On the Water: January should bring cooler water temperatures
January is generally our coolest month, and our water temperature will be the lowest of the year. Lucky for us, south Florida cool fronts only last a day or two, then it’s back to sunny mild days. There should be plenty of great opportunities on the water this month if it remains unseasonably warm or we see a drop in temperature.
Our primary inshore targets this month are redfish, seatrout, sheepshead and pompano. The first two, redfish and trout, love small bait fish, but feed heavily on shrimp through the winter. Sheepshead and pompano will chow on shrimp, small crabs and even oysters or barnacles, but will not touch a bait fish no matter how enticing the presentation. If warm weather continues as we experienced last month, we can put snook on the list as well as an option for catch-and-release action.
Over the cooler months of winter shrimp become the preferred food of most fish. Shrimp are user friendly, readily available and everything eats them. If it’s cold think slow and low, meaning fish the bait at or near the bottom, either stationary or with a slow retrieve. One of the best ways to cover bottom and catch fish on a cold day is with a live shrimp/jig head combination. Take a live shrimp, bite, or pinch off the tail and thread the shrimp, tail first on a jig head. This combination will entice everything from big snook to pompano.
Sheepshead and pompano spend most of their time feeding off the bottom — you want to keep the bait on bottom or as near as possible. Sheepshead are notorious bait thieves, it takes a while to feel the subtle tap, that’s the reason for as light as rigging as possible, to help feel the bite. Small sharp hooks are key, and you do not need a large bait. Small shrimp or shrimp cut in pieces will land more sheepshead than using hand-pick shrimp. I switched to circle hooks several years back and hook-ups increased with thin, sharp, circles in a number 1 to 2/0 size, depending on the brand.
If it’s relatively warm, trout should be over grass flats feeding. Popping or rattling corks with live shrimp or DOA shrimp fished a foot or two off the bottom will get their attention. Drift until you hook a couple fish, then anchor up and fish the area. Seatrout season was closed for much of Southwest Florida last winter, but it is open again with new restrictions.
Days with calm seas allow for great opportunities to fish gulf waters. Structure including artificial reefs, ledges and hard bottom well within sight of land are holding a variety of fish. Again, live, or fresh, shrimp is the top bait. Two popular bait rigs include knocker rigs with an egg sinker free to slide above a small hook and previously mentioned bare jigs heads rigged with shrimp. Both combinations work great over nearshore artificial reefs and hard bottom. Make sure and use enough weight to keep your bait on the bottom.
Sheepshead will become the target for many anglers in nearshore gulf waters, but you will hook into other fish that may include snapper, grouper, grunts and permit, to name a few.
When fishing offshore, it’s a good idea to drop down a live bait if you catch bait fish like a pinfish, grunt or sand perch. This is a great way to hook into a big grouper, cobia, king mackerel, and of course, sharks
After a cold front arrives, inshore water temperatures may drop 10 to 15 degrees in less than 24 hours due to the shallow water. While this drop in temperature slows down the bite for many of our fish, sheepshead are the exception. They thrive in the cooler weather and will give us some of the best fishing of the month. Following a cold front, a day or two of bright, sunny skies generally warms the water and gets other species in on the action.
Keep up to date with fishing rules and regulations in your area by visiting www.myfwc.com for all current Florida fishing regulations. A new year is also a good time to go through your boat to inspect your safety equipment. Check expiration dates, operation and condition of equipment and replace if necessary.
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.
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.