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The Weather Won't Give Anglers A Break

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BY NICK STUBBS

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: February 10, 2009

Updated:

Anglers up and down the Suncoast have been turning their glances skyward for the whereabouts of just a little bit of the global warming everyone talks so much about. All they want is a break, and a chance at catching something more than a cold for all their efforts.

It's been a tough one, and despite all hopes, it looks like winter is going to linger like an unwelcome house guest. This means there is nothing to do but wait it out or take your chances struggling against the elements - which is what the fish are doing, as well.

Some anglers have been taking to traveling to the piers and bridges of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, where the winter-species parade is in full swing. From Clearwater's Pier 60 south to the pier at Fort Desoto Park, up into Tampa Bay at the Sunshine Skyway, St. Petersburg Pier and the Gandy Bridge catwalks.

Here the targets are sheepshead, sea bass, whiting and silver trout. All three love cold water and, best of all, take frozen shrimp well. This is important at a time of year when the cold water makes catching live shrimp more difficult for the bait shrimpers operating off the coast. They also will take squid and cut bait. Mangrove snapper are another good bet, also willing to take a variety of dead baits.

Canals and waters far up rivers and creeks are another good prospect. Fish have been forced to move into the deeper, warmer waters inland, with snook being one of the main fish anglers seek all the way up to where there is little salt in the water.

Snook are not comfortable in water below 60 degrees, and head into the backwaters once it gets into the 50s. Prolonged exposure to water less than 50 degrees can stun or kill them.

A favorite tactic for fishing them in rivers is to slow troll plugs, among the favorites being RattleTraps and Bomber or Rapalla-style swimming minnows. They are allowed to run close to or even bump off the bottom, kicking up mud and sediment as they go. While cold water slows the activity of snook, the hope is that by trolling, the plug will cross paths with a fish looking for an easy meal.

Canal fishing may not be the best way to experience nature, as it is fishing in the midst of a residential neighborhood. This can, however, be where the fish are. Canals often have warm ground water seeping into them. These small springs can be spotted easily on cold mornings when steam rises where the warmer water bubbles up to the surface. For boaters with a temperature gauge on board, note the temps in these areas. Fish them and file them away in your fishing spot data banks for future reference.

The standby option for winter anglers bummed out by all the cold water is the Anclote power plant outfall canal. At Pasco County's adjacent Anclote Gulf Park, the pier and the canal up to the barrel barrier have been the go-to spots for winter anglers for years. When the plant is pumping cooling water out, the temperatures in the canal can be in the 70s, while water in the nearby gulf can be 20 or more degrees colder.

The warm water is a magnet, and is known to attract every species. Long after Spanish mackerel have disappeared from the gulf, they have been found at the plant outfall. Over the years, even bonefish have been caught there in winter. That species is native to South Florida and the Keys. The primary fish targeted at the plant in winter are cobia, trout, permit and pompano. Black drum, sheepshead, redfish, snook and snapper are others.

Even this isn't a sure bet. When the warm water isn't running from the plant, the bite goes as cold as the water. The problem is it is difficult to anticipate when the plant is pumping water. Even on cold days, when anglers might expect the plant to be running full tilt to keep up with area heating demands, the plant may not be expelling warm water.

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Pier 60, 727-462-6466: Water temperatures around the pier have been in the high 50s, enough to keep a few trout around. Anglers have been taking fish to 18 inches on live shrimp. Better prospects have been sheepshead, which have been running to 15 inches and taking live and dead shrimp, as well as frozen fiddler crabs and Asian green mussels. Whiting and silver trout have been biting well. Whiting to 15 inches, and silvers to 13 inches have been taking frozen shrimp and Love's tandem-rigged jigs.

Redington Long Pier, 727-391-9398: It's been much the same story at the famous pier. Sheepshead have been one of the highlights. Cut shrimp and fiddler crabs have been working well after anglers chum the fish with barnacles scraped from pilings. Most of the fish have been 12 to 16 inches. Spotted trout remain around the pier, with a number of the better catches reported after dark. Fish to 17 inches have been taking shrimp under popping corks. A few flounder to 15 inches have been taken by anglers dragging shrimp on jigs heads along the bottom.

Nick Stubbs is founder and webmaster of Bitetracker.com, a fishing Web site specializing in daily fishing reports displayed on animated fish tracking charts.

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