Hello fellow anglers!  It's hard to believe it is March already and about time to go offshore fishing between the cold fronts. Successful fishing in March can still be iffy because of the weather. But if we can get out there, we will be searching offshore for bottom fish like red grouper, lane snapper, and grunts out from 50 to 80 feet. Traveling offshore we need to look for the birds that show us where the bait is; then we can troll  for Spanish Mackerel or the King Mackerel.  I like to use a large spoon and a planer set up for trolling for the King Mackerel. We usually use a 30 pound set up with a short piece of wire In front of the planer and behind the planer a big shiny object.  The big kings will attack it and if you're not careful, you can lose your whole rig! Add a piece of 50 pound monofilament or fluorocarbon and another piece of short wire and then add your king spoon. This is the easiest way to troll and harvest king mackerel. Using this method you may also catch Bonita They’re not very desirable for eating, but they are a lot of fun to catch.  You may also possibly hook up some blackfin tuna. While trolling for the Spanish, I like to use a jig and spoon tandem rig.  Use a small white buck tail and a silver spoon, and for trolling behind the boat you may need to put a weight in front of this rig to get it down deep enough for the Spanish to hit it. Heading out to the 70 to 80 foot range is a great area to look for the red grouper. Find your spot and anchor up the boat .While fishing for the red grouper you may also catch grants and lanes. I use two different types of rigs - a knocker rig or a chicken rig depending on the current and up to 3 ounces of weight. Fishing this way, I use frozen bait first and if you have a live bait, start using them as the bite slows down. If you are fishing around a structure you may see fish on your fishfinder in the mid section of the water. That could be yellowtail snapper. Fish for the yellow tails with heavy chum and small pieces of bait or small fish on just a hook and line. Also while you were doing this, you can put out a bonus rod for king mackerel using a hook with a piece of wire and a bobber about 6 feet from the hook and set it out 10 to 20 yards behind the boat. Doing this you can use frozen sardines or live baits. At the beginning of March you might still be able to find the sheepshead and flounder around reefs and structures in the 30 to 50 foot range. With the new addition to our fleet at Alpha & Omega Charters, we can go out into the gulf waters to harvest most of these species.  If you would like to join me, please give Captain Bart Marx a call at 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com. Always remember, singing drags and tight lines make me smile <*(((((>{