TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

For Better Bites, Fish Ahead Of Coming Cold Fronts

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

A severe cold front after New Year's Day dropped water temperature about 12 degrees overnight and killed some fish in the Little Manatee River.

From my dock near the mouth of the river, I saw several jack crevalle floundering about on the surface and a couple of dead ones on the bottom.

Capt. Danny Guarino said he saw some dead fish by the U.S. 41 bridge, and there were some snook in the mix.

It would have been hard for any fish to get out of the way of such a sudden and severe drop in water temperature. Mercifully, the cold weather lasted but a few days, and the water temperature started to climb again.

Forecast through mid-month was for highs in the upper 70s. A 55-degree water temperature is curtains for some tropical species - snook and jack crevalle made up most of the fatalities during the last cold front. We are at the northernmost end of the snook natural range, and winter water temperature is the limiting factor.

During extremely cold winters, die-offs can occur as far south as Fort Myers, but that's unusual.

The New Year's cold front was accompanied by a howling northeast wind that pushed water out of the Bay. The oyster bar at the mouth of the Little Manatee River was 3 feet out of the water all day, which compounded the problem. Shallow water cools quicker, and wind also pushes the temperature down fast, so it was a double whammy for fish.

As I write this, water temperature was back up to 58 degrees, with some unseasonably warm weather ahead of us, so perhaps the worst is done for now, but winter is only a few weeks old.

Guarino said that fishing behind the front was poor. He was part of a multiple boat charter out of Fort De Soto Park and said his clients put six fish in the boat - three ladyfish and three trout.

One thing a sudden cold snap will do is concentrate fish in the hot water outflow of the power plant in Apollo Beach.

Winter fishing is all about picking your days. If you can fish ahead of the cold fronts, you should catch some fish.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. All South Shore fishermen and guides may submit information and photographs to be included in this column by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail ihuntsnook@aol.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT