Sportsman's Adventures Tips
Fishing In Confusing Weather: Offshore
Winter fishing takes a turn when the temperatures are high and the winds are blowing the "wrong" way
Last week I talked about fishing on the flats when the weather is much warmer than it should be for this time of year. I talked about giving the fish time to warm up and how they have a window in which they will eat each day, conserving as much energy as possible the rest of the day.
Fishing offshore has its own set of differences when it comes to balmy December and January weather. You have to understand that the pelagic species we chase offshore go through their own set of changes when the heater's on, instead of the air conditioner.
Whether you're targeting sailfish, wahoo, kingfish or dolphin, those fish are used to having the wind out of the north this time of year, with rough conditions in the Gulf Stream. They like the choppy waves and high seas and chillier temperatures.
In winter months when the winds switch around to the southeast, like they have for much of this winter, it has a tendency to smooth off the seas because the current is going in the same direction as the wind. It makes it quite calm out there. And warmer than normal, as well.
There are days when you might have 15 mph worth of wind, but it's in the same direction as the current, so you just lose the roughness. When you have cool northeasterly winds, you are going to have a current change, as well as a temperature change. That's what is going to fire up species like sailfish.
Sailfish like swimming down big swells and waves. They can find bait swimming in the upper part of the water column and it allows them to warm up as well. Warm waters come off reefs, coupled with a wind out of the southwest, west or northwest, will blow ballyhoo off the reef. You will be able to find a lot of fish in the 90- to 100-foot depths as they take advantage of the bait blown from safety.
It was not uncommon last year, when I was fishing with Capt. Ray Rosher on the sailfish circuits, to catch fish in 90 feet of water. We even had some tournaments where we caught fish in 60 feet, just off the beaches in Miami.
Fish this time of year are being affected by water temperatures, the sewage outflow that creates warmth off of Government Cut and the warmth of water coming off of the banks, across the reef and dropping into deeper water.
When the wind is southeast, it has tendency to be warm and high in humidity. That is going to cause your dolphin, wahoo and kingfish bite to drop off.
So, as uncomfortable as it is sometimes to fish in the northeast winds and choppy seas, that is the best time to target winter pelagics. If, however, the breezes are from the southwest or southeast, you might do well to look around the shallower depths and reefs to see if bait is being blown into the open.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
Fishing in Warm When It's Supposed To Be Cold: Inshore
Pay attention to the conditions to see if the fish are eating or waiting for the window to open
We always talk about how to fish in cold weather situations. But, thanks to the warm winter we've had so far, the question now is how do you fish when the weather is supposed to be cold, but it's hot?
Whether you're fishing offshore or inshore, fish are very weather driven. This time of year, we should have low humidity and prevailing northeast winds. When you don't have those conditions in conjunction with cool water temperatures, the fish seem to go into state of confusion.
One thing you need to understand is, just because you can't get the fish to bite first thing in the morning, that doesn't they're put off for the whole day. They're in survival mode early in the morning because it is so cold out. They're waiting for a window to feed, holding out for the optimum time.
Those low water temperatures affect the pinfish, crabs and all the baitfish the same way. Everybody's laying in the mud, soaking in as much heat as they can. Eventually, they're going to have to eat and it could still be blowing 20 mph out but, when the sun comes out, you can bet they're going to chew big time.
My point is, you have to have a flexible frame of mind.
One of thing I experienced just this week happened when I poled up onto a flat near Flamingo. The tide was right for snook and redfish to be staging but, as I poled into the depression where the fish lay at the low phase of tide, the fish started spooking out from everywhere.
The redfish and snook were laying in the mud where I could not see them and using the filthy bottom as a blanket for warmth. This was the first thing in the morning and what I realized was the fish were there like they should be like, but they weren't going to bite. They were in survival mode because of the cold water.
My option was, knowing that the water temperature was cooler than expected for reds and snook that time of day, to come back after the area had time to warm up from the bluebird sky and sun they were going to receive over next few hours. I went trout fishing, caught lots of trout, ladyfish and jacks for about three hours and then went back to that area.
