cold weather - cold water

Capt. Rob Ottlein
March 1, 2009
Flagler Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report

The fishing has been on and off as of the past month. I'm sitting here today writing this report and the air temperature is dropping. It's March 1st and there is another cold front comming through tonight that will drop the overnight temps into the 30's the next couple of nights. The water temp remains in the mid 50's. If we could just settle in to a steady warming trend the fishing will improve. The water temp needs to get up into the mid 60's before we start to see any steady action from trout and snook.
The redfishing has remained fairly consistant after the fronts pass. You need a couple of days of warmth and they tend to feed more actively. One good thing however is the cold water temps keeps the water in the flats very clear and makes for some good sight fishing, as long as the wind stays down. The reds have been eating Gulp baits, soft plastic jerk baits gold spoons and flies.
Trout have been eating live shrimp, plugs, jigs and flies. When using a plug pick one that dives from 4 to 6 ft. because the trout are deeper in cold water. You'll also want to slow your stripping action on your fly and pause at the end of the strip allowing the fly to sink. Watch for the end of your fly line to start to be pulled backward. Once this happens set the hook and you should connect with the fish.

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