Battling the Winds of Change in the Florida Keys
While a New Year brings renewed hope and opportunity, it also brings the most persistent winds of the year. As cold fronts push through the Keys, they trail high pressure systems behind them. The high pressure systems that center north of us set up prolonged winds that often only subside prior to the next front. Right after the front passes the winds blow from the north and as the high pressure system establishes it self, the winds shift to the east. For most Keys anglers in their twenty something foot boats, winds of over twenty knots mean an elimination of most offshore and reef fishing. For those of us not willing to spend most of the first several months of the year without fishing, it means getting a little creative about finding inshore fishing spots and techniques.
When the winds first shift to the north there is an advantage to the Lower Keys in that there is a wind break from the land mass on the south side of the Keys. The patch reefs in Hawks Channel are protected somewhat from the high seas that will be found farther from shore. These patches offer a variety of opportunities for the angler willing to stray a little way into the choppy water.
Once the winds start to shift to an easterly direction it becomes a little more difficult to find protected fishing spots.
Both the flats and channels that lie between the islands of the Lower Keys offer opportunities for finding a variety of fish. If you can find structure in the back country you should be able to find snapper. Large Mangrove Snapper can be found in surprisingly shallow water. Mangrove Snapper love structure, any structure. If you can find structure in as little as four or five feet of water, it pays to spend some time chumming the spot. Place some larger snapper bait such as small pinfish, half of a large pinfish or large chunks of ballyhoo far back in your chum line and wait and see if the big boys are lurking out there. If you choose to use smaller baits or shrimp, the odds that the bait will last long enough for the larger Mangroves to find it, before the bait stealers finish it off are slim. The structures most commonly found in the back side of the island chain are single or small groups of coral heads, sunken boats and thanks to the hurricanes of 05, there are a lot of fallen trees that have been blown out into deeper water. In the channels, there are many holes where the bottom can exceed twenty five feet and often have a rock edge that holds a lot of life. Any of these spots can hold snapper in the seventeen to twenty inch range.
While snapper are the most common species targeted in the back country there are a large variety of other fish to be found. Cobia are probably the most prized of all game fish found in the back country. It pays to keep a large pinfish free lined in your chum line or at least have a rod ready to bait and present, if one shows up in your line. It also pays to approach your spots slowly and carefully as cobia are often found basking on the surface around these structures. Other large game fish found in these waters are Sharks, Jewfish, (for the politically correct, Goliath Grouper) Barracuda and Tarpon. Again, large Pinfish are great bait for any of these fish.
When fishing in channels with faster moving water it pays to fish the tide changes. This is the time when fish leave the eddies, provided by structure, and go on the hunt for a meal. This does not mean that the fish will not feed during the tide it just means they will wait for a meal to present itself nearer to their hiding spot. When fishing the running tide you should make sure that you have enough weight to hold bottom. This is one of the few instances in inshore bait fishing that it doesn’t pay to use a knocker rig. Instead of the knocker rig, separate your bait from the weight with a couple of feet of leader by tying a swivel in line beneath the weight. It also helps to hook your pinfish through the lips when the water is running to allow them to swim with the current. Pinfish hooked through the shoulder tend to spin in the current and offer more resistance to the current.
There are also opportunities to find fish with no structure available. On the plentiful grass flats between the Lower Keys there are often Mullet Mud’s. These are large areas of muddy water over the grass flats are caused by schools of mullet rooting in the bottom for food. The mud’s found in four to six feet of water will also have other fish mixed in, feeding on bait fish and crustaceans displaced from their hiding places by the feeding Mullet. The main target for anglers in these mud’s are Spotted Weak Fish, locally known as Trout. Luckily the Trout season in the Keys starts in January coinciding with the start of the windy season. Other fish commonly found feeding with the trout are Lady Fish, Jack Cravelle, Snapper and occasionally Snook. Targeting these fish is relatively easy. First, start a drift upwind of the mud, and allow yourself to be blown down the edge of the mud, or across it, if the wind is blowing perpendicular to the mud. Cast into the mud around the following edges just behind the leading edge of the feeding mullet. All of these fish will fall to a shrimp or an artificial designed to imitate a shrimp, such as jigs and rubber tailed grubs. One favorite, the Loves Lure, works by tossing it into the mud and imparting just enough action to it to keep it off of the bottom. If using live shrimp they too should be kept off of the bottom to avoid being stolen by the pinfish and other bait stealers. The popping cork is an effective tool, for both keeping your bait off of the bottom and attracting game fish to your offering. It is used by baiting your shrimp two to three feet from the cork and giving your line a twitch just hard enough to make the cock pop in the water. Be sure to wait several seconds between pops of the cork, as you are trying to imitate the sound of another fish trying to eat the shrimp.
There are also other fish that are not feeding with the mullet and friends, but feeding on them. These include several species of shark, Barracuda, Tarpon, and Larger Jack Cravelle. It often pays to present a large live Pinfish on a heavier rod, and let it drift behind you, to possibly connect with one of these larger game fish. Use either a fluorocarbon leader or a steel leader depending upon weather or not you think the predator is of the toothy variety.
The next time the winds of change are blowing an ill wind, don’t let it bother you. Just head into the protected waters and find yourself a spot. There is more to be found out back than just the area separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic side of the Keys.
Captain John Sahagian
FunYet Charters
(305) 872-3407
|