The tide was coming in and the sun was shining bright so that the water was warming quickly on top of the flat and I knew the fish would be going there for the heat. I also knew they had to eat sometime and that was going to be the best chance of the day.
I adjusted my poling to where I was about 100 or 200 yards from the actual depression and I found the redfish and snook were more than willing to eat almost any offering. I like to throw 1/4-ounce gold spoons under those conditions, but they also ate Bass Assassin jerk baits on weedless hooks.
The water was still cool and the fish were still in survival mode so the slow presentation was the way to go. Remember, slow metabolism means a slow presentation, fast metabolism means you can work your lure fast.
My advice to all you working weekend anglers is, if you're planning on fishing on a Saturday, begin paying attention to the weather on Wednesday. Monitor the air temperatures and if the cooler temperatures correspond with the lower tides and remember to give things a chance to warm up.
Next week, we'll talk a little bit about fishing offshore when the weather is warmer than it should be for this time of year.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
A.M. Ducks and P.M. Largemouths / Panfish on Lake O: Part Two
If it's fight and great taste you want, try panfishing the Big O for bream and crappie
Last week, I talked about spending a wintry day on Lake Okeechobee. The plan is to bag your limit of ducks in the morning and then break out the fishing rod to tangle with some largemouth bass.
While bass are a lot of fun and certainly what made Lake Okeechobee so famous in the first place, don't forget there are other species in the lake which can pull just as hard and are even better tasting. I'm talking panfish – shellcrackers, bluegill, warmouth and, of course, crappie.
You all know there is nothing wrong with cane poling for those shellcrackers and bluegills with a live crawdad or simple wiggling red worm. Beetlespin makes some nice, tiny grub-style beetle baits that work very well.
The best part of panfishing is it's a lot of fun and, if you're doing it right, can be non-stop action.
The key is knowing when the conditions are right. And I'll tell you right now, they're perfect when it's bloody cold outside.
When that happens, the crappie, especially, are going to go from shallow water to deeper water. A lot of locals call these fish specks and they're a great panfish to eat. Not to mention, they can get up to 2 or 2.5 pounds in Lake O, which makes for a fairly large hunk of meat.
When the water gets cold they slide out of the shallower water and fall into the canal systems like the Harney Canal and the Indian Prairie Canal.
The key to a successful night of crappie fishing is a dark night, with very cold temperatures. That's what's going to trigger those specks top bite. A lot of will hang lights off the side of their boat over the water. You can use a small HydroGlow, the same as if you were fishing offshore. You'll find it's not uncommon to catch a stringer of 40 to 50 crappie in one night. They are very attracted to light.
You can catch these fish using little glass minnows – minners, as they call them out on Lake O – and hook them through the nose, the same way you would wild shiner for a largemouth bass.
These fish may be real deep, they may be in the middle, or they may be a few feet under the surface. You have to move your baits around until you catch one. Then go back to that same depth, because crappie like to hang in schools.
The good ting about crappie fishing is, if you can fish in a certain spot for about minutes or an hour and, if you're not catching anything, you can simply move. Sometimes all it takes is a move of a mile or so up the canal to find the fish.
If you're not able to fish when it's really cold, make sure you stay in shallower water. This will also help you stay busy as you're catch plenty of bream, shellcrackers and bluegills in the shallower water.
Some good shallow places to fish are the Rim Canal around the lake and the ditches from Lakeport, south to Clewiston.
You can use red worms or nightcrawlers on a long shank No. 6 or No. 8 hook with a small bobber positioned 3 or 4 feet above the hook.
Whenever you catch a mess of fish, the way I used to cook them was to cut the heads off, make a slice from the pectoral fins down to the anal cavity so you can clean out the guts and then roll the rest in flour and some Italian bread crumbs. Pan fry the fish and then serve with a Caesar salad and baker beans and you've got one great dinner. Or breakfast.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
A.M. ducks and P.M. Largemouths & Panfish on Lake O: Part One of Two
Winter allows the opportunity for morning hunts and afternoon casting sessions.
