Cold week hampers fishing
You know its cold when our northern visitors are complaining about the weather. We experienced are coldest weather of the year during mid week, between the chill in the air and the relentless arctic breeze fishing wasn’t on to many minds.
The few people who did give it a try bundled up and fished in protected canals and creeks. With stiff north wind pushing most of the water out of the bays it was also very difficult to get to some of the creeks and backwaters.
No large fish were caught however rods were kept bent by anglers fishing the deeper creeks in Ding Darling wildlife refuge behind Sanibel. A variety of fish including redfish, sheepshead, snapper and trout were eating live shrimp fished on or near the oyster bottom. The redfish were all small (rat reds) under eighteen inches, several of the sheepsheads were a pound or better and an occasional trout measured over the fifteen inch mark. The best bite was mid afternoon during the incoming tide.
Fish were also caught in some of the deeper canals and the entrance to canals. Bouncing a live shrimp across the bottom on a troll rite or fishing a live shrimp with a split shot in canals at Charlotte Shores and=2 0several canals feeding into Jug Creek at Bokeelia yielded decent catches of trout and a few redfish and sheepsheads. The key to catching fish in all these areas was keeping the bait near bottom and working it slow or just letting it sit. With the sudden drop in water temperature the fish are kind of stunned and will not expel energy chasing down a fast moving bait.
For the good news, it’s warming up! Temperatures are expected to get back up into the eighties this week and the water will slowly warm. It’s always frustrating the first few days when it warms back up because although conditions feel right the fishing generally is not that good. The problem is the water temperature does not rise as quickly as the air temperature. It may be eighty degrees and sunny outside, but the water is still very cold. Give it three or four days and the fish will start to respond, as the water warms their appetite will return and soon the bite will be on again.
If you have a fishing story or photo that you would like to share or for charter information, please contact us at (239)283-7960 r visit us at www.fishpieisland.com. Have a safe week and goof fishin’.