February 2015: Cold Fronts, Rain, Wind, Low Tides and "Catching"

Not unlike past years, this February was an interesting month for fishing.  And although there were some nice days scattered throughout the month, my guests and I "fished on" thru cold fronts, rain, wind and very low tides.  And fortunately these conditions didn't seem to bother my guests or the fish much at all.

When the wind did lay down, the sheepshead bite was great !  Rock piles in 8-20' of water have been covered up with fish.  Depending on the tide, either a 1/8 oz jig head or a 1/2 oz knocker rig was all we needed to bring the "striped bandits" into the boat.  Live shrimp was the best bet, but fresh dead shrimp worked as well.  Many sheepshead were good sized ranging from 3-6 1/2 lbs and provided great action as they raced to get back into the rocks.  Other inhabitants of the rock piles also joined in including Grouper, sea bass and grunts.

 Take a look at our "2015 Photo Gallery"
for many great pics of this month's catch

Back inshore, where I love to fish and consider my specialty, the trout action was hot, even when the temps were low.  The only problem if you can call it that, was that many of the fish were too large to keep.  Trout in the 20" range were the norm, with many right at the 20" maximum keeper size.

Working jerk baits in shallow water is my favorite way to trout fish, and this technique produced the most action.  5" glow DOA jerk shad hooked thru the nose was most productive.  There's just something about the "thump" you feel when a gator trout initially hits the bait !  Braided line is a must to detect the strike, where mono would not allow the feel of the subtle tick in the line when the fish sucks at the bait.

With temperatures in the 20's on more than one morning this month, you have to posses a love of fishing!   Thankfully I do and so did my guests.   Many thanks as always to my angling allies for fishing with me this month as the cold winds blew, but the trout fishing was hot.  Capt Mark