Photo by Roberto Martinez
With the time-eating bustle of the holidays behind us, anglers will again have some free time to hit the water. Depending on what coastline you fish from, deep winter can be difficult. Here’s a list of target species that can serve to hold you through to spring.
Redfish: From the Texas to Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and up the east coast into the Carolinas, there is no better inshore sport fish than the red drum. Across most of their range, winter offers some of the best sight-fishing action for these bruisers. Clear winter water often reveals actively feeding reds on shallow mud flats warmed by the sun.
Sheepshead: If the mission is to bring home food for the table, the convict fish is a good option. Sheepshead make a move offshore to spawn in late winter or early spring, and they will congregate around jetties and nearshore reefs. It can take some practice to get used to setting the hook with their odd nibbling bite. But once you get the hang of it, it shouldn’t be too difficult to fill a cooler of these delicious fish using crabs or shrimp as bait.
Striped Bass: As they move south along the Atlantic Coast with falling water temperatures, stripers become prime targets for anglers in Virginia and the Carolinas. Nothing fights harder than a big striper, and their proclivity for schooling around bait can make for extremely exciting action fishing live baits, swimbaits, bucktail jigs and flies.
Bonefish: It’s a great time of year to seek out the warmer climates of the Bahamas and the Florida Keys to pursue the gray ghosts of the flats. With burning runs and the excitement of sighting and casting to these skittish fish, they are a dream for fly-rodders on the flats. Late fall and winter just happens to be one of the best times to find them cruising the shallows.
Barracuda: While we’re speaking of the flats, we might as well throw in the toothy barracuda, which can be a ton of fun during the late winter months when clear water makes them highly visible as they hunt the flats and shallow reefs.
Seatrout: Believe it or not, some of the best trout fishing of the year occurs in the cold waters of winter, as long as those waters aren’t too cold. Find a warming trend of several days, and you’ll likely find the trout schooled up tightly around structure. Look to the creek channels and mouths, and oyster bars with deep water nearby. Winter may be the best time of year to hook up with a big gator trout.
Snapper: During the winter months, the snapper species generally work their way in from the deep waters where they spend the rest of the year. Combined with less fishing pressure, this can leave the nearshore wrecks and reefs littered with the various snapper species. Right now can be some of the best bottom fishing of the year for folks with smaller boats and limited range.