The holiday season and the new year allows a lot of guys the chance to spend some time in the woods, on some pond, or in a marsh looking for a duck, turkey or deer.
When I think about Thanksgiving, through about mid-January, the one thing that comes to mind for me is all the days I've spent on Lake Okeechobee shooting ducks in the morning and fishing for largemouths in the afternoon.
Because the lake is down (though not as much as it was this summer), it's going to tend to concentrate a lot of the diving ducks out in the middle. Some types of these are the bluebills, canvasbacks and of course, the ringnecks, which use the lake for their largest international nesting grounds. Along the edges, you're going to find more of a variety, mainly the bluewing and greenwing teals, widgeons, shovelers and Florida mallards.
In my mind, there is nothing better than shooting a limit of ducks and then heading out for a largemouth or two. But, remember, a limit of ducks in the morning is your daily limit, according to the FWC laws. That doesn't entitle you to go home, clean those ducks and then come back out in the afternoon to shoot some more.
Another option, or a lawful alternative to breaking the FWC laws, is to take a medium-heavy 7-foot spinning rod, or your favorite rod for casting plugs to snook, and go in pursuit of the wily largemouth bass of Lake Okeechobee.
If you're a lazy man who likes to sit back and drink a beer, or perhaps your favorite Bacardi, you're the guy who's going to want to invest in a dozen or two wild shiners. Now, they don't come cheap, they're about $3 each and that adds up when you're talking 24 baits, but the difference between wild and commercially raised shiners is huge.
Wild shiners are a lot tougher and hearty than the ones raised in farms. You need a 2/0 or 3/0 Kahle hook in order to hook the shiner in the nose the same you would a pilchard or threadfin when you're offshore king or sailfishing.
Put a bobber up about 2 to 4 feet from the shiner, and then I like to put a bb-sized split shot somewhere between hook and the float so the shiner can't hide underneath the bobber. You want it weighted down, but not on the eye of the hook.
The areas you want to try to fish are the cat tails or along the edges of where you might find hydrilla, like in the Moonshine Bay area. What you want to do is throw your wild shiner into cover.
It's very, very important that you understand the big bass are going to be in the thickest of grass. When you're shiner fishing it will work much better if you anchor the boat so as to not drift and drag that shiner, drowning him to death. They're not hearty like a blue runner or goggle-eye and they don't take to being trolled very well.
For you guys who love to fish artificials, you can go to the Monkey Box area or just outside of Moonshine Bay and look for peppergrass sticking up. There are a lot of ditches where most of the boats run through that are very productive.
You can blind cast spoons. Try a black spoon in either 1/4- or 1/2-ounce. Gold will work as well. Spinnerbaits are very good for this type of fishing as well.
Make long casts, covering a lot of area and reel those spoons or spinnerbaits right through the grass for your most effective fishing. When I was a young man, I would get out and wade these peppergrass areas.
That brings me to remembering the days when I would throw balsa-headed poppers for bass on fly rods in Lake Okeechobee. The best part was the bycatch, which included shellcraker, bluegill and bream, which we'll get into next week.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
Go Fly a Kite
North winds mean the sailfish bite is on; here are some baits and rigs to hit the high seas with.
For you guys that love to fish offshore, now is the time to crank out those kites and get to it.
The first cold front we had this year reminded me of this time last year when I was starting to fish the sailfish tournament circuit with Capt. Ray Rosher. Once the wind begins to go in a more northerly direction, it tends to trigger a pretty good sailfish bite. And, judging by the chilly temperatures the past few mornings, those fish should be on fire right now.
One of the things I want to emphasize is, as good as the north wind is for offshore fishing, it has an equal effect on the fish inshore, as well.
It's my understanding that sailfishing here in South Florida has been very good in recent days. That's not to say you won't catch a dolphin or two, but the north wind is really going to trigger those sails to bite. If the winds kick into a more southerly direction, the dolphin bite will increase and the sails will fall off.
