Swim baits, top water and paddle tails all work. Light tackle should be used to enjoy the catches of both small and bigger trout. Wherever they have been for the past few months are beyond me but seem to come out in 3 to 5 ft. When using spoons, be sure to use a swivel to prevent line twisting.įebruary is also the transition month for bigger seatrouts to inhabit the grass flats. These fish like white baits (pilchards) or silver spoons that resemble them. They are toothy critters and require heavy monofilament (40l-50lbs.) or light wire leaders to prevent bite offs. Live and artificial presentations all work for these fast moving, aggressive, ‘darting’ fish. They will be found in areas where birds are diving, in the passes and flats throughout Pine Island Sound, Charlotte Harbor and off the outer islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Spanish mackerel is another bonus during the month of February. Small #1 or #2 bait hooks with a small pinch weight to get the presentation down to the seabed. I chum the heads of the shrimp to incite more bites while using the tails to catch them. Fiddler crabs are the choice bait for most ‘old timers’, but crabs can be hard to find. My bait of choice for sheepshead is small shrimps. Any of these events triggers the time to remove some of the slack in the line and set the hook. They will pick up the bait and swim away to the left or right of the initial presentation. Light ‘tugs’ or gentle ‘pulls’ are sheepshead. When either of these fish are biting, odds are the sheepshead are not eating or are not at that location. Hard hits or redundant nibbling are small mangrove snappers or pinfish. Recognizing a sheepshead bite from another species is the ‘key’ to understanding how and when to set the hook. Conversely, when the larger sheepshead bite is on, the smaller ones get out of the way. When the small Sheepshead are eating, the big ones won’t. Anglers targeting these fish need only to realize that it is during the feeding phase, that they will basically ‘hook’ themselves, with just a little ‘angler’ patience, by not trying to set the hook too quickly. When they go into a feeding mode, they are very easy to catch. However, when they feed, they can be very aggressive. Just like any other species, they do not eat ‘non-stop’. Sheepshead are not difficult to catch when the ‘bite is on’, as mentioned above. Like always, the larger Sheepshead should be feeding and spawning around the aforementioned areas during the cooler water temperatures of February. Like most all species, when the tides have sufficient current, either incoming or outgoing, to change water levels and move bait fishes they are more active and easier to catch. Fish for them where and when there is current flow. They will be found throughout Pine Island Sound along seawalls, ‘piles’, mangroves and oyster beds. Rumored to be difficult to catch, they also provide some of the best ‘action’ on light tackle, not to mention the tasty morsels. This year sheepshead will be the fish of choice as always, especially since the winter season (as we Floridians know it) didn’t exist during the months of December or January, nor did the sheepshead. February is the month before the ‘winds of March’ begin to intimidate professional and recreational anglers alike. It is the month that allows anglers to target migratory species such as, spanish mackerel, cobia, permit, snappers and groupers, both inshore and offshore. I always welcome the month of February, as it basically is a month that ‘anything goes’ in regard to inshore and offshore fishing.
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