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Flats Anglers Pleased Cold Front Is Coming

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 16, 2007

With overnight temperatures forecast to plunge as low as 40 degrees early this week, it appears the Bay area will get the first real touch of winter at last. And though anglers have enjoyed the short-sleeve weather thus far, the change will be welcomed by many fishermen.

"There are still snook all over the flats," said captain Chet Jennings of Ruskin. "They should have gone into the rivers at least a month ago, but they're still scattered out there in the potholes where you find them in summer."

Jennings hopes the cold slated to arrive this week won't be so severe or abrupt that it kills the cold-sensitive fish still in the outside shallows. Snook become lethargic in water temperatures below 60 and start dying at temperatures below 55, according to studies by the state's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

The cold will likely ball up the mullet and send them seaward; mullet spawn offshore on the new and full moons of winter, and when they pour out of the rivers and back-country by the millions, it triggers a feeding frenzy among all sorts of gamefish (as well as the commercial cast-netters who swarm over the schools).

There is likely to be a heavy bite from big redfish along the outside bars as the mullet flow past, and there probably will be plenty of sharks and kingfish in the first day or two of the movement out of Tampa Bay.

As soon as the offshore water starts to chill, however, it's likely to bring an end to the kingfish action. Kingfishing has been good in area waters for the last six weeks, but the chill will push both bait and kingfish south toward their winter grounds off the Keys.

Even the seemingly endless action on Spanish mackerel is likely to be affected; when the glass minnows they feed on go deep or head south, the macks become much harder to find.

Trout season remains closed, but trout are likely to school tightly and move into boat basins, deep potholes and power-plant outflows seeking to keep warm and stay clear of the bottle-nosed dolphins that feed on cold-slowed fish.

One fishery that always benefits with colder water is sheepshead. The striped panfish seem to thrive when it's cold, and they'll show up tailing on the flats and will drop into rocky potholes, dredged channels and river dropoffs. The best bet for them in deeper water is a fresh-cut shrimp on a quarter-ounce jig head, and the best time to go is on the bottom of a low tide.

On the flats, sheepshead can sometimes be caught on an unweighted shrimp presented well ahead of their direction of travel, but they are probably the most wary of flats species, including bonefish; catching a tailer is an angling accomplishment that puts you in rare company.

The days after a front can provide good fishing for tailing reds, particularly when the wind turns to the northeast and blows much of the water off the flats on the east and north shores of Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.

Find water eight to 18 inches deep and wade to the action - many of the best flats are too shallow for powerboats, though a kayak will get you there. With the colder water, some of the best bites may occur later in the morning or in the afternoon, as the sun warms the water. Reds sometimes stack up in water so shallow that their backs show, and they seem to be soaking up the sun.

Bays with black-mud bottoms also attract reds after a front; the dark bottom heats the water and provides a sort of spa for the fish. These soft areas can't be waded, but you can often fish them from a flat-bottomed jon boat, canoe or kayak.

DeVORE RELOCATES: Well-known dog trainer Phil DeVore has relocated his DeVore Labs training facility to Fruitville Road east of Sarasota. DeVore offers family dog obedience training as well as training for pointers, retrievers and flushing dogs used for hunting. Contact the facility at (813) 335-3805 or devorekennels@verizon.net.

PORT OFFERS CLASS: Anglers who want to fish around Manbirtee Key at Port Manatee under the new port security regulations will have to attend a class in security procedures and standards of conduct at the port and submit to background screening. There are two classes slated for next week at the port, one Wednesday and one Thursday. Applicants must pay a one-time $25 fee. The new security system will take effect on or around Jan. 15. For details, go to www.portmanatee.com/zonewatch.asp or call (941) 722-6455.

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