Gary Simpson is hoisting the kind of largemouths that lakes Orange and Lochloosa are yielding these days. Photo by Bud Reiter.

March is the reward that Florida anglers receive for all those winter days when a snowsuit was a necessity, not just a novelty. The Arctic Express can still pay us a visit, but there's a lot more warm air than cold, and the bass respond accordingly.

From the Georgia border down to the Everglades, you'll see some degree of spawning on any lake this month. In the extreme south, the spawn may be winding down, while in the northern areas, it's just starting.

Regardless of the exact stage of the spawning cycle the bass are in, it means that lots of them are in the shallows on any water. That makes the fish accessible for anglers, and makes March one of the year's best months to pursue largemouths.

Here are three lakes that offer top angling this month.

LAKE KISSIMMEE
Currently, Kissimmee is in outstanding shape. During the winter months, water levels were normal to slightly high, and in some areas hydrilla was growing nicely out to the eight-foot depths.

Emergent Kissimmee grass is doing well, forming an outer grassline to the six-foot depth. Inside of that, lily pads and arrowhead flourish.

That diverse mix of vegetation is a plus for anglers because bass are using a lot of it this month.

On Kissimmee, March is normally the end of the spawning cycle. Some bass are still on the beds, certainly. But as on most lakes, the larger fish spawn first, and the smaller ones spawn last.

Anglers who enjoy sight-fishing for bass on their beds will be looking at a lot more 2- to 5-pound fish this month, as opposed to the 5-pounds-and-up fish they saw in January and February. That may sound discouraging, but the silver lining is that all those larger fish that spawned earlier are now finished and ready to feed.

And they're doing it in easily definable depth and cover.

"Kissimmee has a distinctive pad line all the way around it in shallow water," says Reno Alley, a veteran guide. "The outer edge of that pad line is in about three feet of water. The next major vegetation line is the Kissimmee grass, which ends at about six feet on the outside edge. The area between the outside edge of the pads and the inside edge of the Kissimmee grass is where I will find most of my bass on March."

That average depth between the outside of the pads and the inside of the Kissimmee grass generally ranges from three to five feet and contains a mixture of cover.

When it comes to just what type of cover to fish, Alley knows what to look for. "For me," he said, "the key is those areas where the lily pads come out to mix with the inside edge of the Kissimmee grass. Places where the two plants intermingle will form a multiple-cover situation that often holds the best fish."

In the general area of mixed cover, if you find any recent signs of bedding activity -- which could be older beds, or balls of fry in the water -- then you've found a specific spot likely to hold quality post-spawn bass that are ready to feed.

Alley knows what to feed them.

"Early on a calm morning, you can have a good topwater bite," he noted. "But these fish tend to respond best to quieter surface baits, like a Bang-O-Lure, Rapala or a chugger worked slowly. Gold with a black back or a shad finish are good colors. But you want to work these baits slowly."