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| January |
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| Another
One Bites the Dust |
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you believe that 2006 has already come and gone. I hope that
everyone had a great holiday. It’s the time of year for
new resolutions and cooler (sometimes down-right cold) weather
fishing in the Florida Keys. We’re almost half-way through
the wintertime fronts and the accompanying winds. But, so far
they haven’t adversely affected the fishing since water
temperatures have remained above 70 degrees. On those sunny
warm days, the fish can be found on their normal flats and channels.
It’s the overcast and windy days that are the most challenging
to find fish. However, with a little bit of planning ahead,
this time of year you can produce some nice catches.
The most important
thing to do is get the marine forecast for the area you plan
to fish. There are numerous websites that provide 5-day marine
weather forecasts for all areas of Florida. If you do not
have access to the internet, then tune to your local weather
channel. Once you know the direction and speed of the wind
you can begin planning a productive fishing trip.
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The
toughest fishing days seem to be when the winter fronts bring
in the windy and overcast weather. Keep in mind that the fish
in Florida Bay will be found in the warmest of the surrounding
waters. When planning your fishing trip target deeper water
such as creeks and channels. For the flats fishing diehards,
the leeward side of islands and shorelines will be your best
bet at finding shallow water species. The calmer water on
the leeward side will maintain a higher water temperature
than wind-blown shorelines. On those overcast days, use darker
colored artificials and remember to slow down your retrieve.
The fish will become lethargic in the cold water and will
not be as aggressive as normal. Shrimp, either live or artificial,
are very productive when it’s cold. The shrimp’s
lack of mobility makes it an easy target for every type of
gamefish.
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For the sunny
days between fronts with light winds, the snook, redfish
and even some tarpon can be found on the flats. The sun
will warm the shallow waters much quicker than deep water.
It’s these days that will provide you with the most
action. I prefer using artificials on the flats and two
of my favorites are the Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad and the Gulp
Shrimp. These can either be rigged weedless with a worm
hook or on a HookUp Lure XL for slightly deeper water. These
baits in light colors are attractive to fish on the flats
because they are very life-like and land softly into the
water without creating a loud splash.
Don’t
forget that Snook season is closed until February 1st. If
you plan to target snook, circle hooks will result in fewer
gut hooked fish allowing for better releases. You can even
bend down the barbs on your hooks to make hook removal easier.
Also, if you want a few pictures, make sure to have your
camera ready and return the fish back to the water as quickly
as possible. If everyone pitches in we can ensure that our
snook population will continue to grow for futures anglers.
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Offshore
Report
On
the offshore scene, there’s plenty of great fishing
going on in the 100-300 depths. Sailfishing has been and will
remain to be good out of the Upper Keys. Keep your eyes out
for bait showers of sardines being molested by schools of
sails, tuna and kingfish. Try adding a few feathers into your
spread as you search for birds and bait showers. This is a
great way to pick-up a few tunas and kingfish. There should
be some decent numbers of wahoo showing up just past the reef.
You can cover a lot of ground by high speed trolling weighted
skirts with or without a brined ballyhoo. If the weather is
too bad to go outside the reef you can stay on the inside
a fish the patch reefs scattered throughout Hawk’s Channel.
You can use cut, whole or live ballyhoo with enough lead to
get down to the bottom then crank it up a few feet. This is
sure to attract a nice black or gag grouper as well as nice
mutton and mangrove snappers. Live shrimp on light HookUp
Lure jigs will produce snapper at just about any patch reef.
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Til’
next time, Tight Lines and Light Winds…….
Captain
Lain
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