February fishing is about bottom fishing. This is certainly true offshore, but it also holds true for Ten Thousand Islands backwaters. You can walk-the-dog with your trusty Zara Spook or Top Dog all day long, but the best rig this month is still a shrimp on the bottom.

Drum are known shrimp lovers. Chuck Loescher found this fish near Rock Hole Key.

Shrimp, however, are not as cheap as they once were. If there is any doubt about inflation, just check the price of shrimp. Many marinas now charge $3 per dozen and you can expect that price to go up this year. I just hope that the fish appreciate how much we fishermen are spending on them. They are eating in style! It probably costs me more to feed the local trout population than it does my family.

With live shrimp prices so high, many anglers have switched to cutbait. Even some backwater guides are using cut sardines rather than the ever-reliable shrimp.

Whatever your choice of baits, the top places to fish in February are the holes and troughs, especially where there is hard bottom or oysters. A host of predators typically fill these holes, and they all will take a shrimp or slow-moving jig tipped with shrimp. Sheepshead, snapper and black drum are the most common catches, but more prestigious fish such as redfish, grouper and snook also winter in these deeper areas. Of course, jacks and ladyfish are everywhere in the Ten Thousand Islands. At times, there are so many jacks and ladies that no other fish have a chance to sniff your bait. To hook anything else, you simply have to move.

If you fish south of Goodland, there are so many holes and deep areas that it is difficult to choose where to fish. Trial and error is always the best teacher, but certain characteristics will help you identify productive waters. Narrow cuts between bays are often good. Always fish an eddy, where the current doubles back upon itself. Dropoffs next to an oyster bar almost always hold sheepshead, and downed trees are good habitat for grouper and snook.

Often, the best fishing holes are not so obvious. Take, for example, a simple undercut bank or oyster bar protruding out into a channel. These can be extremely fishy. You’ll just need to fish them to know them.

Certain locations are popular simply because of natural structure. Fakahatchee Bay is covered with oyster bars, and there are numerous holes and limestone outcroppings where the cuts run into the bay. Chokoloskee Bay is one mass of oysters with some grass and rocky areas on the west side of the bay. This area is tricky, but those who know how to fish here do very well.

The entrance to Lostmans River is a maze of oysters and holes, and once inside, there are deep, rocky holes. The banks in this area are also fishy, and if the weather is good, the outside points all along the coast usually hold fish at the top of the incoming tide.

Farther north around Naples, anglers often move just offshore to fish rocky outcrops and ledges that hold sheepshead, snapper, grouper and the occasional cobia. If you venture just a little farther out to the artificial reefs, you’ll tug on more sheepshead and grouper, plus triggerfish, lane snapper and Spanish mackerel.

All in all, this is a fairly good, action-packed fishery, all based around soaking shrimp on the bottom—if you can afford them.

Many local offshore boats specialize in grouper fishing, and February is a tough month for them. Large red grouper move well offshore into 80 feet of water or more, and the big gags are all out spawning or were caught in the fall. Most boats revert to snapper fishing, which is actually quite good. Lane snapper gather over hard bottom outside of the 10-mile mark, and although these fish are not huge, they are certainly good eating.