Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Natural forces shape fisheries

When nature alters its features, anglers must analyze and adapt.

By DAVID A. BROWN
Published October 1, 2005

Power is a funny word.

It's often equated with sudden, visible impact. But power also can take the form of gradual, long-term developments.

In either case, the sea holds plenty of examples.

From the obvious to the subtle, wind and waves possess the potential for significant changes to various habitats in which anglers seek their quarry.

Examples include:

Shifting sands - Notwithstanding large-scale weather events, the sea's relentless motion constantly changes the face of barrier islands and often creates new features such as the bar at Anclote Key's south end.

North Bar, at the opposite end, has been a fixture for at least a decade. But within the past year, significant shoaling off the south tip (the end with the lighthouse) has formed an emergent bar about a half mile from the key.

Such developments can create navigational hazards, more so with their submerged sections, but there's a definite upside. It is another stump in the pond, and that means more fishable structure.

During the summer snook spawn, linesiders will spread out along any new Gulf-facing beach, if for no other reason than to relieve the crowding they complained about the previous year.

New beach and bar formations also can affect water flow.

If a fresh cut opens, it provides predators with another food funnel to target for ambush feeding. If silting restricts the current, look for snook, redfish and others to move down the road to the next opening.

Trout often rise from deeper grass flats to hunt baitfish along the drop-offs of islands and bars. Any new structure represents an expansion of the hunting range.

Flounder like to bury down in the sand of these drop-offs and capture passing meals, so try working a jig tipped with shrimp or a mullet strip along the transitional zones where grass meets sand.

Sometimes, the best way to ascertain a new spot's productivity is through observation.

Pull in close to see what kind of food sources the area attracts, or watch from a distance to check if predators reveal themselves through wakes or surface feeding.

Pruning and trimming - Storms often strip coastal trees of their limbs and leave only barren trunks standing like skeletons marking the path of destruction.

Indigenous vegetation has a way of renewing its numbers, but downed limbs offer hiding spots for baitfish. And where you find baitfish, you find predators trying to eat them.

Also, juvenile mangrove snapper will congregate near these "snags" and play hide-and-seek with anglers seeking to coax them into biting small hooks baited with cut shrimp. When tidal action piles up a bunch of limbs, the mini reef likely is to attract the interest of several gamefish species.

In coastal marshes, storms can reshape the internal maze of channels, troughs and run-outs.

Not only does this shuffle the deck of hot spots, it can offer a few navigational surprises.

Therefore, it is wise to idle through your "short cuts" after a good blow to make sure nothing reaches up to grab your prop.

Cooling effect - Hurricanes/tropical storms can lower the water temperature and hasten or delay migrations.

Because one fish affects other fish (i.e. predator or prey), slowing down or speeding up the movement of one group can set off a chain reaction throughout a local fishery.

On a recent outing in the Anclote area, the shallow water behind Dutchman Key was 82 degrees. Not exactly nippy but much cooler than normal for an early September day.

Hurricane Ophelia, churning off northeast Florida and throwing a lot of cooler north wind across the state, was the likely influence.

Such occurrences can prompt fish to bite during traditionally slow periods. The rules of fishing are subject to nature's revisions, so pay more attention to water temperatures than to the calendar.

Ultimately, every environment in which anglers pursue their sport is a dynamic sculpture - a work-in-progress where finality defies description.

What you see today may remain so for a long time, or it could change dramatically with the next big storm.

But even when the alterations don't come suddenly, nature's power to orchestrate gradual yet profound change is undeniable.

For anglers, changes in habitat require analysis and adjustment.

Often this forces us to venture outside of our comfort zone, try something different and refine our tactics. That's called "growth." Nature does it and so should we.

No doubt, it always is easiest to fish the same bar or cut year after year and predict where strikes will occur like a pool hall pro calling his shots.

But finding your honey hole reshaped, if not repositioned, by severe weather doesn't mean it's game over. Fish still have to eat, and they are just going to locate the next available chow line.

Consider The Taming of the Shrew .

In Shakespeare's comedy, Petruchio affects a positive change in his new and ill-tempered wife, Katherina (the "shrew"), by interrupting her sleeping and eating habits. Forced to face her pugnacious ways, Katherina changes for the better.

Fishing rarely is so theatrical, however, the analogy fits. Change is good.

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 01:45:17]