Hello Anglers,

Greetings from the South Pole! Well not really, but it sure felt like it for the past couple of weeks. Florida had the coldest weather I can recall in my 20 plus years living in the state. Of course the water temperatures dropped to levels not seen in many years so fishing conditions were very poor. Unfortunately some species cannot handle well this low water temperatures, so we did have some fish died during the fronts.

However, the good thing about the weather is that it will sooner or later always change back to normal patterns. During the last few days the temperatures has risen to the low 80's slowly bringing back water temperatures. Water temperatures are affected by many factors like depth and water flow so some areas are more affected than others during this warming up period.

We have concentrated our fishing in deeper shorelines and deep depressions along the flats. Also during sunny days the fish will sometimes move to the shallow sand to find warmer water, so we have checked some of these areas in search of Redfish. Of course everything slowed down so we are using Shrimp and small jigs.

Since Seatrout and Redfish are very adaptable to cooler weather they handle the fronts very well, but they were off their feeding mood for a while. Seatrout are plentiful during winter months in our area so there was no surprise when they started biting before any other species. We had to move a bit but once we found the right water temperature they became pretty active. Surprisingly they seem to prefer the jigs rather than the live Shrimp in the cooler water.

The Reds are still a bit sluggish, we found some in very shallow water but they were not willing to play. The good thing is that I have been seeing them poking their heads on the flats and even saw a few "tailing"; a clear indication that they were feeding. Just before the big front, my favorite flat was consistently having some "tailing" fish during the big moon low tides.

The greater water flow in the area, and the fact that we have not experienced a "Red Tide" in a few years are a great impovement for the Reds habitat. I love Winter low tides fishing as much as any other time of the year, the clear water and feeding Reds are a great sight fishing combination.

Well I will keep you all inform, look forward to fishing with you guys and gals this Winter or in the Spring!