Redfish caught by the writer in more typical tide and weather conditions. This is when covering water quickly on a trolling motor and hitting points and coves with soft baits can really pay off.
February 05, 2025
By John Skinner
I looked at the canal at first light and was greeted by a common winter sight: two feet of exposed mud bank where there is usually green vegetation. It looked like someone pulled the plug and let out all of the water.
A nearly new moon was responsible for the astronomical component of the unusually low tide, but the stiff northeast wind was an even bigger factor. It had been blowing northeast all night, pushing water out Pine Island Sound and its associated bays, creeks and canals.
My powerboat would stay on its lift this day, as would nearly every other boat in the area. Conditions like these are tailor-made for kayaks and microskiffs which can get to the pockets and potholes where snook and other fish congregate on the lowest winter tides. Not only do such areas hold the depth these fish prefer, but they’re also liable to hold slightly warmer water. Having fish concentrated in water that’s warmer than its surroundings can set the stage for exceptional fishing.
Laid-up snook are spooky, but if you can stay quiet and observant, as the writer does on his kayak, you can hook up. Timing the Bite A popular approach to fishing cold winter days on Florida shallows is to head out later in the day after the sun has warmed the waters. With a late-afternoon high tide, the “right thing” to do would be to head out at noon and fish waters flowing in over shallows that have been warming in the strong sunshine.
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That is a great approach, but an early morning launch offers an equally good opportunity—and one that most Florida anglers either ignore or can’t access without a kayak or shallow-draft skiff. Don’t underestimate the advantage of having your lure be the first of the day that a big snook sees, especially when that lure is swimming through undisturbed water that hasn’t yet suffered the impacts of noisy boats going by.
Depending on where you launch, you may not have far to go to find good fishing at the crack of dawn on a cold morning. Cement-lined residential canals fed by mangrove-lined creeks are often places of refuge for snook and other gamefish fleeing cold and windswept shallows. The deeper water acts as a buffer to cold nighttime air temperatures, and the cement seawalls do a good job of holding warmth absorbed by a previous sunny afternoon. These canals can be unproductive and difficult to fish due to boat traffic on a normal day, but most are dead-quiet early on a cold winter morning.
Deep natural backwater channels and bays are another good bet. “Deep” is relative here, as anything deeper than three feet offers fish an escape from expansive flats where shore birds are often seen walking in inches of water. These deeper areas stick out easily with satellite imagery applications, such as Google Earth. Some are miles from convenient launches and difficult to access on exceptionally low tides, but you can get at them with a kayak or an ultra-shallow draft skiff.
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Keep in mind that fish often hold out away from mangrove shorelines on these low tides. On higher tides the fish swim way up under the roots forcing difficult pinpoint casting.
A soft-plastic fluke earned a bite from a nice snook on a cool low tide morning. Topwaters in the Cold? Definitely! What lure you should throw for this fishing depends on the water temperature and recent weather history.
Fishing topwater for snook at sunrise on a 40-something-degree morning goes against pretty much everything I’ve read and have been told about snook fishing, but trust me, it works. I prefer a 4-inch Rebel Jumpin Minnow . The Heddon Super Spook Jr and many other lures like it are fine, too. I use the Rebel Jumpin Minnow because these cold fronts are accompanied by strong winds that put little wavelets on even the sheltered waters, and I find the Rebel handles these conditions better on a walk-the-dog retrieve. I fish chrome topwater plugs most of the time, but tan and gold colors work great, too.
One reason why plugs may work in the winter pockets is, snook aren’t the only things fleeing the cold. In the areas where I catch big snook in the cold I often see larger baits scatter when my plug hits the water. Topwater plugs offer snook a similar-sized nice meal at a time when nature warns them of adversity ahead. The nice thing about fishing topwater is that the fish will often make themselves known even if they don’t eat. This can help you find them and give you confidence that they’re in the area.
Cold-wether soft-plastic lures for winter fishing. If you’re seeing boils and swirls behind your plug, but they’re not hitting, then it’s time to try a jig and soft-plastic combination. Try something like a 4- or 5-inch Z-Man MinnowZ on a ¼- to 3⁄8-ounce jig head. I’m a fan of the Redfish Magic jig heads because of the size and strength of their hooks, but there are plenty of other choices out there. Another good combination is the 3-inch MinnowZ on a ¼-ounce Z-Man Trout Eye jig head . I like the Z-Man soft plastics for their life-like action, but I find it necessary to super glue the body to the jig to keep fish from pulling it down. Once you do this, however, you can catch dozens of fish on a lure without having to change or fix anything. There’s no need to have a lot of colors. Tan lures work well in these waters. I do fine on the Z-Man Houdini color, but any natural color with some contrast should be fine.
