Fish can still be found beyond the chill

There's no question that Florida's inshore fisheries took a whack from this month's Big Chill. There's also no question that there are plenty of fish left and angling action should be fine on most fronts as soon as the water gets even warmer than it has the past week.

"We found one place where there were so many trout it looked like the whole bottom moved," said captain Scott Moore, who also said he is seeing fair numbers of snook, evidence that the cold kill left some survivors of this delicate species.

Anglers should remember that the spring snook season has been closed as a precautionary measure by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. However, catch-and-release fishing remains legal.

Redfish also seem to have escaped the cold blast, for the most part. The species tolerates cold water as far north as Virginia, so it's likely that few, if any, died as a result of the cold spell here.

The question now is, where do you find the survivors? And what will cause them to bite?

Until there's a true warm-up, odds are that most fish are going to hang close to temperature refuges - spring outflows, deep coastal rivers and dredged canals, shipping basins and the like. There is also an interesting phenomenon among redfish known as "sunning," in which they move into extremely shallow water during sunny afternoons to soak up the heat like lizards lying in the sunshine.

Reds also seek shallow areas with black mud bottom, which acts as a sort of heat sink, like a black sheet of plastic in the sun. The fish snuggle against the mud during the bright hours of the day.

Trout tend to gather tightly in small potholes in the backcountry, often in areas where the approaches are only a foot deep. Some anglers believe this is a way of escaping the predation of bottle-nosed dolphin, which are warm-blooded and can easily catch the sluggish, cold-blooded trout if they settle into areas accessible to Flipper.

Sheepshead, another cold-weather target, seem to have been minimally affected by the cold. These fish are likely to be found in the usual winter areas, including shell-lined potholes on the flats and around barnacled pilings, as well as along rocky ledges near the Tampa Bay ship channels.

The ticket for all these species will be a careful, quiet approach due to the very clear water resulting from the low algae count of winter, and use of live shrimp, scented artificial baits or small, slow-moving jigs, swim baits and flies. The fish are going to have moderate appetites for a few more weeks because of their slowed metabolism, so the aggressive presentations and larger lures that work great in late March might not work now.

On one particular mud flat near Cockroach Bay, the tactic that works best is to toss an unweighted shrimp into the midst of sunning redfish and leave it there without any movement. Eventually the scent spreads and one of the fish will hone in on it. The same tactic works with scented artificial baits such as Berkley's Gulp. On the other hand, making a splashy cast with any of the usual redfish lures, such as a spoon, might turn off the whole flat.

Plastic "critter" baits, such as the DOA Shrimp, are also effective at this time of year if worked slowly.

Another tip, offered by captain Ray Markham of Terra Ceia, is to plan your fishing trips to start later in the day on sunny days, allowing time for the water to warm up. The dawn patrol that often results in great catches in summer is not the ticket now, and fishing might be best from noon until about 5 p.m.

Television host Doug Hannon of Odessa said saltwater fish, just like the bass he has studied so carefully in freshwater, tend to use shorelines with exposure to the sun on their south shore (which get lots of sunshine in the afternoons) as winter hideaways. In saltwater, these areas seem most productive if they have no more than 2 feet of water on them at low tide, and those with modest tide flow warm up more than those with stronger current.

In coastal rivers, some of the best areas are often found around bends, where the current washes out deep holes and exposes the limerock. These areas might hold reds and sheepshead from now through early March, so they're well worth searching for.

Overall, fishing for the next few weeks might be a bit of a challenge, but there will be minimal competition. And for those who put in the time, the rewards could be great.