CRYSTAL RIVER

Cold Water Critters

February brings around some of the most fun fishing of the year for both families and expert anglers alike. The cold temps stack trout, redfish and sheepshead on the many rock piles along the Crystal River, and these fish can be easy targets if you know where to look. Deep water is one of the keys to being successful and this can sometime mean fishing in deep creeks and holes in the backcountry surrounding Crystal River and the Florida Barge Canal. Live shrimp and gold spoons can be top redfish producers during the late winter and early spring, before the water temps begin to climb and the fish scatter. Water temperatures below 60 degrees, triggers most inshore species to gather, either to spawn or to stay warm.
Sheepshead will gather in rocky holes in creeks, and also push offshore to rock piles in 25 to 55 feet of water, where they will gather to spawn around the full moon. Live shrimp and small assorted crabs on a knocker rig is the go-to rig with a #2 hook and 1 ounce egg sinker. Fishing around rocks and ledges will bring the best results with the Crystal River Artificial Reef being ground zero for this fishery. Along with sheepshead, anglers can expect to catch grouper, grunts, sea bass and an assortment of snapper.
Trying to catch redfish and trout in January was frustratingly difficult with the bitter cold temperatures, but as soon as the water temperatures reach the mid 50s, expect the fish to really start biting hard during the warm spells between fronts.