December 18, 2007
A warm November did slightly prolong our Snook season as some fish were still holding on spoil islands and even on the beaches until mid month. As December rolls in though, there will be no escaping the cold so if you are intent on catching a Snook, head back into the bayous, residential canals or up a nearby river to find fish that will bite as inter-coastal water temperatures continue to drop. Live bait and slowly retrieved artificials will be most effective at getting the job done. The best day to catch a Snook in the cooler months will be the last day of a warming trend right before the next front comes through.
If you’re more interested in catching volumes of fish, it’s time to target trout. Our fantastic winter trout fishery is just beginning as some 20 inch plus fish have started to show on local flats and spoils. These “early season” trout are typically aggressive and respond well to jigs and even top water plugs on some days. With jigs, swim or bounce them across the bottom just above the grass. Top waters should be fished with the “walk the dog” retrieve…twitching the bait back and forth on the surface. Suspend plugs are also effective this time of year when fished with the same twitch type retrieve. On the live bait front, there’s probably no better bait than a nice select shrimp under a bobber, but whitebait, pinfish, and grass grunts all work well for larger trout…and yes, there is still whitebait out there.
Redfish are present through the winter and provide a nice alternative to the trout fishing. Legal fish are around but finding the big bruisers that we catch spring though fall is more difficult. Isolated pockets of bigger fish can be located on certain grass flats and docks, but the bulk of the winter fish are 15 to 20 inches. On the bright side, these fish will often school up in big numbers and can provide consistent action. Shrimp will catch these fish all day long as will a new penny colored “Gulp” shrimp. In certain locations, these reds will mix with the trout, making for some good “one stop” fishing.
The near shore “bonanza” that we had going for the last six weeks on the big Spanish Mackerel, Kingfish and Bonita seems to be settling down a bit. Although bait is still off the beaches, the predators have thinned out, with one interesting exception. Some kingfish are still holding as close as 150 yards off the beaches. A slow trolled large threadfin seems to be the bait of choice as that’s what they are feeding on. You would expect the Spanish to still be strong in close with all the bait, but they’re here one day for a few hours, then gone. One bite that is picking up now is the silver trout. There are schools of them off the beaches and in other locations so if you have a silver trout spot, give it a try. Although these trout are a little smaller than our winter sea trout, they can be caught in large numbers once a school is located. They’ll readily eat shrimp and small jigs. So get out there with the family and catch a bunch of fish.
Good luck.
Captain Stewart Ames
727-421-5291
http://www.captainames.com/
sames001@tampabay.rr.com
US Coast Guard Licensed Captain
Member Florida Guides Association
© 2007 Captain Stewart Ames, Gone Fishing Charters, Tampa, FL727-421-5291
