If fishing in January holds to December’s standards, anglers who are prepared to weather colder temps should clean up around here.
Silver trout and sheepshead, two winter time species that are fun to fish for and great to eat are currently in abundance.
Silver trout only appear on the grass flats of Clearwater Bay and Saint Joseph’s Sound after the first cold front of the season, and disappear just as quickly once our waters start to warm. They don’t grow as large as speckled trout, but they are very plentiful, great eating and pound for pound put up a much more determined fight than specs on hook and line. Better yet, there’s no size or bag limit on silvers so it’s relatively easy to fill a cooler!
Catching these guys is pretty simple since they hang out in the same tall grass as their spotted cousins, the waters around here are literally covered in lush seagrass where they love to hunker down and ambush any unwary bait that passes overhead. A big live shrimp hooked under a noisy popping cork like a Cajun Thunder and floated just above the tops of the grass is probably the surest way to score. Jig and tail combos like a Gulp shrimp pinned to a one sixteenth of an ounce Mission Fishin jighead will also work.
Shore anglers will do well wading the grass flats on the north side of the Dunedin Causeway, but anglers with boats or kayaks will also find plenty of fish in the deeper troughs between flats. This is where the jig and tail combos really shine, just toss one out over the deeper water, let it sink to the tops of the grass and start jigging it back to you with slow, short strokes. I particularly like to use a Trout Master tandem rig with two different colored Gulp tails; expect plenty of double hook-ups!
As far as the other star of this article is concerned, sheepshead, the big ones move in this time of year. They can almost always be found grubbing for crabs, oysters and barnacles around pier and bridge pilings, and any rock piles that you can find. My favorite bait for these fish is live fiddler crabs, no sheepshead worth its salt can resist a live fiddler, but live shrimp work too.
If you really want to fire up the sheepshead, chum them up. Take a shovel or other yard tool and scrape the oysters and barnacles off the pilings where you’re fishing. Chopping up some frozen shrimp or a few fiddler crabs and spreading them around is also a sure-fire technique.
Some people say that you have to set the hook a half second before the bite because they are notorious bait stealers. Be ready.
Prepared properly, sheepshead taste just like lobster, so here is my favorite recipe:
Scale and filet your fish
Bring a quarter inch of salted water to boil in a large, flat-bottomed pot
Lay the sheepshead filets skin side down in the water and poach until the flesh is white and chunky
Peel the meat off the skin with a fork, dunk in melted butter and enjoy!
For more information on how and where to catch fish in the Dunedin area, and for the best in live, frozen and artificial baits, just stop into Barracuda Bob’s Island Surf & Sports on the Dunedin Causeway. Our friendly and knowledgeable crew is standing by to help you make the most of your time on the water!
See y’all out there!
Capt. Joe