Ft. Myers Fishing Adventures
Capt. Joe Greco
While January can often throw some wicked cold fronts our way, we historically have some excellent days on the water at this time of year. Although some species - such as Snook- definitely like warmer water temperatures, many other inshore and offshore species still feed rather aggressively at this time of year.
During the winter months we tend to focus on targeting fish that aren’t so temperature sensitive and also take advantage of species that actually turn on when the mercury plummets.
As a full time charter captain fishing six days a week, (I take Sundays off,) 34-years at this game has taught me one thing… people just want to catch fish and have fun while on the water. Keeping in mind that it is all about having fun, size of the fish seldom matters, nor does the species that we target, as l long as the rods are bending.
January and February are two of our favorite months to target Sheepshead as - like clock work- they “show up” in pretty big numbers this time of year. Near shore reefs are usually loaded up with our cooler waters, as are most areas with rocks and docks.
We target Sheepshead frequently in January as they are a blast to catch and taste GREAT. Our preferred set up is a number-2 Owner Mutu Light circle hook dressed with a piece of shrimp (or a whole small shrimp,) with just enough weight to get our presentation down near the structure that we are on.
Seatrout are another species that definitely do not shut down when waters cool, but rather simply change their daily routine, usually gravitating to deeper water on the edge of grass flats during the winter months.
We particularly like targeting sheepies on nearshore reefs as - in addition to pulling nice Sheepshead over the rail , we routinely hook into other larger targets such as Cobia during the winter months. As a general rule of thumb, when the tide is ripping offshore, we see a great Cobia bottom bite and when the tide is slack or trickling, KEEP AN EYE ON THE SURFACE.
The pics accompanying this article are two stud Cobia that were boated by a husband/wife team on a charter during the first week of January in recent years. The tide was slow and a school of Cobia came cruising by off the port side of our boat. I threw a buck tail jig at the “pack” and immediately hooked up. While bringing this brute in, we pitched out a free-lined pinfish and slammed a second Cobia.
When running offshore we ALWAYS have a spinning rod pre-rigged with a 2-oz bucktail jig ready to throw at cobia when they cruise by. We have caught many big Cobia in this manner over the years.
A chum bag is an absolute NECESSITY while fishing offshore, as I can’t tell you how many times we smashed big numbers of keeper Mangrove Snapper in our chum line while fishing bottom.
We have also had trips wherein we looked at our chum line and we saw a lot of Sheepshead in our chum line. One trip last January we were on a near shore reef and we were pitching very small shrimp to Sheepshead in our chum line, resulting in my crew putting over 25 slobs in the box.
In addition to Sheepshead, Cobia and snappers, there are usually some “resident” Kingfish around during the winter months. Every year is a bit different relative to numbers, but we always pull a few nice kings over the rail even during the winter months. While many feel all of the kings migrate further south during the winter, we continue two target them all winter and hammer a few nice ones each year when most fish have -in fact- moved south.
Again, chumming is the key to getting these magnificent fish within striking distance, so be sure to bring a lot of chum while on these spots.
Kings tend to frequent the same areas year after year. In addition to anchoring and chumming Kingfish in, we frequently troll for them with great results. I have a few clients that LOVE to target Kingfish so, if they are our primary target for the day, we frequently run our trolling program.
For years we have ran two very portable gunnel mount downriggers that are DEADLY when chasing smoker kings. We recently upgraded to new Scotty manual downriggers with an extendable 4ft boom. We have ran electric downriggers in years past and LOVE our manual riggers, largely due to their ease of set up and portability. If you have any question on how to set up downriggers on your boat our how to run them, feel free to drop me an e-mail and I will be happy to point you in the right direction.
So when the wind starts howling this winter and surface temperatures take a dive, instead of complaining and getting discouraged, wait for a nice weather window and get out and GO FISHING!
You can rest assured that the fish are still there and once you figure their winter patterns out a little more, your drags will be screaming in no time time !
Tight Lines and Happy New Year!
Capt. Joe Greco
