On the Water: What will December fishing bring?
With cold fronts dropping down weekly, the winter season is approaching, with December changing the way many of us fish. As water temperature continues to drop, small baitfish become scarce and are no longer the preferred food of many fish. As this occurs, shrimp becomes the primary diet for fish through the winter months. There are not many fish in our coastal waters that won’t eat a shrimp; in fact, shrimp is the mainstay for most inshore species diet, especially through the cold months.
It’s getting that time for targeting sheepshead as big pre-spawn fish move inshore as water temperatures drop. Unlike the northern species with the same name, our saltwater sheepshead are excellent on the table. Look for fish, with many scaling over 5 pounds, hanging around structure, including dock and bridge pilings, rock jetties along the beach and on oyster bars. If you don’t mind fishing in the cold, then this is your fish, the colder the better for sheepshead.
Pompano are similar to sheepshead in the fact they will not eat any type of baitfish, but feed primarily on small crustaceans, including shrimp, crabs, sand fleas, etc. Quarter or 8th ounce nylon jigs tipped with a small piece of shrimp can be deadly on pompano when properly bounced across the bottom. Popular colors are white, pink and yellow or chartreuse. Silly Willy or Crazy-style jigs are another good option and popular with many anglers. Live shrimp suspended near the bottom under a popping cork is another great offering. Both sheepshead and pompano have relatively small mouths, so it is important not to use a large hook, generally a 1/0 or smaller is the ticket.
Seatrout season is open and provide good catching opportunities as we close out the year. Look for fish moving off the shallow grass flats to deeper protected areas as temperatures drop. Deep areas around oyster bars, creeks, canals, channel edges and sand holes are good areas to target. Live shrimp and soft plastic baits mimicking shrimp are top baits. With a few days of warm sunny weather, look for them back on the grass flats.
Snook and redfish are catch-and-release only in our local waters. Snook will transition to deeper protected waters over the month where they spend the winter. In season or not, snook are always a blast to catch, just make sure and release them quickly.
Extreme low tides over the winter months offer good sight fishing opportunities for redfish throughout the inshore grass flats. Smaller reds are numerous in creeks with hard shell or oyster bottom.
Keep up to date with fishing rules and regulations in your area by visiting www.myfwc.com for all current Florida fishing regulations.
Many anglers look to take advantage of nearshore reefs on good weather days. Many of the snapper that frequented the inshore waters through the warmer months relocated offshore and have grown larger. Bottom fishing with a shrimp/jig combination or shrimp on a knocker rig will get attention from many tasty fish including snapper, sheepshead, grunts and possible hog fish, permit, tripletail and more. Larger fish including cobia, king mackerel, barracuda, sharks and others could show up at any time offshore. Bottom fish with light tackle but keep a heavier rod at the ready.
December brings good fishing opportunities when weather allows. Between cold fronts we generally have several days of beautiful weather. If they fit in your schedule, those are the days you want to fish.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, contact Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576 (call or text); on the web at www.fishpineisland.com; or via email at gcl2fish@live.com.
If you’re looking for that perfect gift, we have gift certificates available for the holidays.
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, and as a professional fishing guide for the past 23 years.