As the inshore water
gets colder this month small baitfish vacate our waters and shrimp become the
primary diet for most fish. With the exception of mullet, there are not any
fish I can think of in our coastal waters that won’t eat a shrimp; in fact
shrimp is the mainstay for most inshore species diet, especially through the
winter. 
As the temperature drops it should give a big boost for
catching sheepsheads, big pre-spawn fish move inshore with the lower
temperatures. Look for fish, with many
scaling over five pounds hanging around structure, including dock and bridge
pilings, rock jetties along the beach, and on oyster bars. Most anglers opt to use shrimp; however some
sheepsheads experts that target only big fish catch their own bait including
fidler crabs, tube worms, or sand fleas.
If you don’t mind fishing in the cold, then this is your fish, the colder
the better for sheepsheads.
Pompano are similar to sheepsheads
in the fact that they will not eat any type of baitfish, but feed primarily on
small crustaceans including shrimp, crabs, sand fleas, etc.., Small nylon jigs tipped with a small piece of
shrimp can be deadly on pompano when properly bounced across the bottom.
Popular colors are white, pink and yellow. Silly Willy jigs have also gained a
lot of popularity since introduced. Both
sheepsheads and pompano have relatively small mouths so it is important not to use a large hook, if you are unsure of the size, stop in at your local shop and let them hook you up.Trout fishing should remain steady to close out the year. Look for fish moving off the shallow grass flats to deeper protected areas as temperatures drop. Deep areas around oyster bars, creeks, canals, and potholes are good areas to target. Redfish and snook can be found from the same area, plus larger reds can be sight fished on the lower tides over shallow flats adjacent to deeper water. Again, shrimp is the best bait, either the real thing or any of the many imitations.
Snook season is closed, catch and
release only, if the weather is relatively warm there could be some hot snook.
Snook will be transitioning to deeper protected waters where they well spend
the winter. 
As the craziness of the holiday
season builds there is no place like a day on the water to get away from the
madness. There will be some great
fishing opportunities as we end the year, but even if the fish aren’t biting I
still can’t think of a better place to spend the day, away from the crowds.
For charter
information please contact us at:
Phone:
239-283-7960
“Catch the
Action” with Captain Bill Russell
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