Get your fishing in before the cold front…unless of course you enjoy running in da cold ![]()
This will get them fishies moving… up inside all along the coast of the Everglades… Looking forward to it….
Just to expand on this, will the fish move in after the cold temperatures or before as they sense the pressure change? I would imagine when the temperature of the water drops they move in to the mangroves where there are drop offs and warmer water?
Not sure about your area, but here, generally about 2 days before front they are feeding like crazy, everywhere. (My report yesterday and last weeks report) then they clam up for a day or two afterwards, and can be found in the creeks. Most of our creeks here have holes/cuts that are deeper, with limestone bottoms so they’ll hang there for the warmth I’m assuming. That’s what I refer to a shooting fish in the barrel. The schoolies congregate and you can catch a fish on every catch for hours. Not my idea of fun, but like everyone else, when I first started fishing this area, i participated.
Once the tide rolls in and the sun comes out, Then they come out on the shallow flats to warm in the sun.
They also head up in the rivers that are spring fed, for the warmer waters once the temps really drop, depending on the area.
At the other end of the state, the Everglades sees an inward migration every year that begins as waters cool along the coast - and just keeps on happening the colder it gets… It’s a very gradual thing but as winter comes - interior waters are generally a bit warmer than the coast, driving it all. Along with those falling water temps - we only get two seasons - a wet and a dry as far as rains go and Halloween marks the beginning of the dry season where it won’t rain much at all for about six months (varies a bit from year to year). Along the way, those clouds of mosquitos begin to diminish (they need rain to lay their eggs - and within a month or so - no mosquitos in daylight, but still good numbers at night…). One other effect to mention is that as the rains quit - the interior gets a tiny bit more salty with every day it doesn’t rain with tide changes, allowing bait to move inside as well….. This entire process reverses when the rainy season gets going.
The most temperature sensitive fish in fall? The big tarpon… Right about now (and for sure once water temps fall…) the big tarpon are leaving my areas and moving out into the gulf waters offshore -where they will remain until water temps come back up a bit.. Right now water temps in the Shark river are holding at about 74 to 76 degrees - that will change after this upcoming weekend, and my big fish will simply disappear like they do every fall, looking for warmer waters…
Just nothing like the ‘glades. By the way once we’re in a colder environment, on the right weather days, Whitewater Bay will warm up five degrees each day between dawn and about 2 or 3pm…. and that’s what makes our winter fishery up inside… and simply stays warmer than the coast…
