Windy days are not always the most pleasant times to fish, but they occur for long periods in March. Rather than sit them out, take advantage of the conditions they create. Considering that bass shun bright sunlight, you're apt to find better fishing on the windy side of a lake where the ripples break up light penetration. For the same reason, look for fish to hang out on the windy side of a point instead of the calm, protected side. Poets have long associated the effect of the full moon on romance, and moon phase may also play a factor in fishing, too.
Moon phase is a hotly debated influence of fish behavior.
Some anglers do their heaviest fishing on the days just before the full moon while others wait until the new moon. Proponents of each theory are usually dogmatic in their belief, based on personal experience, advice from guides or magazine articles or regional folklore. From this discussion it's apparent that spring time and the full moon, factors the poets spent so much time writing about, are of equal or greater interest to fishermen who number in the millions. Fishing, along with tennis and golf, is right up there with our most popular participant sports. Tim O'Keefe is the editor of Florida Fishing, the official fresh and salt water fishing publication of the State of Florida.