Once things start warming from the mid- to late part of the month, you could see a little more activity on the lures mentioned. There would be more fish movement, closer to shorelines and shallower coves. Areas with riprap and sand bottoms are prime areas to target as they start warming the quickest. Shad “busts” might be seen as well, mainly in waters with white bass, which become very active in some lakes from March to May.

With the Rat-L-Trap, MR12 and Blade, the retrieve becomes more quick, sideways sweeps of the rod tip, and cranking parallel to riprap shores. The Swimbait and Ribb Finn with Runner Head will start producing with slow, constant retrieves in the same areas. Work TRDs and R4 worms in the same areas, but with a quicker hope and bottom crawl than earlier. Still used under a float, the Wolfinkee and Tutso, Phat Shad and Slab Caller all work the same, but can be brought closer to shore as well. Set them shallower under the float since the fish will often be suspended much higher than earlier.

The other lures mentioned earlier now start coming into play. For bass, the Spyder Jig with Mad Craw trailer works along shorelines to pick up larger bass that are lurking around for food that’s starting to become active due to the warming water and possible wind action. For crappies doing the same thing, as well as thinking about spawning once the water gets closer to 50 degrees, the Team Crappie Slab Dragger and Slab Runner start producing good catches with a slow-to-medium, constant retrieve. Add some Java scent to the jig and craw combo, and Kick’n Crappie to the Runners.

On the crappie and bluegill side, I’ll be working the Micro Finesse TRD and Phat Shad with my finger jigging technique. This is when it becomes the most effective; it will also produce a few bass that prefer finesse style fishing. Again, add some Kick’n Crappie scent.

I’ve mentioned using fish attractant several times, for good reason. It is helpful any time of the year, but it seems even more so during this odd time in March where it takes a bit more to get fish convinced to strike. Only when fishing shad busts is when it doesn’t seem to matter, as those fish are very active and will hit about anything moving that represents a baitfish. That’s why the Rat-L-Trap and Blade are so effective. Make long and fast casts, with fast retrieves.

Hopefully, this handful of lures and techniques will help fill your March with a handful of success.

For greater spring fishing success, you’ll find tips and insight from the pros who know in the spring issues of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.