Anglers delight in winter disconnect this year

While the calendar may be saying February, anglers and captains are fishing like it’s March or April. Or in the case of Capt. Justin Moore, he’s fishing like it’s 1999.

“The first two years I was guiding were in 1999 and 2000, and we caught bait all winter long. We’ve been able to do that this year as well,” Moore said. “It never got cold enough to slow the fishing down. We needed it. The snook are finally back and nobody wanted another freeze.”

Variety has been the game for Capt. Moore and other anglers fishing inside the bay and near shore rock piles.

Sheepshead are spawning, pompano are in the passes, snapper and hogfish are on slightly deeper ledges while snook, redfish and trout are still biting on the flats when the weather warms.

With all the options, Moore finds himself catching a bit of everything but he does have a favorite.

“I love doing the winter stuff, targeting sheepshead and snapper on the reefs. Shrimp on a knocker rig with the weight sliding down to the hook. If you catch one sheepshead, four or five are following them up. Any nearshore structure with current is covered.

“You can go fish in the bay, but it’s so much fun when you can go out and get hogfish and sheepshead.”

This season’s warm water isn’t because of a lack of cold fronts, but their lack of staying power for more than a day or two. This quick up-and-down pattern means a cold day or two behind a front. By day three, the winds switch back to the east and the sun is out heating the water for great days and hungry fish.

For instance, last week we had a decent cold front. Thursday was briefly cold as a front went through, and a few hours of strong northwest wind came through with it. Moore was back out on Friday, and his clients were rewarded with 73 fish mixed between snook, trout, redfish, sheepshead, mangrove snapper and more fishing shrimp on the flats.

Over the week ahead, it looks like a very similar pattern as the past month. A front should be coming through early Thursday with a cool down Thursday and Friday before the winds switch back to the east for the weekend. February fishing will stay hot, so don’t delay on getting out.

If you’re looking for hot fishing, the Moore family is some of Bradenton’s best. Capt. Justin Moore can reached at 941-720-6408, while cousin Capt. Carson Wooten can be reached at 941-447-1063.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Anglers delight in winter disconnect this year."