Feb.
2010 - Fishing Report - By Captain
Stewart Ames.
This
past January was a historic month in terms of its cold temperatures.
Overnight water temperatures dipped into the mid forties five
nights in a row, killing many of the fish holding in the usually
warmer backwaters. Snook and ladyfish seemed to fare the worst
but, on the bright side, few seatrout and redfish appear to
have been killed. To assess the damage on the snook, the season
has been closed through September. This closure may be lengthened
if it is determined that our population was seriously damaged
and needs additional recovery time. Fishing for snook will,
of course, still be allowed, however all fish caught must be
released.
Beyond
the cold temperatures, the weather in general has been very
uncooperative this past month. Typically, cold fronts will roll
through on a weekly basis this time of year and will be followed
by a warming trend. As temperatures rise, fishing gets better
and better right up until the next front arrives. As this next
front comes through, the fishing shuts off for a day or two
and then, once again, improves. This last month, small fronts
seemed to come through every three of four days, not allowing
the fish to settle into any kind of a pattern. There is good
news amidst all of this however. Fishing pressure has been extremely
light for the last month, which means there are plenty of hungry
fish to be caught as soon as the weather stabilizes
This
very cold weather triggered some interesting seatrout behavior.
First, many fish moved into shallow water. This makes sense
as shallow waters warms faster than deeper water. Second. fish
became more scattered, making lure fishing the preferred approach.
The most effective baits were longer, plastic jig tails in the
darker colors; green, brown or root beer....Slammers, in particular.
A slow, twitching retrieve seemed to work best. On shallow flats,
using a very light jig head or no jig head seeemed to work best.
When moving out into 4 to 5 feet, a 1/4 ounce head was best.
Another productive approach in this cold water is slowly retrieving
a suspending bait, such as Mirrolure's Mirrodyne. Mix in an
occasional twitch in your retrieve. Vary your retrieve until
you find something that works for you but remember, slow is
the critical component. Whichever tactic you use, nothing beats
the feeling of that rod loading up when a big trout eats your
bait.
Redfish
numbers will improve as we head into February. Oyster bars and
docks remain the primary locations to search for these fish,
but random groups of fish may be located on the spoil islands
and grass flats as well. As the month progresses, and slightly
higher tides return, fish will start to school up better, and
catch numbers should increase. Weather patterns and tides will
dictate the best days to fish. Fishing the higher phases of
the tide on the day before a cold front arrives can be a real
bonanza...even during the cooler days of February. The best
bait right now would be live or dead shrimp. Always have more
durable baits in your arsenal however as, if the pinfish are
abundant and the redfish bite slow, you will constantly be re-baiting
your hook. These same bait stealing pinfish are a great alternate
choice fished both whole and as cut bait. When fishing docks,
always use enough weight to hold these baits in place. On the
flats, using a lighter weight or no weight at all is sometimes
better, especially in shallow water when the fish may be be
easily spooked. When fishing deeper holes however, a good sized
split shot seems to get your offering into the strike zone faster
and keeps it there.
Sheepshead
are probably the best cold weather option out there. Even very
cold water will not prevent them from eating in most cases.
Shrimp and fiddler crabs are baits that will garner their interest.
Most dependably, these fish can be found near bridge pilings.
Scraping barnacles off of these pilings creates a ready made
chum slick which should convince any fish in the area that it's
dinner time. Also, certain residential docks will hold these
fish in numbers so keep your eyes open when redfishing. One
other interesting winter phenomena is that these fish will invade
the flats from time to time. On those low tide mornings when
you're searching for tailing redfish, pay close attention to
the shape of the tail you are looking at. If it looks a little
too pointed and has no spot, you may be looking at a flats roving
sheepshead. Cast an unweighted shrimp in it's path or up current
if you have decent tidal flow and wait for the big pull. With
improving conditions and little recent fishing pressure, there
will be some solid fishing days for trout and reds in February.
So let the cold fronts go past, give it a few days and then
get out there and cash in.
Captain
Stewart Ames - Gone Fishing Charters -
www.Tampa-Fishing-Charter.com 727 421-5291 - sames001@tampabay.rr.com
- Gone Fishing Charters, P.O. Box 541, Crystal Beach, Florida
34681.
