Fishing the Everglades

December in the 10,000 Islands 

The second week of November saw our first real cold front, where temps dropped into the high 40s. We caught several nice Snook, up to 33", even though the bite was slow. I anticipated this as a result of the barometric pressure changing with the front. This is how it can go when fronts approach and move in on us. Sometimes you will catch some good fish just prior to the front. Once the front gets here, the bite is typically slow for at least a couple of days. Cooling water temps will slow the fish until they adjust. They will move to more favorable waters or just hunker down. So don't expect great fishing during a front. But like we did that day, you can manage to pull out some good fish if you are persistent. Just keep on fishing! 

There are some positives to colder water temperatures, such as a variety of our winter species moving into feed. Trout fishing will pick up. Sheepshead will move inshore. Black Drum will become more abundant. And Redfish will move into the rivers and backcountry. This means more opportunities for everyone. Live shrimp will start being the go-to live bait, and a jig worked slow that is tipped with shrimp will do just fine. 

Flats fishing with a shrimp and popping cork or a DOA Shrimp under a cork should produce a limit of Seatrout as long as the waters are not stirred up. Working shorelines with the same rigs but a shorter leader will help you locate the Reds and Black Drum. The depth of your rig should always be decided by the water depth. You can work some pretty shallow edges with this rig by keeping it about 12" under the cork. On the flats, you can go as much as three feet under the cork. This rig is very versatile for everything. Trout, Reds Drum, and yes, Snook. How much you pop that cork depends on your target fish. More for Trout, less for the others. Experiment. Pay attention to the subtle differences. This is how you figure it out. Don't be stuck on one thing, or just one technique. I remember fishing with my good friend Ray Culver one December and we started using a 1/8 oz.white jig under a popping cork down a few shorelines and started catching some nice Snook. We got Snook up to 12 lbs that day. It was cold and the water was cold. We were not getting hits on our lures, so we started experimenting. There are a lot of things I do to produce fish that are the result of experimenting on a slow day. 

The more you fish, the more you figure out. And then sometimes you just get lucky. Colder water temps usually mean slower moving fish, so slow down your retrieve and action. The fish feel the cold just like we do, but they don't have a jacket, so work it slowly on a cold day! It even pays to drop a shrimp right on the bottom in any rock hole or on the edges of the oyster bars. Everyone loves shrimp, and you never know what you might catch on the bottom.  

Enjoy the cooler weather and I hope the winds stay down enough to get in some great days in the Islands! Good Luck Fishing! Capt. Mike Merritt 

Captain Mike Merritt was born in Coral Gables, Florida, lived in Australia as a child, and then moved back to Everglades City, Florida, where he graduated from Everglades City High School. He caught his first snook at the age of eight and has been catching them ever since. He is a third-generation fisherman and has been guiding in the Everglades National Park for over 30 years. While the glades are his primary fishing grounds, he also owns The Amazon Prime Ecolodge and has been fishing in Brazil’s Amazon for the last 12 years.