 |
The remnants of hurricane Mitch left us with a significant water temperature drop. That seems to have slowed the fishing somewhat. There is plenty of bait around, but the fish seemed to be harder to find. That is not unusual this time of year. We are in a "transitional" stage of seasons. The snook start to head for the far reaches of the backcountry.
There has been lots of bait around. We just have not been catching the numbers of fish that we were prior to Mitch. The water temperature dropped to as low as seventy-four degrees this past week. Everyone that gave me a report said that they had a difficult time catching any decent numbers of fish. We have been catching some keeper redfish and snook, they have just been harder to come by. I had several good days, but we had to work hard to produce quality fish. I started using the hit and run technique. I would cover as many spots as fast as I could. I fished in front of the islands, in the middle, and in the back bays too. We caught small numbers of fish in each place. I don’t think that the snook have all moved to the back yet. It does appear that they are headed that way.
I get a real confirmation of what is happening when I go flyfishing. When you flyfish, you try to stay in as shallow water as you can find. That gives you a greater possibility to actually see fish. I know several guides that had multiple days of flyfishing trips this week. They all said that they saw next to nothing in the shallow water. I had a day of it myself. It was discouraging to say the least. I hope that the fish will become acclimated and we can get back to the business of catching a few on the flyrod. We always go through this after the first few cold fronts of the season come through.
I have been seeing sheepshead in the shallow water this week. That is a definite confirmation that the winter season is upon us. We have also been seeing a group of white pelicans just south of Marco. I guess that I am not ready to give up the security of the great fishing during the summer and fall months.
People have been catching some larger than legal size trout. Keep in mind that the season on trout is still closed. I have also been catching mackeral. We caught some big pompano this week too. I have been "skipping" pompano for a couple of weeks now. We have been getting them on shrimp colored screwtail jigs.
If the weather will stay as warm as it has been in the later part of the week, I think that the fishing will perk up. The weather has been very soothing this week and that’s all that I need for my day to be worthwhile. I think of those poor people digging out up north and I thank God that I am here. I hope that you have a great time on the water this week.