Cold fronts not cooling off inshore fishing action near Anna Maria Island
As we settle in for winter, you can bet your inshore fishing patterns are going to change. Switching over to live shrimp as bait is probably in your best interest. Shrimp will work for most of the inshore species that we target throughout our area.
The main three suspects — snook, redfish and trout — will readily talk an offering of live shrimp, especially when water temps drop into the mid to lower 60s.
Carrying a few live shiners on the warmer days between cold fronts isn’t a bad idea, although live shrimp will become a go-to bait for the winter months ahead. Plus, using live shrimp opens the door to a variety of species such as black drum, pompano and especially sheepshead so there’s no reason to be discouraged over having to use live shrimp.
Yes, live shiner fishing is exciting and they work excellent for bait but as the fish prefer a slower target then the live shrimp is what you want.
The same applies while fishing nearshore structure in the Gulf. While live shiners are like candy for grouper and snapper, substituting live shrimp will get the job done. A lot of fish out there such as mangrove snapper, Key West, grunts and porgies prefer a live shrimp as the water temps drop. And best of all, hogfish will take a live shrimp when it crosses their nose which is always an added bonus.
If you’re venturing well offshore in depths of 100 feet or more, don’t hesitate to break out the frozen bait. Sardines and squid are adequate for catching most of these bottom dwellers out their like groupers and snappers.
On my Just Reel charters, I’m finding inshore action while using live shrimp as bait.
Redfish seem to be the most receptive to the shrimp and are being caught around rocks, docks and oyster beds. Spotted seatrout are being caught on shrimp. Most of the time it’s a small jig tipped with a piece of fresh-cut shrimp. As for the snook, the cooler water temps have shut them down temporarily. In between the fronts they should be targetable, though.
The sheepshead are starting to gather. I’ve found a few areas where they are schooling, Many are barely legal as of now. That should change in the weeks to come. Nearshore fishing around ledges is resulting in mangrove snapper, Key West grunts, porgies and hogfish here and there. There’s also plenty of juvenile grouper to fill in the gaps between keepable catches.
