Greetings from Key Largo once again. We got a little taste of winter last week, but it didn’t seem to slow the fishing down.
At the risk of sounding redundant, the hot bite still remains to be the Black Drum. This time of year finds them in our deeper creeks and channels. I have found that anchoring and chumming with frozen Shrimp will put the Drum behind the boat. Soaking a live Shrimp on the bottom with an egg sinker or a Hook Up Jig will put the Drum IN the boat. The fish puts up a decent fight on light tackle and is equally as good on the table. This same method also produces some good catches of Redfish, a first cousin to the Black Drum. Although there can be good numbers of Reds around, they tend to run a little smaller this time of year.
There is also a good bite of Trout in the deeper bays and the runoffs from the flats. If you are running along and see some muddy areas, stop and make a few casts in each of them. They don’t all hold fish, but you will soon find the ones that do. The Trout love live shrimp and will readily accept a bucktail jig.
A few good days of warm weather and we will see the Snook bite pick up again. The same goes for the Bonefish.
You can’t catch fish if you don’t have your bait in the water, so get up and get out there. The fishing is great.
Until next time, good tides and keep the sun to your back. ><)))>