by Capt. Matt Mitchell
After two weeks of almost perfect weather, yet another strong late-season cold front marked the start of spring. Fishing before the front was amazing with non-stop action on snook as the water temperature peaked at almost 80 degrees. Fast forward a few days, with morning temperatures in the low 50s and 4 days of extremely strong winds, and I saw water temperatures in the sound as low as 62 degrees. This almost 20-degree drop in water temperature made fishing tough for several days. Things will slowly rebound and improve as we gradually warm.
Fishing the first few days after the front was challenging. Just like we do in winter, switching back to shrimp brought the most success. Popping corks with both live shrimp and paddle tails caught lots of trout, though the average size of these fish plummeted. We also managed to grind out a few of the last Sheepshead around while fishing jig heads with chunks of shrimp. After what was such an amazing bite just a few days before, it really felt like this cold front was taking two steps backwards.
Searching for shiners after the front was tough, too. Even these magical baits had little effect on getting the snook to feed. The best bet for a few days was to fish late afternoon, during the warmest part of the day, when the water temperature rose a few degrees. After a lot of moving on sun-soaked shorelines, we did manage to grind a few out. Those small increases in water temperature made all the difference. Even though I could see snook lying out sunning, they just did not want to eat.
One memorable trip this week, I had a group of long-time clients who wanted to catch a shark. Usually, I would say no problem, but with the cool water, I didn’t rate our chances very high. Setting up in a deeper, narrow channel in the southern sound, I put fresh chunks of ladyfish out on the heavy shark rods. After about a 30-min wait, I was just about to switch it up when we got our bite.
On the first screaming run, I saw what was almost a 6-foot bull shark rise up on the surface as it changed direction and took off. Chasing the fish to put some line back on the reel, it went over a shallow flat, letting us get a good look at it. After a 30 min fight, we got the shark boat side for a few quick pictures before releasing it unharmed. On what had been a pretty tough day, it was the trip maker that everyone will remember for a long time.
Capt. Matt Mitchell moved to Sanibel in 1980 and has lived in St. James City since 2000, when he started his fishing charter business. He spends over 300 days a year “living the dream” fishing. For questions and info: bookings@captmattmitchell.com
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