Snow in Florida? That could cause trouble for Manatee County snook, angler says

February snow… in Florida?

It’s now been 16 years since a cold snap in 2010 killed a large amount of Florida snook. In January of that year, a high of 58 on Jan. 2 was the warmest temperature until Jan. 12, when a high of 60 degrees was all that would be seen in Tampa.

Over that timeframe, four nights in the 20s were recorded, while six more were in the 30s. It was the coldest I can remember in my lifetime as a Florida resident and one of the few points in my life I had to deal with de-icing my truck multiple times.

Back then, the amount of killed fish was high. Snook were especially hit hard. The cold sent water temperatures in Tampa Bay into the 50s for weeks and snook go lethargic when water temperatures get into the 50s.

Water temperatures in the low 50s, which was sustained for a week in 2010, is usually more than they can handle, ultimately resulting in death. All around the bay, out to Anna Maria sound and south into Sarasota Bay there were pictures of snook floating.

Since then, we’ve been fortunate. A few small spells of cold weather have hit Florida with one spell in 2024 killing a few isolated groups of fish. They’ve come and gone quickly, not sustaining like the cold in 2010.

As a result of the many years with warm winters and strict regulations, snook populations are very high, and every year the average size seems to get a little bigger.

Over the next week, we’re looking at cold temperatures with water temperatures that are already low. The St. Petersburg weather station has water temps hovering in the low 60s with Port Manatee reporting the same. The coldest weather could come blasting across Florida in early February, which may cause some damage to the fish if we don’t get any warm days between now and then.

But snook are resilient. With steady cold temperatures, most are instinctually heading for warmer waters. Up rivers, springs, and power plants provide waters that stay warmer during cold snaps.

The fish that end up in trouble are the ones that herd into canals where the sun warms muddy bottoms during the day, but on cold nights they struggle to maintain heat in shallow. Some divers even see schools of snook offshore in the winter where deep water stays much warmer than any flats or shallow water.

I used to enjoy fishing some deepwater canals for snook in the winter time, walking docks with large shrimp under my feet. On the coldest nights, those early morning hours produced good fish. But I wouldn’t do it now, mainly because my younger self was able to handle the overnight hours and cold much better.

Multiple days not reaching 60-degrees highs will no doubt make snook lethargic, and if extended, some kills will happen. The hope is that there is nothing extended like we saw in 2010, as the fishery has come such a long way since then.