There is a new rig that has become very popular for hooking live bait in a bridle fashion. It's called the Gerry Rig.
Basically, it is a piece of wire you can use to bridle the fish and attach a circle hook to it. What you do is thread a piece of wire through the nose of the threadfin, goggle-eye, pinfish or pilchard you're going to use for bait and tie it in a loop. There is an elastic band on the shank of the circle hook that attaches the hook to the wire. This set-up allows the hook to remain separate from the bait, which means the pilchard or threadfin will be able to swim effortlessly through the water.
This also seems to help the bait last a lot longer, too.
Kite fishing is a very popular way to target sailfish. One thing I want to remind you guys that are offshore enthusiasts is to use big baits with the rods that you use as your long rods and smaller baits like the threadies, pilchards on your short rods and flat lines.
Live bait fishing has one problem: Finding the bait. It can be very difficult to find and net the schools of perfect bait fish for your day offshore. Sabikiing your bait might be one way want to get bait, all you have to do is find the reef or ledge where they are hanging.
Another way is to use the many different sources that are available to you. Fishing buddies can sometimes lead you to bait; or maybe there's an offshore fishing bait salesman operating in your inlet. It's very simple to make a reservation with him, pull up to his boat on the way out and fill your wells with his hard work.
Goggle-eyes, threadfins and pilchards, even a blue runner, a pinfish or a mullet, are all good substitutes when it comes to live bait.
Another thing to be on the lookout for are big wahoo. These northern winds can sometimes spark that bite, especially in the deeper water. This is the time of year when Bimini holds most of its wahoo tournaments and a lot of guys go out of Miami and make the trek across looking for these speedsters.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
Don't Let the North Wind Blow You off the Water
These cooler breezes will cause fish to school in concentrations that make catchin' easy
Obviously, this is a time of the year when we get an occasional cold front sliding down to give us a wind direction change. That direction, more often than not, is from the north.
This north wind affects the fishing for several different reasons.
No. 1, when the wind goes out of the north in places like Flamingo and Port Charlotte, it has the tendency to blow all the water out and off the flats. What that means is the redfish, snook and trout are going to be concentrated in the channels and run-offs.
What this means is there are going to be concentrations of fish in these areas. If you're fishing on the West Coast, in the Port Charlotte area, look for big giant mullet (in the 2- to 3-pound range) sitting in bowls and depressions of places like Bull Bay, Turtle Bay, etc.
When you find those big mullet, it's really simple to get out and wade because of the hard bottom. Use something like a Rapala Twitching Raps in chartreuse. I like the olive and flash ones that look like the pilchards and mullet they're eating in and around.
Out front of the Flamingo area, you can fish the run-offs with jigs and soft plastics or a shrimp under a popping cork. To rig the shrimp, use a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce troll-rite under a popping cork so you can adjust for depth.
You can also use Berkley Gulp! and Bass Assassin Blurp soft plastics. These all work very well.
Once you find the fish, no matter what the case is or what region you're in, you are probably going to find a significant concentration of them. Fish the place early so, when leave, you're sure it's done. It's not uncommon to have 100-fish days fishing like this because of the concentrations of fish.
The thing to remember is, before you leave to go to a new spot, make sure you fish the spot you're at thoroughly. If you catch a couple fish in one spot, put down your Power Pole or stake out and fan cast around area where you actually got the bite.
One of tricks I use when fishing channels or flats is, when I hook a fish, one of the first things I do is look up on the shoreline and make a mental note of the general area from where that bite came.
It could be a notch in a tree line, a dead tree limb in the distance or something laying on the shore, just so I can have a general idea of the area and be able to line back up again. If I drift out of the area, I can simply come back to it.
