Confused? I bet! The fish are feeling the same way. Hot, cold, warm, cool, is this any way to run a planet? I know, no one like these cold snaps, this is Florida, and it is supposed to be warm & sunny,
The great thing about the cold is that when the gulf starts getting in the 60’s this cooler temp is uncomfortable to the fish, so they head into the Harbors bays and creeks/ canals. The back water has a brown color and most of the bottom is black with muck or grass. Brown water + black bottom = solar collector. The water warms very quickly and the fish know this. So into the back waters they travel, much in the same way People do, If you live in Ohio and it is 10 degrees, You know it is in the 70’s or 80’s in Florida So where you gonna go?
People or fish all like to be comfortable, and cold weather means fish in the harbor and the fishin’, is very good. Trout have moved into the harbor, thick around Pirate Harbor, Alligator creek, Cape Haze the mouth of bull bay, and along Bay shore.
Red fish are biting from 16 inches to 38 inches, the outside of the bar in front of Turtle & Bull bay, the Jug creek shoals , to the mouth of the Peace River. Both the east & west sidebars have Reds on them, not as much under the trees as out on top of the bars. Look for patches of grass/weeds in a little deeper hole / pocket there are Reds laying there. You can’t really see them as their backs blend nicely with the color of the grass, but cast a spoon or jig past the hole and slowly bring it back through it, hang on the hit is hard and the fish are active and ready to fight.
Cobia are also here in the Harbor and near shore reefs. The cool to cold weather should have moved them, but here they are. The one thing, they are close to the surface baking in the sun, so watch for the dorsal fin of a Cobia while you are fishing, a Johnson gold minnow slowly reeled right in front of it’s nose will do the trick and the fight is on.
Another truth is; we need these cold spells to knock down the algae and fungus, and general funk which builds up in hot water. When it warms up a bit and you get out onto the water you will see clearer, cleaner water. Bacteria and algae are levels are much lower. Without the cold, we would end up with massive fish kills. What you say? Massive fish kills? No, not like you see on the T.V. news. Those are B.S. only bigger larger fish. Oh how terrible? Well not really. To tell the truth, they are not that important. They have already spawned many times and the fish, like me, are looking more at the end of their life not the beginning. They make great film footage and everyone exclaims how terrible, but the real the bad and the awful is what I am talking about.
The fish less than 6 inches long. The forgotten ones. The next generation. Funny, if someone kills an old dog or cat, well they lived a good life, sad but still maybe a kind thing for the animal. But kill a puppy or a kitten and you will be lynched from the nearest street light, and sent to a special place in hell. With fish, not so much. Kill a tiny/baby fish no one cares. Kill an old, ready to die, barnacled up fish and you will be lynched. Who started thinking this was good or normal? The young breed better, they do not pass along genetic defects and they are just more into it.
No matter, fish, people, or animals, us older ones, well we like the thought but are much less likely to do anything about it. And according to the most recent study’s maybe we should not let older creatures pass more defective genes to their offspring. On the other hand maybe a fish with fingers would be a good thing, or a tail like a monkey they could hold onto a rock with their tail while you tried to land them. This however is what people want fish to do? I don’t get it.
The cold weather kills a lot of the algae and bacteria which builds up in the water and then lowers the oxygen to the point that smaller fish cannot survive. So this has been a long winded way of saying the cold is good, even though me, I could do without it. I live in Florida because I like it warm. I like seeing snow on T.V. it is pretty there.
But to save the next generation of fish, I will put up with it for a few days.