Secrets to Catching Inshore Fish After Cold Fronts

Valuable clues to figuring out the winter water temp puzzle.

December 17, 2025 By Chris Duerksen

Some years between late December and the end of January, Florida gets a real dose of cold. Even as far down as the Everglades, where I primarily fish, air temperatures may plummet into the low 40s for several nights in a row. That can push water temps into the 50s, which has dramatic impacts on many coastal species. On one trip after a December cold snap a few years back, I saw thousands of Oscars and Mayan cichlids killed on the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve’s East River. The piles of dead fish made for vulture heaven. I saw only a couple of dead baby tarpon and no snook, but friends reported seeing dead sportfish in the backcountry. Some fish had the luxury of retreating into the deeper waters of the Gulf during the frigid weather, but in the Everglades backcountry, the story was different.

In the days and weeks that followed the cold spell, I was surprised to find that a temperature difference of five degrees between 60 and 65, or 65 and 70, in locations not far from one another made a big difference, making fishing a real challenge. The problem was that the temperatures at my launch in Chokoloskee were usually warmer than in the backcountry, which made predicting where to go a crapshoot—or even whether I should venture out at all.

Here is an example of the conundrum I was grappling with. In early January, my fishing buddy Steve Keeble drove down from Georgia to chase some snook. The water temperature in Chokoloskee Bay was pushing 70 degrees, so things looked good when we plotted our backcountry trip, within the comfort range for snook and redfish according to a handy-dandy temperature table I had cobbled together based on some online research.

But when we motored into the backcountry in my Gheenoe, we were skunked with nary a bite in one tidal creek where the water temperature was 65 degrees. I was ready to give up but decided to try another nearby creek, and there we found hungry fish, including a big snook that Keeble adroitly landed after some mangrove mayhem—despite the water temperature being just over 60.

The difference, we concluded, was depth. The first creek was only three feet deep in a few places, while the second one we fished had narrower channels where the depth was four to five feet. This gave the fish a sanctuary to retreat to during the cold snap. Now the puzzle was how to predict water temperatures in the backcountry more accurately before I headed out.

A few weeks later Keeble, back north freezing his derrière off, sent me an email that clued me in on a valuable tool that has helped me gain some insights into the water temperature conundrum. The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) can be found at www.ndbc.noaa.gov. A part of NOAA (the federal National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration), NDBC maintains hundreds of meteorological and oceanographic measurement stations around the United States. There are four information-gathering sites near Everglades City within Everglades National Park. They are: 1) CNBFI-Cannon Bay, (2) LMRFI—Lostmans, (3)WLFI—Watson’s Place, and (4) WIWFI—Willy Willy. The Willy Willy site is particularly relevant for my backcountry peregrinations because it is farther away from the waters of the Gulf than the other three and located in a tidal creek rather than a wide tidal river or big bay—not a foolproof indicator by any means, but certainly better than flying blind.

screenshot-2025-10-17-at-90823-am — Screenshot of NOAA NDBC site with icons for sensing stations in South Florida.

screenshot-2025-10-17-at-90849-am — Willy Willy NDBC weather and water temp sensing station, in Florida Everglades.

Now, before any trip into the Everglades backcountry, I open the NDBC web page, click on the four sites, and get the inside skinny on water temperatures and other data. When I get to the areas in my boat, I check the water temperature and depth displays carefully on my Garmin Echomap to home in on the most likely spots. On my kayak, I go more rudimentary, dropping a thermometer overboard on a 6-foot cord. I also extend my collapsible paddle to full length to determine the depth.

Temperature is also one of the most important factors in freshwater lakes in the Everglades for tracking down bass and cichlids. One fall kayak outing to my favorite freshwater lakes in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park underscored that point. I usually can count on catching a half dozen or more cichlids for every bass brought to the boat. But that day after an hour of casting, the ratio was just the opposite. I lowered the thermometer into the water. It registered a cool 70 degrees in the wake of a cold front that had passed through a couple of days ago. The bass were there, fat and sassy and ready to feast.

Everywhere I went I could see them cruising the shallows near the shorelines. But the cichlids were AWOL! I managed to catch a few big oscars, but that was it. However, by afternoon the water had warmed to 75 and the action for them heated up a bit.

I now assiduously record temperature information in the journal I maintain for every fishing trip. Having this information often leads me into the likely areas without a lot of fruitless experimenting by hopping from place-to-place.

Things are different during the summer when the shallow backcountry waters heat up rapidly, exceeding the upper comfort limits of many sportfish. It is then the most likely fishing spots will be closer to the cooler waters of the Gulf. The process of checking the NDBC site will be the same. Of course, all the other variables—tides, wind, currents, moon phase, etc.—have to be factored into the equation... but that’s one of the things that makes fishing such fun and provides anglers with ample excuses to get out on the water and figure it all out.