What

You would have thought with such a mild December and January, we would have continued with a mild February. But NO, IT HAS BEEN DARN COLD in February and so cold in the mornings that you almost don't want to get out from under the covers of my warm bed. But, even with this cold, I have been out there trying to catch a fish.

As of this writing the backwater temperature is right a 50 degrees and when the water is this cold, you can expect one thing, the fish are almost in suspended animation. For the backwater fisher persons, trying to catch red fish, try to plan your trip after the sun is up for a while, so you can benefit from it's warming rays to heat up the shallow water a degree or two. This will make a difference in your ability to catch fish. Fish a small bait like the Sea Striker three inch curly tail grub on a light jig head and fish it very slow. I have had real good success with the white body and chartreuse tail. You have got to keep in mind the fish are the same temperature as the water and when it gets this cold, they DO NOT and will not eat like the summertime bite. Don't get frustrated because of the sloe bite, just work your baits slow.

If you can find a few schooled up reds in shallow water, they will probably be all huddled up and not on the prowl but just hanging out, almost as if they were trying to cuddle to share any warmth they might have. I like to go to an area that I am pretty sure holds fish, ease my Minn Kota 3X over and move slow down the bank looking for fish that will move away from the boat. If you are working your trolling motor slow and not making any noise, these fish will get up in front of the boat and move away a few feet. When you see this, back off of the motor and wait for them to sit back down. If the winds a light or you are in an area where it is calm, you will be able to see the wakes pushed up from the fish. Keep an eye on where they stop, back off a little and try making cast past or in front of these fish. Work the bait in and around where you think they stopped. When you get it the area where they are, make slight jerks on the rod to make the bait look as if it confused or wounded. Try to keep the bait in the area as long as you can. DO NOT throw on top of where you think the fish stopped as you will only spook them and then you can forget catching them as they will probably take off. See these fish already know you are there from when you got close enough to make them move, so any other commotion on your part will only hinder your chances of getting one to eat.

See when these guys are in say, a foot or so of water they are extremely spooky and when they know you are there they are even more reluctant to eat your best presentation. So stay back, be quite, use a small bait and light line. I like a 1/8 ounce jig head, 8 pound Power Pro line and a 7 foot All Star light action rod with a small Pflueger President spinning reel. This outfit allows you to make long cast with very light baits and the tackle is plenty enough to get even the biggest backwater red to the boat.

Find a spot where you have moving water, a deep area as along the ICW or a deep bend in a creek. Slow the boat down to an idle, turn on your HUMMINBIRD recorder and drive slowly over the deep areas. If you see big schools of bait, you will probably see bigger marks (fish) on the screen around the outer edges of the bait. The bait is usually identified on the screen as what looks like fuzz or a big bunch of very small marks close together.

I would think that the first bit of warm weather that we have, say a few days of lows in the 50's and high's in the 70's, the larger breeder trout will become active and these you should be able to catch on jerk baits, like the Sea Striker Trout Killer. I like a bright color, like white or chartreuse. Last year, I fished with Raymond McCauley and we slayed the nice trout using this bait in conjunction with a Daiichi Copperhead hook. The hook has a corkscrew wire on the eye that allows you to screw the head of the bait to it and then run the hook through the body. Making it weedless and almost snag proof. Work this slow, just under the surface, allowing it to sink down and then back up as you work it. The strike usually comes when it is falling, so be ready to set the hook.

Sheepshead are kind of slow right now but by the time this is printed, they should be chewing pretty good. Try a small live shrimp or fiddler, fished right up next to the bridge piles or jetty rocks. Be ready for a good pull as these guys will certainly stretch your string. If you use a shrimp, I like to thread it on the hook, so the entire shrimp has the hook run through it. I use a small size hook like a #4 to a #1. As soon as you feel the very faint bite, rare back and bust him, then hang on.

Big numbers of fat beeliners are being caught on the deep offshore trips, say one hundred feet or deeper. Look at you recorder for a cloud of what looks like small blips that will be about ten feet up from the bottom to about thirty feet up. Use a small hook and just about any small piece of bait. Send your rig down and when it hits bottom crank it up a few feet. The bite is not a pull the pole out of your hands but will be a nice knock. I like a #1 Daiichi Circle wide hook and a small piece of squid or cut bait. I will sometimes tie four hooks to the line about eight inches apart for multiple hookups on the same drop.

Houston Stephens and Becky Hogan with a nice mess of fat beeliners

On the freshwater scene, the specks should continue to bite as long as we have cold water and when we get a little warm weather try a deep diving crank bait like the MirrOlure lipped baits in chartreuse, silver and black or blue and chrome for some largemouth action. I like to fish deep structure and slow crank the bait as I feel it bounce off the bottom. You will need a soft tip rod and DO NOT set the hook, let the fish do that. If you let the fish set the hook, you will not lose many lures.