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It is cold, FREEZING cold! But that doesn’t stop fisherman, it just means we wear more clothe.

What this extremely cold weather really means for us here in central Florida is adapting our fishing style to make our day on the water successful. Let no one tell you that this abnormally low temperature doesn’t make the fishing tougher. These temperatures plummeting to below freezing over night kills a bunch of sea life. Turtles, puffers, needlefish, trout, and redfish can be seen floating or belly up throughout our coastal waters. Though the fish kill seems to be limited to smaller fish it still affects the behavior of larger ones. Surface temperature of the water has reached well below 41 degrees in the past couple of weeks sending all that lives in it into survival mode. What that means is redfish, black drum and trout can be found in areas of warmer waters such as deeper holes or areas with sandy bottom. Deeper water allows for fish to escape from the surface temperatures which drop significantly over night as the cold wind blows across it. Sandy areas reflects heat rather well so as the sun rises in the sky sandy areas reflect the sun’s rays and warms the water around it better, (think of a desert).

So what does all this mean to us anglers? First don’t rush to get out on the water at first light. Wake up late enjoy your coffee eat a little something. The fish are moving from their overnight accommodations in deeper water to shallow water sandy areas as the sun rises. The middle of the day when the sun is at its strongest is when the bite has picked up, which means up from nonexistent to feeding slower than a snail. To put this metaphor in perspective this past week we had a piece of cut ladyfish sitting in a three foot diameter hole that contained 8 redfish and it took five minutes till one decided to take the bait. Which is the next thing that will need adjusting, PRESENTATION. Slow down everything allow baits to fall and sit in potholes. Like my friend Steve says, “Slow down your presentation to the point where it almost hurts.” So take your spoons and spinners off the table and rig up to use finesse or natural baits. There is a ton of dead baitfish in the water so the redfish, trout and drum have plenty of easy meals to forage on so the right bait and placement will count for a lot.

Just because the cold temperatures are record breaking it doesn’t mean there isn’t some great fishing to do on the river and lagoon. It just means that your approach and methods need some adjusting. In years past I have had some monster redfish landed on charters on days that started with ice on the boat. So break out the jacket and get out on the water either on your own or your favorite guide, and Get your fish on… Florida Fisherman Style!

Capt. Mike Ortego
The Florida Fisherman

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Fishing has been red hot even though the temperatures have been cooling down.
In the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River the water levels are still considerably high. This week we have been hitting the water early and getting on a great trout bite on top water baits such as spooks and chuggers. Head out to Tiger Shoals first thing and set up a nice drift using the wind to cross the Pole and Troll area.

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It was a great summer in the upper Keys. What can I say about the upper Keys other than it’s a utopia for those individuals whose heart beats with the waves of the ocean. Where else can you fish world class inshore, backcountry, and offshore waters within 20 minutes of your dock? We had many firsts this summer redfish, tarpon, permit, dolphin, tripletail and even a cameo appearance from the man in the blue suit (blue marlin).

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Summer time is here and in full swing. Temps are getting well into the nineties and the mullet schools are scattered across the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. This means that we will be seeing an influx of summer species topped off by the much sought after Silver King. Small tarpon are already being seen in the area canals and creeks and soon the larger tarpon will be following the bait into the north River and Mosquito Lagoon.

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Dry days… will they ever end? The water levels are still very low on Florida’s east coast lagoon systems. Even though, fishing has been great as of late. It maybe caused by the lack of water bottling up the fish in deeper pockets or the diminishing of a large percentage of feeding grounds or the combination. The weather seems to be finally stabilizing and breaking into spring patterns. What does this mean for Florida anglers?

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The weather man said that it would be a nice and enjoyable day with temperatures in the 70s with clear skies. Unfortunately there was plenty of cloud cover and a chill on the wind blowing 15 - 20 knots making sight fishing and poling very difficult. Fortunately within ten minutes of being on the boat we hooked up on a slob bull redfish that had a mean streak three miles long.

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