BigBendFishing.Net

Any secrets out there?
When I can't find fish in the deeper spots a winter strategy I rely on is 1/4 moons with minimal tides, sunny days, light wind, shallow water, and afternoons. It all adds up to warm water, bait, & fish. I started focusing on mapping these variables two winters ago & it really has paid off. This months FS has an article on Redfish that describes the scenario well. We have a lot of places around here that fit this pattern. Winter and access limit fishing pressure in these areas.

I've reread that story in FS 4 times, trying to memorize all of it.
I'm going to give it a try this winter. It sure sounds good on paper.
Fishing the St.marks in the winter is beautiful, but I haven't caught
many fish.

Why minimal tides? I prefer maximum tides....It is harder to fish the current, but the fish seem to be more active, for me.....Look at the tides for St.Marks on the 23, think its a -1.6 low to 3 something high, if you want to see some low water thats the day to go

I did pretty good in the river last year untill middle of Dec. After that it got tough. Caught a lot of White Trout. Quite a few Specks up river. Reds were hard to find for me last year in the St. Marks.

Still do not believe they disappear from the flats, especially around Keaton. Last Sunday when I left here I had a hard frost all over the truck and boat, and it was dam chilly out there. However found fish in 2 - 2,5 ft of water. There are not alot of places down there for them to go hide. Like rivers and such. And it was already high tide at that point.

ds, but what was the water temp? That's the deciding factor. Not air temp. Again, last weekend the trout was still outside the rivers mostly. Watch what happens to Keaton when the water hits 55 degrees. Keaton has a history of being the first flats to lose fish in the winter, and first flats to have them move back out in the spring.

No idea what the water temp was. Well let it hit 55 in February when trout is closed. Then go back up.

Thought it was Febuary. (closed season)

Thats what I said February.

Yeah, right. That's what I thought ya said. My mistake ds.

Chalk, I agree that a big tide is good for a lot of reasons. The approach I suggested focuses on minimal movement (thus mixing) of water to maximize temperature change at a given location. I've found trout piled up on top of oyster bars & nearby shallows in the middle of the day when it was so cold I thought they had to be deep. Last year when I found them, in January, they were all legal and most were +20". I took home a 26. That was the best trout day I've had since the size & slot changes. Another thought about 1/4 moons, even in other seasons, is that the bite can last longer because the fish don't turn off responding to conditions that change quickly.

I strongly feel that quarter moons with little tidal temperature mixing is great for fishing, and that full moons and no moons, with lots of tidal flow, is great for fishing.

All that said, I have no luck in the cold cold on the St. Marks above Shields and the power plant, but the fishing has been great!

This month's FS has a good article on cold water trout strategies. The suggestions are ones that have really worked for me lately. The general angle was also in an earlier article targeting redfish.
The article is short -you can read it quick at a store without having to buy the whole thing. My conscience is clear on that, they get me for the shallow water quarterly anyway.
I'd buy it but I have mixed feelings about supporting FS & their position on some things.

Littoral wrote:The article is short -you can read it quick at a store without having to buy the whole thing.

.....Oh lawd, we know how tight you are now .....By the way myself and BigT did experience some of your winter tactics the other week...Slack tide was around noon, fish turned on an hour before and feed through the slack, fish were on the west banks to.

A few years ago I was kayaking big shoals on the suwannee and after an afternoon of runs we continued down river to our camping spot. On the way we passed this elderly man who appeared to be fising on the bank. His rig was a stout hardwood branch with fishing line tied to the end. Upon passing I asked him if he was doing any good. He smiled and raised his makeshift rod to reveal three tallboy Natural Lites haning from the fishing line in their 6 pack holder.

Different perspective on cold water strategies......cold water was definitly to his advantage, and I think he could have cared less about moon and tides