Cast these lures to the bank and let them settle to the bottom while watching your line carefully. As soon as you detect the collision of the jig with the bottom, give the rod a sharp twitch and allow it to settle again, because the twitch moved it off the bank and likely into deeper water. Then use a slow to moderate retrieve with occasional twitches. Most of the hits will come within seconds of the lure hitting the water. If you’re not catching on topwater lures or jig and soft plastic combos, then it’s possible you’re not where the fish are and it’s time to move on.
In addition to looking for mangrove pockets and points washed by current, keep an eye out for back eddies. These offer fish easy ambush areas where they don’t have to expend as much energy as they would in the main current. One of my most dependable cold water big snook spots is a 30-foot stretch of shoreline where the current flows opposite of the main channel. The fish are often stacked there while nearby shorelines in the main flow are lifeless.
Don’t get too hung up on sunny versus shaded shorelines. It’s logical to fish sunny water in cold weather, but there are other factors related to current, depth and structure that might outweigh the sunshine advantage. To some extent, the same goes for automatically choosing sheltered waters over those exposed to the wind. This is sometimes a mistake. Wind moves water, and windy points should never be overlooked when snook fishing.
Southwest Florida flats during midwinter can be productive. Back to the Flats Most days, once you’re a couple of hours past sunrise, the sun will start working its magic on the shallows. You can leverage this by focusing on shallow areas where the deeper water drains. These areas have the advantage of relatively warm water flowing from deeper channels combined with the added warmth of sunshine. We’re talking areas of roughly 6 to 18 inches of water, so stealth is critical, and you’ll have to adjust lure offerings accordingly. That topwater lure that might work up against a mangrove bank will spook fish off the flat as it touches down, and the jig that might have worked in a channel or canal will simply drag bottom here. This is a place to break out your jerk shads and artificial shrimp lures.
A 5-inch Gulp! Jerk Shad on an Owner 3/0, 1⁄16-ounce swimbait hook is a good choice. It has good action, excellent hook-up percentages, and has the added advantage of Gulp! scent . The scent is a big plus when redfish and spotted seatrout are in the area, which is often the case. Twitch this lure erratically on a slow retrieve. Don’t hesitate to play with the retrieve by stopping and restarting it. The sunning snook are rarely aggressive, but an easy meal that looks like it’s trying to dart away will sometimes trigger a hit.
When the fish are downright sluggish from the cold, try something like a 3 ¼-inch Vudu Shrimp or 3-inch Savage Gear Manic Shrimp . Let it settle and give periodic twitches along the bottom while picking up the slack. Imagine what a real shrimp hopping along the bottom might look like, and you’ll get the idea.
Seven-foot medium power spinning rods paired with your favorite 2000 or 3000 size reels spooled with 20-pound-test braid work fine for this fishing. I use a 40-pound-test fluorocarbon leader with a loop knot to connect the lures. If you’re in an area where redfish are the predominant catch, drop down to a 30-pound-test leader. This will work better on the more line-shy redfish while still giving you a good shot at landing a large snook. As always with snook, check your leader after every fish, as they are very tough on leaders.
While the early morning cold-weather play has paid off for me, it has its limitations. Having three consecutive cold mornings might shut down the bite.
If you want an insurance policy against the possibility that the water is too cold and nothing wants to eat, consider bringing along a couple of dozen fiddler crabs and some 1⁄8- and ¼-ounce snapper jigs. Toss these jig-and-crab combos under docks and along mangrove roots and hold on, as cold winter waters are prime for big, tasty sheepshead.
Florida cold fronts are usually short-lived and followed by warmer, sunny weather. The warmups are great times to fish, but I’ve found it’s a mistake to overlook the days where jeans and a sweat jacket replace my usual flats clothes. If “too cold” and/or “too low” has been your reaction to the first glance at a winter morning, consider bundling up and proceeding to the backwaters.
You might find yourself looking forward to conditions you once despised.
This article was featured in the February 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe .
