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South Shore Fishermen, Fish Lay Low From The Cold

Photo by FRED EVERSON

Larry Malinoski of Ruskin caught this grouper trolling jigs behind planers. It was short of the 22-inch limit and was released after the photo.

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By FRED EVERSON

Tribune Correspondent

Published: January 29, 2009

With mid-winter conditions in effect, anglers have stayed on the dock for the most part. Small-craft warnings combined with morning temperatures in the high 30s make local fishing a challenge most are not willing to accept. And you can bet that the fish are not biting after a 10-degree drop in water temperature.

Capt. Larry Malinoski invited me to fish with him one day last week. It was a rare calm day between cold fronts with a rising tide, but there wasn't much of a bite. We trolled jigs on planers around the mouth of the bay in front of Port Manatee and caught one short grouper. We saw plenty of bait on the bottom machine and quite a few fish, but our expectations were low because of the water temperature. It was 59 degrees, when a few days earlier it had been near 70.

Malinoski said he tries to fish shallower water when it gets this cold. His theory is that it warms more quickly when the sun is shining. He said the bite turns on sometimes in the early afternoon, and indeed the only fish we caught struck at 1:30 p.m.

During our way back in, we stopped at the Bahia Beach Reef to chat with Capt. Tom Rinehart. He was bottom fishing with live shrimp, targeting sheepshead and mangrove snapper. He said he was marking a lot of fish but had only caught a few, including one big sheepshead that he put in the box.

The offshore reports have been equally quiet for the past few weeks. The action will continue to be minimal until we get some warmer weather.

I haven't been to Apollo Beach lately, but I would expect this cold weather to have pushed some fish into the hot-water outflow at the Tampa Electric Co. power plant. I have seen cobia on the flats all winter, and they tend to concentrate in the waters outside the Big Bend plant when the temperature drops. Blacktip and bonnethead sharks, ladyfish and pompano all gravitate toward warmer water when the bay temperature gets into the 50s.

Trout season has been on again since the first of the year, but I'm not hearing much from trout fishermen. Trout are not as susceptible to cold water as other species, but small craft warnings have kept most boaters close to home. It's tough to travel the bay in a 3-foot chop when it's this cold because you are going to get wet, especially if you fish out of a flats boat.

Sheepshead bite should pick up soon as the water warms a little. They congregate on structure in the middle of the bay to spawn during the winter months. Using small shrimp on circle hooks fished on the bottom is the best way to catch them.

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 to ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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