- Jonathan Mulliken

This time of the year is a good time to target fish that are hiding way back in the residential canals, or deeper backwater creeks. We like to target fish that are pushed back seeking shelter from the frequent cold fronts, high winds, and extreme low tides that occur in the winter months. The wade fisherman and those fishing from seawalls, should take advantage of the canals and creeks that are easy accessed, because these tend to hold the fish throughout winter. Casting from land in public parks, back along river banks and similar places that you can reach on foot while staying dry is a great strategy this time of the year. If you can stand to wade out to reach areas that still hold water on a negative low tide, you may find them full of fish. The secret to locating a pile of fish up a creek, river or canal is finding the dark water that can hold at least 4ft of water on a low tide. Fish can still hold in shallower flats, but the bigger numbers of fish usually come from a place with deep water nearby.

The temperatures here are always changing, so try to think like a fish. In the colder mornings, fish will be seeking heat. Look for things like that seawall radiating heat, or dark colored mud. Sometimes the fish have a really lethargic attitude. Waiting for the sun to come up and warm things up often will yield more fish activity than getting out real early. “Focus on the seawalls facing east, as they face the rising sun when targeting a mid-morning bite with cooler air temperatures.”, This is a great tip Spencer Goodwin shared with me while talking about fishing the backwaters. Even though our weather has not been very chilly for long, the trout we are finding have been laying low in their winter areas and not moving too far from their safe haven until the approach of spring.

My new fishing partner, Capt. Mike Teegarden, and I often find ourselves lost in vast systems of canals in search of the schools of spotted sea trout. We search for signs of life in places that have the most potential to hold a stack of fish and we always plan a trip right before a cold front arrives. The high pressure really seems to turn the bite on to the max. One of the many things the Captain, who is an ex-commercial fisherman, has recently taught me, is to focus on where the majority of fish would hold, not where a fish or two could possibly be. When selecting a spot to try, it is always a good sign to see mullet, as well as any type of bait fish, and crabs. Switching up baits, or having two anglers on the boat, gives me the satisfaction of knowing that we covered the water from top to bottom. With one angler working a jig slow on the bottom and another throwing one of the many suspending stick baits or something mid column you can quickly cover the water when trying to locate fish. When a speck is hooked, we quietly drop the anchor off the bow to work the area more thoroughly and to find out just how many fish we stumbled upon. We seldom find trout sitting solo!

We usually encounter much more than just trout because these residential canals harbor more fish than many realize. Sheepshead are common and when you are equipped with fiddler crabs its can be like feeding candy to a baby. A small hook and a split shot will pick up the convicts and also any black drum that happen to thrive the same surroundings on the same food. Many people come out from their property never knowing that fish moved through their backyard!