January Sea Trout Fishing

Sea trout fishing in January is usually killer in East Central Florida and regardless of how you fish for them, they provide plenty of action on light tackle.

I hit the wildlife refuge this afternoon to see if Peacocks Pocket road was still open and to pick up a few sea trout.

The air temperature was in the low 60s and dropping and there was absolutely no wind on the river or the marsh areas where I planned to concentrate my fishing efforts.

I brought along three spinning rods rigged with a topwater plug, a CAL swimbait and a Carolina style rig with a 4/0 Owner hook, just in case the fish weren't interested in artificial baits.

It was almost 4:00 pm when I drove into the first set of culverts and saw a group of bird watchers in a couple of small trailers loaded with tons of camera gear.  These guys looked like professional photographers, and were at the same spot yesterday when my wife was fishing with me.

I was going to ask them about their activities but because of the time factor, I decided to catch them on the "flip flop" if they were still there.

I started "jump fishing" the banks, casting to likely looking areas with the DOA "New Penny" CAL bait and a life like jig head.  I smeared up the bait with some Pro-Cure and started off with super slow retrieves.

The first two spots didn't produce any hits or follow ups and there was no sign of fish activity, so I continued moving up the road.  The next stop produced a couple of hits right on the bank, but I missed both fish and decided to move on.

The last spot I fished at was a spot where I usually catch reds in the summer time.  It is at the mouth of a small pond where the water drops into the deeper marsh canal.   Because of the brush on the banks and the hidden stickups in the water, it's hard to fish and harder to land a fish but it usually produces and today was no exception.

On the third or fourth cast I hooked into a small sea trout which I promptly released.  Two casts later I hooked and released a clone of the first fish.  I took it's picture, released it and moved a few yards up from the spot, casting as I walked.

There was a telltale sign of a large fish pushing a wake along the bank so I eased up to the spot and tossed the lure at the fish.  Unfortunately, it spooked and took off up the marsh canal.

I spent the rest of the time fishing that general area and missing three more fish before I decided to call it a day.  The air temperature was dropping and the fish had stopped biting.

I turned around to see if the camera crew was still in the area around the culverts but they left so I headed back to the house.

In an hour and a half of fishing, I managed to catch three sea trout and missed at least four more fish on the Pro-Cure smeared shad tail bait.

If the weather holds, I plan to hit the area again tomorrow.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.