Well, whether or not you believe it, it is now March and that is a month that goes by ever so quickly, at least from a fishing perspective. While it might seem that the traditional May start to the season is many weeks’ away, it really is later than you may think. And just why might this be so?Well, March is the month that marks the onset of spring — regardless of what the weather actually does on the vernal equinox the sun’s concentrated radiance has again moved to directly over the equator with the next three months involving a northward movement of that life-giving heat and light.There is also the old saying that March comes in like a lion but will go out like a lamb. The reference is to the blustery winds and changing weather that separates winter from spring-like conditions. So, maybe we have an interesting month ahead of us.Another reason that it goes by quickly is that Easter usually figures in there somewhere and that particular spring festival usually takes a weekend out of the fishing calendar, thereby making it seem short like February.Now Easter, in and of itself, is more of an astronomical or even astrological event than a religious one. The setting of it is a mystery to most people and it would probably take a theologian to explain why and when it was set. Basically, as Bible readers will know, it was connected to the Passover because the Thursday before what is now Good Friday was part of the Passover feast. And that had some long tradition in religious history.The modern observance is linked, quite simply (so they say!) to the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. So in 2013, we have the vernal equinox on March 21st, followed by a full moon on the 26/27th (depending on the authority quoted) which probably happens to be a Wednesday, so Sunday the 31st is Easter this year. The next day is April Fool’s Day which, apart from its own connotations, heralds the start of yet another new month this year.Anyway, figure that for a holiday weekend when there wouldn’t be any serious fishing effort anyway and, just by looking ahead, the month has just about been accounted for already.Related to this perception and also really funny is how rumours get started. There were reports that the fish must be biting because a certain boat had been off its moorings for three days in a row! The boat in question has a good reputation for producing fish in numbers and quality. Naturally, such gossip travels well; and fast, although it is some time before someone recalls that the days in question were exceptionally windy and generally miserable. Figuring this one out probably makes more sense than to try to get a boat ready for an expedition into less than optimum conditions. Those who gave it a moment or two’s thought did come up with the most likely solution. Mystery unravelled: the boat was where any sensible operator would have his charter or commercial craft at this time of the year — up on slip, having the necessary done.To go back to how this all ties into the season’s fishing, the onset of the arrival of important bait species including jacks in the inshore waters occurs around about this time each year. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but Nature doesn’t mess around too much. Jacks have been netted in the Great Sound in mid-March but that was really early and hauls of anchovy have been made earlier but those events are departures from the norm.Speaking of bait, have you forgotten that those oil slick calm nights that happen every so often just now, between the passage of the cold fronts, are the ideal time to go out netting for garfish. While almost every troller relies on packaged garfish, or ballyhoo (balao), imported from Florida, there are some prime local garfish to be had. Netted, usually at night a dip net and a torch (flashlight) of some description, these larger than average baitfish can make wonderful troll baits. Obviously they should be brined and frozen properly but nonetheless they will make excellent larger baits for, hopefully, larger fish. Even blue marlin will take a garfish with alacrity and there really isn’t any predatory pelagic species that won’t eat one. Their size also makes them ideal for double hook rigs intended for larger wahoo. Although the adage ‘elephants eat peanuts” holds true so does the idea of big bait for big fish.The other choice trolling bait is flying fish and although the local variety is excellent, no one has gone offshore to haul any in recent years. The reasons given are that it is a lot of work for little return but the availability of frozen flyers is probably enough to justify ignoring the resource that is often plentiful during the month of August when the calm offshore lends itself to their capture. In Barbados, where flying fish are plentiful to the point of absurdity, many commercial fishermen use a short length of net attached to their boat to catch flyers as they happen by. They are then immediately removed from the netting and used as live baits for wahoo and tuna or whatever else might happen along. That is a technique that might well be adapted for sue here although it would probably require a special permit from the Fisheries authorities.Moving inshore, over the next little while, fishermen will be keeping an eye out for the sudden appearance of schools of bait: be it fry, anchovy or even pilchard. These usually show up just before the jacks and mackerel and it is probable that their respective migrations are connected as one does feed pretty heavily on the other. It is also the time to catch what bait one can because in a few weeks it will be in grave need. First, it will be trolling but the chumming season often overlaps and fresh bait does indeed work wonders. Obtaining some, treating it well and freezing it is a good plan and one that will reward in due course.So, here at this juncture, the agenda should be to use the available weekends left to ready the boat for a season that could start in just a few weeks’ time. Getting bait as and when you can is also a good idea. Whether you catch it yourself or purchase it from fishermen who have caught quantities of it. Remember, they know that they will need it as well and that is their first priority. What they figure might be excessive to what they will need will be what they sell. A year when bait is scarce means that there won’t be too much around for sale. It does keep but is not always available when you want it later in the year. And while plastic can work like magic on occasion, there are times when a well presented bait is the key to Tight lines!!!