Long, frequent cold fronts provide a glance at possible winter weather

With the cold fronts becoming more frequent and longer in duration, Anna Maria Island anglers find themselves anticipating a colder winter than usual.

This, in turn, will greatly influence the species we target, as well as the baits and techniques used to have a successful day on the water.

I guess the most crucial part of a good day on the water in the winter months is to wear the proper attire to ensure you are warm. With air temps in the low 50s and water temps not much higher, you can bet it’s going to be chilly on the water — especially when you’re buzzing across the flat at 30 m.p.h. There’s nothing worse than being out on the water freezing your butt off all morning because you didn’t anticipate it being as cold as it is. In some instances, it doesn’t matter how good the fishing is if you can’t get warm.

The best plan of attack is to dress warmer than you think you need to and then peel off the layers as the sun slowly warms the air. Having grown up in Florida, I don’t particularly care for the cold and I’m smart enough to know it’s better to be too hot and start removing layers than it is to start the day off cold and never get warm. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had clients get on the boat for a wintertime charter wearing nothing but shorts and a light sweatshirt. “It’s OK,” they say. “We’re from Michigan, we’re used to the cold.”

Well, nine times out of ten they’re shaking and shivering before we even get to the first spot. I don’t care where you’re from — cold is cold. Especially when you’re out on the water , so plan accordingly.

As far as fishing goes in December, you can bet that getting acquainted with your local bait shop will be quite important as we will be generally using live shrimp as bait. When using shrimp you can expect to encounter a number of species including redfish, black drum, sheepshead and pompano. And the list goes on as most of the species we target will adopt live shrimp as their main food source throughout the winter. Snook and spotted seatrout are prime candidates for this switch in menu preference and you and also bet that migratory species — bluefish, ladyfish, jacks and mackerel will follow suit. Don’t rule out the reef species —mangrove snapper, grunts and hogfish can’t resist a nice plump shrimp when dropped in front if their noses.

So, as you can see, wintertime fishing means shrimp for bait. There may be shiners still available to be netted but save your energy and just buy some shrimp. There’s a good chance you’ll have better results.

On my own Just Reel charters I’m seeing a pretty good redfish bite while casting live shrimp around residential docks, seawalls and canals. Many slot-size fish are being caught as well as quite a few “rat reds” which is encouraging to see as it ensures we’ll have a fishery in the future. Sheepshead are starting to make a showing which is a sign that the wintertime bite is just around the corner. Most sheepies being caught are 2-3 pounds. 

Spotted seatrout are another species being caught except the most consistent bites are occurring during the warmer days between the cold fronts. 

Lastly, I’m seeing a few snook being caught and again they are biting on the warner days between cold fronts.