The north wind will also trigger a major trout bite as the trout will school up. Remember one of the elementary rules of thumb: When it's cold, fish gravitate to sandy areas like potholes and channels versus when it's warm and they go to the grass flats. If catching trout one day and a week later there was a warming trend, they've probably simply moved into the grass if the water's gotten hot.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
Surf Fishing in the Fall is a Battle of the Wind
When the winds clock around to put your coast in the lee, hit the shore for a shot at bluefish, pompano, snook, sharks, mackerel and even tarpon
Surf fishing in the fall late, especially in October and November is a very popular thing to do. The point being that there is an East Coast and a West Coast mullet migration going on as we speak, which means more chances at a variety of species for anyone fishing in the surf.
These mullet are migrating down the coast from north to south and, along the way, are really creating some huge activity in the surf. Another thing that comes to mind is you have approaching cold fronts that sometimes make it all the way down the state, but most of the time stall in North Florida or Central Florida.
What that does is allows wind to switch and the high pressure to move away into a wintertime pattern. When that front approaches, whether it makes it down to Tampa, South Florida, Clearwater, Daytona or Sarasota, it will cause the winds to go west, northwest, north and then back to northeast, where it will usually stay for a few days.
When it is blowing hard out of the east, it allows the West Coast to be in the lee and surf fishing conditions to be ideal on that side of the state. When the wind is out of the west, it smoothes the waters on the East Coast.
By now, the water temperatures have fallen and you can easily find Spanish mackerel just offshore. Bluefish will be traveling in the schools of mullet that line the coasts and, sometimes, you can find giant schools of redfish and snook around these mullet as well.
My good friend Capt. Geoff Page tells me he had tarpon crashing schools of mullet on the West Coast because the temperatures haven't dropped over there yet.
The point is, right now is a situation full of opportunity.
The way you want to attack this situation is one of two ways. You can use a long 9-foot surf casting rod with 20-pound line and cast out way past the surf line, using live bait or chunks of cut bait on the bottom. Often this will produce large sharks lurking to eat the mullet schools as well.
You will also have lots of pompano swimming in the surf. In this case, simply throw a pompano jig or dig up some sandfleas.
I like my secondary rod to be more of conventional 7-foot spinning rod with 12-pound line to allow me to cast the maximum distance. You can put on a nylon jig, either white or yellow, for pompano and mackerel, or use a 1/4-ounce Got-cha jig because they are made out of steel and flash very well, making them a great favorite of Spanish mackerel.
This is the reason why you should have two different rods.
You want the one you can stick in pipe also called a sand spike, which is buried in sand with the 20-pound line that will allow you to sit there and wait until some unsuspecting fish bites. Something like a shark or tarpon or something large.
While you're waiting, you can use your smaller rod to walk up and down beach -- in view of your surfcasting rod -- and cast right in the surfline for mackerel, bluefish or snook, using a jig. Remember, Krocodile spoons and Diamond jigs work very well for these fish as well.
The same thing applies to being on the East Coast. The difference in most cases is that the East Coast will hold a different variety of fish. You'll probably have less pompano and more snook until water temps get a little cooler.
The point is, it's a great time of year to fish between the changing of wind directions. After a front goes through and the winds are out of the northeast or east and the East Coast beaches are a little rougher, the fish are still there making a living.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
This is the Time of the Year to Yell "Wahoo"
Winter is the ideal season to target these deepwater speedsters
Late November and into December is the time of year when the big wahoo tournaments really start to kick off. Most of these tournaments are being held in The Bahamas, but that doesn't mean that we anglers here in Florida are going to be shut out.
The thing you need to understand – whether you're fishing in Florida or The Bahamas – is that you need to be able to run to where the fish are. Wahoo migrate, moving up and down the banks and ridges of the Atlantic Ocean. The trick is finding which bank or ridge they may be on the morning you're out looking for them.
There are a couple things I can tell you – and I'm no expert when it comes to this type of fishing – that I've noticed when it comes to targeting wahoo.
Wind direction is important. If you go to Bimini and the wind is easterly or northeasterly, you might want to go north so you can fish downsea from the northeast to the southwest, or north to south, depending on which angle gives you the best opportunity for high-speed trolls.
