Brrreak out the woolies and the waders and let’s go fishing. Anglers up for the chilling West Central Florida winter challenge can make hay while the sun shines during frigid February—providing you’re willing to target what’s biting. Warming trends several days after cold fronts generally trigger a bite.

Whitney Ewing wrestled this redfish from the Manatee River.

Blue water will be less affected by quick changes of weather since depth adds an insulation factor. Prolonged cold pushes grouper, snapper and other gamefish out to depths within their comfort zones. The severity and duration of cold fronts will be the prime indicators of where you’ll find fish this month.

If the chill of winter has you down and it’s the burn you long to feel, head for the offshore springs southwest of Pinellas in the 100- to 150-foot range. They will likely hold numbers of muscle-busting amberjacks that will have you looking for the liniment after a day of dropping blue runners to them.

Some of the most consistent fishing should be in areas such as the Middle Ground and the Elbow. These deep depths house huge snapper and keeper gag grouper. Frozen Spanish sardines, squid, cigar minnows and a well full of live blue runners and a few pinfish should be enough to inspire fish with finicky appetites. These drops may be beyond the capabilities of many vessels, but a number of partyboats from Sarasota to Tarpon Springs venture out to these spots on a regular basis.

Nearshore waters are productive for gag grouper this month. Veteran skippers like Capt. Dave Zalewski of the Lucky Too out of Madeira Beach work a stretch of hard bottom in 25 to 40 feet of water that extends from north of John’s Pass south to the Egmont Ship Channel for gags. At each stop, Zalewski spends 15 to 20 minutes to see if the gags fire up. If he doesn’t get any takers, it’s on to the next stop. Zalewski’s formula for success starts with anchoring up over prime bottom with a show of fish on the recorder. His go-to bait for winter gags is a combination of a frozen Spanish sardine tipped with a chunk of squid. It’s the “stink factor” that gets fish feeding. Not only do grouper home in on the stinky stuff, bull redfish have been known to pick up on the scent trail. Zalewski says, “We’ve been out bottom dropping on gags when schools of bull reds move in. They stay from a day to as long as a month in these waters.” Don’t put away your grouper rigs when you hear redfish either, we’re talking about 30-plus-pound monsters that can rail you.

Silver trout work the same hard bottom from Redington Long Pier north to Clearwater. Clouds of fish often show on the recorder just off the beaches. Live or cut shrimp dropped to bottom on a No. 1 hook with just enough weight to get the bait down is the ticket. Plastic jigs rigged in tandem and sweetened with a tidbit of fresh shrimp are also rarely refused. These scrappy line stretchers pull with the ferocity of much larger fish and there is no closed season, bag or size limit. Take only what you need for a few meals, as silvers do not freeze well.

Spotted seatrout season north of Fred Howard Park closes February 1 and reopens March 1. South Region anglers will find excellent action on specks in deep holes on the flats and in channels. A warm day will push specks up on the flats to feed. Work small topwater lures slowly to entice some big fish. You’ll find trout on the edges of most grassflats from Sarasota to Hudson, or wherever there is a combination of sandy holes, turtlegrass and moving water from three to six feet in depth.