We’ve had record breaking high temperatures in the first half of November and our water temps were in the upper 70’s, don’t look for this to continue in December. Hopefully these temps will come down slow and steadily instead of a big cold front blast that drastically drops the water temps some 10 to 15 degrees.
In December the water temps usually drop to the lower 60 degree range after a few cold fronts but will start a steady increase back to 70 as the sun comes out. I’m sure that the temperatures will drop back below 60 before winter’s end.
Fishing in Clearwater Bay and St. Joseph Sound during December will take a lot of patience and a great deal of searching. There should be many good fishing days in and around the cold fronts that pass through our area. Keep in mind that the average water temperatures will most likely be around 60 degrees. Trout will be the targeted species for the winter with redfish, sheepshead, bluefish and the occasional pompano making their appearance as well.
As the water temperatures cool down, the white baits become very hard to find. Shrimp under a float will work fine for the winter trout. Bring out your favorite artificial baits because they can catch as many fish as live baits this time of year. You can cover a lot more ground throwing fake baits. Keep your artificials in the shrimp type colors, root beer, dark green and dark new penny with some sparkle will do fine.
Finding the trout is easy, but catching the big gator trout is more difficult. Start searching on the numerous grass flats that stretch from north Dunedin to Clearwater in the three to five foot depths. Look for the sand holes that dot the grass areas and start drifting as many as you can, most of the flats with this type of bottom structure will hold fish. When you find the area that is producing the biggest fish, work it hard, there may be a big 26 inch gator trout lurking. Remember, you can only keep 4 trout measuring between 15 to 20 inches per person and only one of those four trout can be over 20 inches.
Redfish are scattered throughout the bays. We caught redfish on some trips and did not locate them on others. Finding redfish in the winter months will take some searching. Use the high tide to look up around the mangroves and grassy flats with sand areas mixed in. Don’t forget to investigate docks during the winter, a lot of dock type structures throughout Clearwater and Dunedin bays will hold fish. All docks are not created equal, so keep moving.
If you do decide to dock fish, use live shrimp and cast them directly underneath and let it sink near the pilings. Get ready to pull the red out as soon as it takes the bait; we lose some fish as they wrap themselves around the pilings.
Santa Clause may bring you a new outfit and some record catches to go with it. December fishing is here so get on board, grab a jacket and let’s get fishing.