I learned a lot of my wahoo trolling tactics from a very successful angler named Matty Tambor. The way he likes to go about his wahoo fishing is to use four rods and high speed troll with lures.
What Matty does is run a 30-foot leader with a leaded lure with a wire trace and heavy 300- to 400-pound swivels. Then he puts out cigar weights on each lure, varying the weights so the lures ran at different depths and distances from the boat.
The lure furthest from the boat, the left long, for example, would have an 8-ounce weight on it. The right long would be 50 feet closer to the boat and have maybe a 12-ounce weight on it. It would be the same lure as the left long, perhaps a black and purple or red and black colored lure.
The short left lure would have 1.5 pounds of weight on it, be 50 feet closer than the right long and have a different colored lure than the two long lines. The last line, the right short, would carry about 2 pounds of weight, be 50 feet closer than the left short and have the same color lure.
The whole idea between staggering your weights and distances when high speed trolling is to help when you make high speed turns. Sometimes those turns can be as fast as 15 knots and you don't want your lines getting tangled every time you do that.
Covering ground is the way to catch wahoo and the faster you're trolling, the better chance you have of covering more ground and enticing these speedy fish.
Another thing you want to remember is to use big hooks. I'm talking something in the range of 10/0 or 12/0.
Most of the times, when a wahoo strikes, he does it by coming from under the boat and hitting the lure going away. You've got to have significant drag on the line or they'll spool you in a matter of seconds. But, at the same time he hits, you have to be able to back down off the drag a little bit so you don't tear the hooks out of him because he's going one way and the boat is going another.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
Don't Let The North Wind Blow You Off The Water
These cooler breezes will cause fish to school in concentrations that make catchin' easy
Obviously, this is a time of the year when we get an occasional cold front sliding down to give us a wind direction change. That direction, more often than not, is from the north.
This north wind affects the fishing for several different reasons.
No. 1, when the wind goes out of the north in places like Flamingo and Port Charlotte, it has the tendency to blow all the water out and off the flats. What that means is the redfish, snook and trout are going to be concentrated in the channels and run-offs.
What this means is there are going to be concentrations of fish in these areas. If you're fishing on the West Coast, in the Port Charlotte area, look for big giant mullet (in the 2- to 3-pound range) sitting in bowls and depressions of places like Bull Bay, Turtle Bay, etc.
When you find those big mullet, it's really simple to get out and wade because of the hard bottom. Use something like a Rapala Twitching Raps in chartreuse. I like the olive and flash ones that look like the pilchards and mullet they're eating in and around.
Out front of the Flamingo area, you can fish the run-offs with jigs and soft plastics or a shrimp under a popping cork. To rig the shrimp, use a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce troll-rite under a popping cork so you can adjust for depth.
You can also use Berkley Gulp! and Bass Assassin Blurp soft plastics or trigger raps by Rapala. These all work very well.
Once you find the fish, no matter what the case is or what region you're in, you are probably going to find a significant concentration of them. Fish the place early so, when leave, you're sure it's done. It's not uncommon to have 100-fish days fishing like this because of the concentrations of fish.
The thing to remember is, before you leave to go to a new spot, make sure you fish the spot you're at thoroughly. If you catch a couple fish in one spot, put down your Power Pole or stake out and fan cast around area where you actually got the bite.
One of tricks I use when fishing channels or flats is, when I hook a fish, one of first things I do is look up on the shoreline and make a mental note of the general area from where that bite came.
It could be a notch in a tree line, a dead tree limb in the distance or something laying on the shore, just so I can have a general idea of the area and be able to line back up again. If I drift out of the area, I can simply come back to it.
The north wind will also will trigger a major trout bite as the trout will school up. Remember one of the elementary rules of thumb: When it's cold, fish gravitate to sandy areas like potholes and channels versus when it's warm and they go to the grass flats. If catching trout one day and a week later there was a warming trend, they've probably simply moved into the grass if the water's gotten hot.
-Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Captain Rick Murphy
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