On the Water: Cold start to December fishing
The first week of December kicked off with colder than average temperatures and days with extremely low tides. Some days the wind blew and on others the water was flat calm. Fishing overall for the week wasn’t too bad for a choice of species.
Shrimp, shrimp imitations and shrimp and jig combinations were the choice for most anglers over the week. Working shorelines, canals and structure around St. James and Sanibel, anglers hooked into sheepshead, mangrove snapper, black drum, redfish and snook while fishing shrimp on bottom. These same areas also yielded snook on spoons and spooks over warmer days.
Sheepshead, plus a few black drum and redfish, were caught fishing under structure from Roosevelt Channel to Blind Pass. Shrimp fished on a quarter or eighth-ounce jig head worked well.
Small redfish up to 19 inches, plus small snook and sheepshead, were caught between Pineland and Bokeelia, including overhangs and creeks around Jug Creek and Burgess Bay. Freelined shrimp or shrimp fished with a light split-shot did the trick. Fishing sand or potholes in the same area worked for seatrout and ladyfish. Casting shrimp under a popping cork, on a jig head or shrimp tail artificials hooked fish in holes from 4-6 feet in depth.
The same bait rigs plus gold spoons worked for seatrout, ladyfish and a couple pompano while fishing sand holes west of Galt Island, around Demere Key and between Cabbage Key and the south end of Cayo Costa State Park. Shrimp under popping corks also got the attention of bonnethead sharks in the northern Sound around Bokeelia and west of the fish shacks.
A few days with light winds allowed anglers to run to nearshore reefs in Gulf waters. Most found a slower than normal bite, but with a little effort tasty snapper, sheepshead and grunts were brought home, plus some good-sized, out-of-season gag grouper were caught and released. The sheepshead bite is just beginning, and they should become more abundant and a larger average size over the month. The best bite came on live shrimp on a knocker rig or half-ounce jig head in depths from 30-50 feet.
Stay up to date with fishing regulations by visiting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission at: www.myfwc.com. Also, upload the Fish Rules app on your phone. It has current regulations with pictures to help identify fish. If you turn on your GPS location the Fish Rules app updates to your location. In my opinion, it is more accurate and up to date than FWC’s website.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, please contact us at Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576, online at www.fishpineisland.com or email gcl2fish@live.com.
Have a safe week and good fishin’
As a lifetime resident of Matlacha and Pine Island, Capt. Bill Russell has spent his life fishing and learning the waters around Pine Island and Southwest Florida.