Offshore and backcountry fishing in the Lower Keys

Winter Fishing Options

Winter fishing in the Keys brings a host of great opportunities along with some challenges. The level of fishing activity compared with the last few months will increase significantly. This is in part due to the cooler water temperatures which tend to concentrate fish into deeper, more stable waters.

When the winds are up—and that includes the majority of the time in the winter—those of us with more moderate sized boats will still be able to fish in the backcountry. There are plenty of channels and basins that are protected from, if not wind, at least high seas. Even the flats fishing can be very active in the winter. The passing of the cold fronts will tend to put many shallow water targeted fish into deeper temperature stable waters.

The fish that stick around on the flats tend to be very aggressive. Barracuda, jacks, ladyfish are great targets often springing while I am hoping for and targeting trout. When the wind is up and the temperature is down, we are never disappointed with the trash can slam of catfish, jack crevalle, and ladyfish.

Nearby the flats there is a fishery that has only begun to be truly appreciated. Basins with 6 to 10 feet of water are the perfect drift zones for jigs tipped with shrimp, either live or synthetic. My favorite are the Gulp! shrimp, either white or new penny color. They are durable and effective. Even when the tail gets bitten off, you can still use it until it just gets too short. You will probably be able to figure out when that is.

I like to drift in six to ten feet of water when I jig. When you find a channel or basin that you want to fish, just motor upwind until it gets just a bit shallower than six feet and drift. When you reach the opposite side of the basin or channel, retrieve and motor back to the opposite side. If you happen onto a day with little or no wind, you can still cast and retrieve your jig. The key is to keep your jig near the bottom and out of the snags on the bottom. Adjust the weight of the jig head until you get the best combination of sink rate and jigging motion.

I like to jig with a cadence of what I call a strike to give it rest. I repeat that pattern and when something big enough to get the bait into its mouth hits you will know it. The list of fish that are likely to be caught this way is huge and often surprising. While I am hoping for and targeting trout, we are never disappointed when we get keeper snapper, the occasional redfish, cero or Spanish mackerel. We even have fun with the trash can slam. This is when you get at least one each of catfish, jack crevalle, and ladyfish. Even the ladyfish are useful—besides putting on an impressive aerial display, they also make for a great cut bait for reef fish or if you want to tackle a shark while you are in the backcountry. I also like to use my GPS to plot where the trout strike.

After setting many strike points, you will soon get an idea where the trout are concentrated. You can return to that spot when you set up a new drift. One other way to zero in on a possible trout area is to look for mullet muds. When a school of mullet feed they stir up a mud cloud that shows up as a whitish cloudy area. Work the edges of the muds to get the most strikes from trout. Ladyfish tend to concentrate more into the center of the mud. With this kind of variety, it is not hard to keep a fishing ADD-afflicted angler pretty busy.