Along with the holiday season comes cooler weather here in sunny Southwest Florida. Water temperatures are falling down into the sixties and seventies, pushing the schools of baitfish that we depended on during the summer and fall months in search of warmer waters.Nov 29th, 2015
December is the Holiday Season and a time for remembering the past, which brings me to the subject of antique fishing reels and all the questions I get about them. In the old days, pre-internet that is, determining what a reel, lure, or old rod was worth used to be simple to figure out. Nov 29th, 2015
I've had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time on the area lakes since the last edition of the Coastal Angler, fishing for both bass and crappie, and both have been tough situations. Nov 29th, 2015
Well I’d like to hope December will bring some cold fronts, but we will have to see since November felt like June. Coming into the winter months when water temperatures drop, targeting areas that warm quickly like docks, mangroves and potholes will be the best bet. We do a lot of sight fishing this time of year when the water clears and finding pot holes is a breeze. Nov 29th, 2015
The weather for this weekend will be cool and unstable but the fishing should be hot. I don’t know about you but I always love fishing in sloppy weather so long as the lightning is held in check. The long range forecasts indicate that this will be the end of our unseasonably warm temperatures and a return to seasonable temperatures which means cooler nights and falling water temperatures which will ignite the fishing bite. All reporting stations can’t wait for next week’s cooler temperatures. Nov 19th, 2015
In talking to the area’s bait & tackle shops, the last few weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures has really slowed down the bass bite. Baitfish that where once schooling have scattered and so have the bass. Best bets are to revert back to summertime fishing patterns and be out there early before the sun rises or late in the afternoon for that early sundown. Frogs and buzzbaits are making a comeback in this hot weather. Nov 11th, 2015
The word for this weekend around Lake Okeechobee and south-central Florida is HOT. Consecutive days of near record heat has slowed the pre-spawn feeding of the bass and forced them to move back into a summertime pattern. This means the bite is real early in the morning with wild shiners being the best bait and artificial lures falling off the pace. Fortunately there appears to be some relief on the way and conditions should return to a more typical fall pattern in the coming weeks. Nov 5th, 2015
