Three very consistent artificials.

Running off to join the circus” has a different meaning in Levy and Citrus County households during the coldest winter months. Those fleeing are not packing their possessions in a hobo kit and they don’t have Ringling Brothers in mind. No sir. They’re towing their boats to Yankeetown or Crystal River and thinking about fishing. Fishing in warm water, that is, the hot water discharge at the Crystal River Energy Complex. That’s the spot known locally as “the circus,” one of the busiest cold-weather spots on the Big Bend.

Progress Energy’s Crystal River site is comprised of five power plants, one nuclear and the other four fueled by coal. And no, to answer that first common question, the fish taken there don’t glow or have Godzilla-like mutations! In terms of fishing, though, three of the plants use re-circulating cooling systems that take in and eject huge volumes of seawater, to condense the pressurized steam produced. The water is taken into the cooling systems from Crystal Bay, just south of the spoil banks created during the construction of the intake and shipping channel, at ambient temperature. After use by the plants, during which it is heated significantly, the water is pumped out into the southern end of Withlacoochee Bay.

One byproduct of the plants is millions of gallons of warm water. That’s not a big news item during summer, when local seawater is in the upper 80s and plenty of fish are scattered across the area. However, when Gulf temperatures drop into the 50s and there’s no hope of warmer days in the near future, that warm discharge really attracts fish.

The actual discharge is far up inside a canal. In recent years, due to security issues, Progress Energy has closed the eastern end of the discharge to boaters and fishermen, making the water in the western quarter-mile the warmest fishing spot. A string of rigid buoys blocks the mouth of the canal, allowing boats no farther. Discharge water is certainly warmer upstream from the buoys, but that doesn’t stop fish from moving up and down the canal. Some anglers even feel the water is almost too hot closer to the plant, such as the buoy line, and it’s better to fish farther away from the buoys. Whatever the mechanics of the situation, this place is a haven for all sorts of fish that mostly seek the warm water and the bait hanging around there.

The actual area known to locals as the circus isn’t really very big, thus its name when 25 or so boats are “camped out” there on busy days. From the buoy line marking the restricted area to the end of the jetty at Rocky Point is only a mile and the channel is about 75 feet wide. That’s not much water when a number of boats are arriving, departing, trolling, drifting or anchoring. Lots of action can mean confusion.

Fishing here is a cold-weather game. Cool is good, but bitter cold is better. The best time to fish the hot-water discharge is after a big cold front passes, during the bluebird days that follow. It’s even better to catch an extreme low tide that happens an hour after sunup, and fish a couple of hours on either side. You’ll be miserable getting there, but you’ll warm up quickly as the radiant heat from the hot water warms your boat and the fishing keeps you active.

February is catch-and-release only for spotted seatrout in this part of the state.

While finding a spot to fish in the discharge channel may be difficult, the actual fishing is easy, the perfect place to take out-of-town holiday guests. The most popular rig is a 3⁄8-ounce jighead adorned with a live shrimp fished slowly across the bottom of the canal. Many anglers prefer to break the tail off the bait and thread the hook from back to front. The broken tail supposedly puts a bit more scent into the water and the backwards rigging makes the retrieve more lifelike. Other popular baits are natural-looking jigs or grubs, and many fishermen tip their standard flats jigs with shrimp pieces or artificial flavoring.