Contributing Writer
Capt. Mike Bartlett
Key West Fishing Charters
Well the cold weaACther I was hoping for showed up in a big way the last several weeks, maybe a little too cold for my liking. I know it was cold everywhere with ice and snow in places one may see wintery weather a few times during their life.
Down here in the Lower Keys it was frigid. We had three days we didn’t get above 60, that’s cold as hell for us, we prefer 80! And for the better part of two weeks we didn’t get out of the 60’s. Top that cold air off with some ripping winds out of the north and it was feeling like temperatures were in the 40’s.
I fished in the Cuda Bowl last month and had to basically wear every stitch of clothing I own to stay warm. I saw water temperatures as low as 56 degrees and heard from another guide he had a 51 degree reading in the lakes earlier that week.
Water that cold down here fortunately is not a death sentence for fish like it can be around the southern tip of Florida and the Upper Keys. I did see a couple small cudas and snappers floating around and heard the same from a fe other guides, which is expected with extreme weather like that.
We are surrounded by deep water, so most of the things that live in the shallows were able to get out of dodge until the world started warming back up.
Strangely enough, following those last few really strong cold fronts and Arctic vortexes (vortices?), the weather was absolutely beautiful. Light wind and sunny following a cold front is not normal.
The wind usually rips 20-30 for a few days but so far, not this winter. One or two days tops and it lays back down to under 10. This really helped our water warm up quickly and the bonefish and big barracudas are back on the flats like nothing ever happened.
As painful as it was to fish a tournament in that cold water, we did get a few nice barracudas on the second day. And the days following the fishing kept getting better and better. I’m now finding wolf packs of barracudas that have been super aggressive, schools of bonefish, a few permit and plenty of sharks on the flats. The jacks have been plentiful in the channels around the flats and I even saw two cobias so far. Life on the flats and in the back-country is getting back to the way it used to be.
I am very optimistic about fishing this spring. We should have a strong tarpon season this year. When it starts, we’ll find out, but when it does i think it’s gonna be one we will be talking about for years to come, hopefully!
I still think this is gonna be a great year for permit. We have had several years where they were just hard to come by and last year was one the best for me in some time. With the trend ticking up and a really cold winter, I’m convinced it’s gonna be awesome. In reality, only time will tell and I may be very wrong, but I’m betting on it. If I am wrong, we’ll still have fun fishing for the other things on the flats.
Well stay warm out there, winter is not quite over yet. Soon the days will be long and warm and filled with happy fish.
Capt. Mike Bartlett
