Inshore fishing report

Redfish and trout top the list for winter action

By ED WALKER
Published January 6, 2006

Sub-60 water temperatures are likely to remain for the rest of this month, so anglers will have to adjust their techniques. Artificial lures and live shrimp are the primary fish attractors, and you may want to consider downsizing to light or ultra-light gear for open-water flats casting.

Redfish and trout will continue to be the main targets, along with bluefish and silver trout. A few snook should be possible for those willing to spend a few extra to minutes coax them into feeding.

If you really like snook fishing, live shrimp have been tempting them in many residential areas. Schools of 20 or more linesiders often gather on the leeward side of the canals during the sunny part of the day. When you find them, do not feel bad if you are snubbed on the first few casts. These winter fish will test your patience.

Slowly creeping a live shrimp across the bottom with a 15-pound fluorocarbon leader and a small No. 1 hook can produce bites, but many perfect presentations will be ignored by the cold fish. Keep in mind that snook out of season this month.

Flounder and small redfish also like to hang around the residential areas with the snook and are much more eager to pounce on a shrimp.

Look for redfish to be along the edges of flats at low tide, which in January can seem perpetual. There will be many days the water will not make it as high as the oyster bars or mangroves. When the wind blows from the north it is not uncommon for the tide to be less than halfway up for days.

During these low-tide periods anglers will find redfish in small schools or as scattered singles on the outer edges of the flats. There will be some spots where they form groups in pot holes along the flats, but during the winter lows they typically spread out over a wide area. With last week's new moon tides, many of these also were seen tailing early in the morning. When the water rises, the fish immediately move toward the shoreline.

On a trip last week we staked out a sandy patch that was 15 feet long, 3 feet wide and perhaps 24 inches deep. Individual redfish would periodically appear over the lighter bottom, then disappear into the grass on either side. We tossed live shrimp with the tails trimmed and left them lying in the middle of the sand. When a fish appeared it eventually would sniff out the shrimp, and we would hook up.

Spotted sea trout are back in season for the entire gulf coast, and the fishing has been great. This fall there was some fear that local stocks had been severely depleted by last summer's Red Tide, but now, in what historically is peak speckled trout season, that does not seem to be the case. Live-bait fishermen, jiggers and plug-casters had great catch-and-release fishing south of Tarpon Spring in December, and the bite is still going strong.

In January schools of silver trout move to the beaches. The stretch from Indian Rocks to Redington typically holds mind-boggling numbers, so many they are easily located with a depth recorder. Just watch the screen while idling along north of the Redington Pier in 12 to 18 feet. It is not unusual to see stacks of silvers 6 feet high off the bottom in these areas.

A 3/8-ounce jig dropped to the bottom seldom lasts more than a few hops before it is inhaled by a silver trout. Occasionally speckled trout, oversized redfish and even bonito will mingle with the silvers.

It's no secret that big sheepshead are going into their spawning stage, and their numbers are up at local bridges, jetties and offshore wrecks and reefs. Some of them can weigh more than 7 pounds, and double-digit sheepshead are caught each year at this time. Every artificial reef within 10 miles of shore is loaded with them, and very few people target them. A bucket of fiddler crabs can produce enough sheepshead to save the day when grouper are not biting at the county reef.

Another favorite winter species is bluefish. Although poor in food value, they are one of the most aggressive feeders and hardest fighters an inshore angler is likely to encounter in January. They never slow down regardless of how cold things get, and they will blow up on a topwater plug harder than just about any other fish. Recently, more of them have started to show up in the Pinellas and Pasco areas.

[Last modified January 6, 2006, 01:04:19]