Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 3/18/26

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 3/18/26

By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Fishing, or rather catching was about on par through the first half of March, as we experienced an early break from winter. Temperatures were above average for the most part, aside from bouts of persistent sea fog. But the overall warmth aided a slow increase of Gulf water temperatures into the middle 60s.
In fact water temps briefly peaked at 70 degrees before a couple of fronts dragged in more seasonable air to remind us that climatological spring had not yet begun. While freezing weather is not totally out of the picture in late March, that scenario seems less likely every day.
What we should experience is a continuation of these periodic gradual warmups between cold fronts, with temperatures moving upward and then dopping back down every few days.
Fog and rain are problematic hurdles for anglers and beach goers to deal with day to day, but so far the +65 degree water temperature hasn’t detered spring breakers from swimming, or pompano and spanish mackerel to begin moving into the area in increasing numbers.
This trend should continue in earnest through the rest of the month, peaking with the sheepshead spawn crescendo in early April around the next full moon. By then spanish mackerel numbers should increase practically daily at the Gulf State Park Pier and west jetty at Perdido Pass.
Then pompano numbers should really start increasing in the surf zone through the month of April, and that’s no joke!
Beach surfcasters and swimmers should be aware of variable water depth near the shoreline as a series of beach points and troughs has been taking shape late this winter. We have not experienced the frequency nor intensity of winter storms that would ordinarily sculpt the beach sandbars parallel with the shoreline. In fact the present configuration along the beach based on water depth every few hundred yards is more oriented perpendicular to the shore.
The points will have a gradual slope of the bottom depth with waves breaking all the way to the beach, even on calm days. The troughs drop off steeply from the beach berm and may be 3 to 5 feet deep just a few yards from shore. This is where rip currents are most likely to develop, then move out along the edge of the trough alongside any sandbar drop off. This creates a potential danger area for swimmers (espeially children) should avoid. But anglers interested in pompano, whiting and other other fish would do well to investigate these spots as the currents will concentrate the fish they seek.
Fishing closer to shore, a light tackle presentation with just a piece of fresh shrimp or ghost shrimp should attract a bite, especially near the time of high tide. These same fish will move farther from shore during the falling tide, so anglers would do better casting farther distances with heavier tackle and pompano rigs baited with Fishbites or Fishgum, and a piece of shrimp. Larger redfish or black drum are a part of the equation of possibilities when fishing these locations.
Just be on the look out for rogue fevers of cownose rays patrolling the sandbars. They can wreck your whole spread in a single pass, uprooting sandspikes and dragging combos into the Gulf in mere seconds. But they provide quite a pull 😉
This fortnight begins and ends with a NEAP tide, when the tidal variation and currents will be weakest. So, the week in between (March 21st through 29th) features the strongest diurnal tidal variation of this month. Hopefully that will trigger an influx of pompano into the area surf as long as the water temperature continues to generally increase into the upper 60s. At the same time, some sheepshead may enter the surfzone in search of food items, especially those which have spawned out and are looking to recharge reserves before moving into the estuaries.
If the Gulf waters stay clear for the next couple of weeks around the west jetty of Perdido Pass and Gulf State Park Pier anglers should enjoy the spawning antics and aggregations of sheepshead around those structures as the spawn cycle hits its peak.
But after that occurs, the fishermen will notice a systematic decrease in the numbers of sheepshead at those locations almost daily. Though meandering schools of sheepshead may still respond to a well placed free-lined live shrimp with just a BB splitshot or two for weight, especially on light tackle.
They are actually easier to hook and catch this way rather than the tried and true heavy tackle presentation right next to the pier piling. Finding live shrimp remains a quest often more difficult than finding fish to eat them this time of year. With Spring Break in full swing during this cycle we can expect demand to continue to outstrip supply, making the availability of live shrimp a daily problem for many. It’s just nice there are more alternatives.
The good news for pier and jetty fishers is that numbers of spanish mackerel should swell exponentially by the end of March. These migratory mackerel arrive in our waters lean and hungry after swimming hundreds of miles, and as their growing numbers increase competition between schoolmates.
This can make even novice anglers look like seasoned veterans. Most small jigs and spoons work well, as do the ever popular Gotcha plug. Gotchas cast far and sink fast to stay in the strike zone longer. Their erratic retrieve motion with two treble hooks is more likely to foul-hook darting spanish mackerel, which may at times be inclined to window shop without committing to the bite. Anyway, when the bite is hot on spanish mackerel it does not take long to catch a limit of the tasty spring run mackerel.
These leaner mackerel are great eating when fresh, skinned out with the red meat line trimmed away. Just clean, bread, and fry! Each of the 13 to 15 inch fork length mackerel makes 8 pieces of delicious fried fish fingers. So a limit of 15 spanish mackerel can feed a lot of folks!
A few flounder are still possible in the Gulf as they orient to hard and soft structures in pursuit of a meal passing overhead. The Gulf State Park Pier has been producing some keepers, and there should be some around there and at Perdido Pass and Little Lagoon Pass as well. Live bull minnows on a Carolina rig on the bottom are the traditional approach.
But flounder may also be caught on a jig and strip combination too. Or with soft plastics like the Fishbite’s Fight Club Dirty Boxer on a ½ or ¾ ounce jighead. To be successful when our target species is not available, we have to be imaginative and creative.