Cold Weather Quickly Ends Springlike Pattern

Some of the coldest weather of the year rolled through, setting back what was a pretty good head start on springlike fishing patterns. Fish and anglers took refuge as water temperatures plunged by double digits in some places.

In general, look for fish to be popping out onto the open flats as weather warms. River mouths, creek openings and shallow back bays are ideal ambush points, as the sun begins the job of warming waters to the levels we were seeing before the near-freezing weather.

Ideal places to start are deeper holes inside the rivers and residential canals. Artificials will get the job done, but a live shrimp is the king of winter baits, and letting it roam freely on nothing but a light hook around docks and other structure, is hard to beat.

For getting the bait near the bottom in deeper water, a split shot crimped on the line a few inches above the hook will do the trick.

Keep the line tight while fishing, watching it and feeling for the bite. Cold fish have a slowed metabolism and diminished energy, often biting lightly and harder to detect on your line compared to the aggressive fish of warmer water.

Tackle shop roundup

Dixie Lee and Bait and Tackle, 352-596-5151: A few black drum 14 to 18 inches have been caught inside Jenkins' Creek, near Weeki Wachee. Fish have been around oyster bars and rocks, taking live and frozen shrimp well. A few fish have been caught on fiddler crabs. Some sheepshead have been taken along with them.

Dunedin Bait and Tackle, 727-736-3474: A pair of anglers who frequent the shop reported limiting on gag grouper fishing 35 feet of water west of the Dunedin artificial reef. They had fish to 24 inches and several mangrove snapper to 20 inches. The gags took live pinfish and frozen bait, while the snapper were caught on live shrimp and small, live pinfish. Silver trout have been biting well around the western bridge on the Dunedin Causeway. Fish 10 to 15 inches are taking live and frozen shrimp. There have been a few whiting mixed in, with most between 10 and 12 inches. The north side of the causeway has been producing some spotted trout to 17 inches. Live shrimp have been working well. The bite has not been big, and slows to a standstill at times.

One Stop Bait and Tackle, 727-842-5610: Anglers fishing the west side of Three Rooker Bar, north of Honeymoon Island, reported catching silver trout to 15 inches. They used live and frozen shrimp under floats, but also landed some fish using D.O.A. shrimp in chartreuse. Most of the action was over grass bottom in 7 to 8 feet of water. Another area producing large silver trout has been the grass bottom in 8 to 10 feet of water around the Intracoastal Waterway channel about dead east of the Anclote Key lighthouse. Fish have been running 10 to 15 inches, taking the same baits. A boat fishing 45 feet of water west of the south end of Anclote Key reported taking a keeper gag grouper, a keeper red and a hog snapper that went 15 inches - a rare hook-and-line catch. They also bagged an 18-inch mangrove snapper on the trip. The grouper took live pinfish, which cut pinfish and shrimp accounted for the snapper. When warm water has been pumping from the Anclote power plant outfall, the trout bite has been on.

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