Frigid temperatures have a silver lining for anglers

Snook from coast to coast are suffering this week, as are manatees. To say nothing of tourists hoping for a suntan.

Where is global warming when you need it?

But one species that won't be bothered by the chill is the silver trout.

Silvers are the basic panfish of the Gulf coast. They never get much bigger than 1 or 2 pounds, but when they're here - from November through early March - they're here in the thousands. It's not uncommon to catch 50 or more in a few hours when you locate a school, and there's no size or bag limit.

Silver trout look like sea trout minus the spots, and they are closely related. However, silvers rarely are found in the grassy shallows preferred by sea trout. They're much more likely to stack up in shipping channels, turning basins and dredge holes around causeways or beaches. They're also found well offshore in the northern Gulf, according to Bob Shipp, author of "Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico."

Silvers are great targets for children and novice anglers because they happily gulp down anything that will fit into their mouths, including shrimp, minnows, crabs, cut bait, jigs, spoons and diving plugs. Pretty much anything that gets down to where they live, typically 10 feet or more, goes down the hatch. A few winters back, I caught 12 silvers on 12 casts of a 4-inch swimbait near the Dunedin Causeway, and that sort of success is not rare when you locate a big school.

Finding silvers is basically a matter of locating holes from 10 to 40 feet deep around the Bay area, then probing those holes either with a depth-finder - which will outline the schools of fish and show you exactly where to drop your offering - or by lowering a chunk of fresh-cut shrimp down to the feeding zone and letting a few scouts find it.

In either case, once you get on the fish, you'll find that dozens will fling themselves at your hook, as if they can't wait to be taken home, filleted and popped into a sizzling pan of hot oil.

They are among the tastiest of seafoods, though it takes a fair number of them to make a meal for a hungry family.

Some areas where they gather include the hole on the north side of the Dunedin Causeway, the Alafia River channel and ship basin, the Port Manatee channel and any dredge hole along the beach from Clearwater to Venice.

The holes are created by beach-renewal sand dredging. Where you see a broad beach, prospect offshore and you'll usually find a dredge hole. The larger passes, including Clearwater Pass, Egmont and Southwest, also often hold silvers, though they seem to stay on the move in these high-flow areas, making them harder to find day to day. In still-water holes, they sometimes settle in and stay for weeks.

Light spinning gear is the ticket for silvers - 6- to 10-pound test with a short length of 15-pound monofilament will do the job. Some anglers rig two size 1 hooks on droppers with a 1-ounce sinker at the bitter end, and with that rig they sometimes catch two at a time. Microfiber line is a plus in this type of fishing; you're basically dropping straight down as in grouper or snapper fishing, so having a feel for the bite is essential.

Silvers are delicate fish and, like sea trout, need to be put on ice immediately when caught to preserve the texture of their flesh; otherwise they can get mushy. Some anglers like to clean them like freshwater crappies, simply gutting, scaling and heading them, then cooking them whole after a light dusting with seasoned meal. The cooked meat is then easily separated from the bones with a fork.

If you're catching 12-inchers, plan on four to six per diner. The fillets are small, but delicious - like catfish fingers, only better tasting.