Captain Zach's Manatee Fishing Report, December 7

CORTEZ – It looks like hibernation time is on tap for a little bit. A good time to work on the boat, tackle, and maybe do a little Christmas shopping. The fronts are coming hard and fast now and a solid winter pattern is upon us. It' s a good thing in the long run that our winter weather comes early. With some luck, mother nature will bring us an early spring.

Mullet madness is under way. The majority of boats on the water right now are mullet netters and each successive front will bring on more until the first of the year. For those of you willing to brave the wind and cold, there are plenty of fish out there to be found.

The pelagic action in Tampa Bay and the nearshore Gulf waters has been slowly waning over the past several weeks. The arctic front coming in will pretty much put the kibosh on what has been a banner fall run on the suncoast. Savvy anglers hereabouts will certainly take advantage of the prettier days to get their fix of rod bending with our year round species.

Trout fishing has been exceptional this year and the reopening of trout season on January 1 will be welcome and productive. When the cold bunches the trout up, there could be some of the best action since the mid 80's around here. Reds, sheepshead, grouper, and flounder are also fairly numerous in Manatee waters right now, and like the trout, they will bunch up and seek deeper warmer holes.

The key to success with inshore winter angling is to seek out spots that include the following: 1 – southern exposure; 2 – a lot of structure; 3 – bait; 4 – a dark bottom. Southern facing areas receive more sunlight and the water temperature will be slightly warmer.

Structure can include dock pilings, seawalls with heavy marine growth, and deep shell beds. Winter bait is usually thick schools of glass minnows and this bait along with their predators are usually found over deeper, dark-bottomed areas which also tend to be warmer.

Good luck and good fishing. Be careful out there!! Give me a call to book an offshore, inshore/nearshore fishing trip in the Anna Maria, Cortez, Longboat Key area. Capt. "Zach" Zacharias, Cortez, FL. 941-795-5026 email: zachcap@aol.com.