Lake Sinclair Fishing Reports – March 2021

Sinclair: Level: 0.5 feet low. Temp: Water temps are 48 to 49 everywhere, but a few sunny days will warm the shallows quickly. Clarity: Muddy above the railroad trestle, muddy to stained down to Little River Marina and clear near the dam. Expect the lake to remain stained for the next several weeks with the forecasted rain.

Bass: Tournament angler Karl Pingry reports, “Ed at Lakeside Chevron has several suggestions for bass fishing. Crankbaits are hot right now, as well as chartreuse-and-white spinnerbaits in 1/2-oz. size with turtleback blades. A 1/2-oz. Rat-L-Trap in chrome and blue are still working. Dark-colored Trick Worms, junebug red plastics and black-and-blue jigs around the docks are working, as well. Two major new patterns are fishing plastic swimbaits in the backs of the pockets first thing in the morning and a Texas-rigged lizard in junebug red in the pockets with hydrilla. Hydrilla is the key. I don’t think there will be much of a spawn on the February full moon since the forecast does not have a lot of sunny, warm weather. That being said, there will be bass moving up as the water does get into the mid 50. Target shallow, hard-bottom banks that get the afternoon sun. Crankbaits, rattletraps and Carolina-rigged lizards would be baits to try. Focus on wind-protected pockets the first days after a major cold front and target the wind-blown banks on the second and especially third days of a warming trend. I would use the same baits mentioned above, as well as a spinnerbait and ChatterBait on the windblown banks. Again, look to fish rock banks, seawalls, red clay and hard sand bottoms, and fish any cover and docks, as well. There will be a big wave of bass that will spawn on the March full moon. Look for shallow beds in 1 to 4 feet of water on that first spawning wave. Visit Ed for up-to-date information before hitting the water. March will be a great month of bass fishing.”

Crappie: Allan Brown reports, “Crappie fishing has improved with the warmer weather. Trolling jigs in creek channels is the hot ticket now. As the weather warms up, look toward the backs of the creeks on flats of the channel. Shooting docks is also good. Fish will start to move shallower as water warms by mid month. Troll 1/32-oz. jigs in black/blue/black and white/pink/white.”