Snook in Florida as my friends up north freeze

I had the pleasure of spending the last 7 days of this brutal cold snap in sunny Florida visiting with my brother and doing a little fishing as well. Those of us that are ‘stuck’ in the northern regions of this country for most of the winter months often think as Florida weather this time of year being like summer time. And while the sun does shine and 60+ degree days feel really, really good in February, the truth is Florida gets hit by the same the cold fronts that we do up north. Of course the impact is not nearly as extreme and often the result can be delightful weather days in the low 70’s with brilliant sunshine. For the fly fisherman however the wind can be a challenge in the winter months and the cool water temps can put down some of the glamour species that we love to target like snook and reds.

With that said it’s a hell of a lot better to be fishing with a coat on and double hauling in the wind with a chance to hook a great fish than sitting on one’s home and reading and dreaming about doing the same.

So from a pure fishing perspective it is safe to say my most recent trip was not one that was filled great with action. We did have one fun night of fishing the dock lights and bridges where I caught many, many small jacks and one respectable snook that was fed a mini pilchard pattern right after blasting a small pod of baby shrimp being pushed through the shadow lines of the light shining down from the dock.

This just wouldn’t have and more importantly couldn’t have happened while sitting at home watching the evening news.

So while my expectations were high for dragging some 10-12” musky flies across shadow lines of bridge pilings on 50# bite tippet being dredged by a 500 grain full sink line not so elegantly cast by my prized 11 wt. H2 rocket launcher… All of which I actually did without a bite… I was able to share time on the water with my brother, feel the tug of a fish that dictated to me to be reeled and stripped and do it on a night in February when I would normally be wrapping up another day of work.

Cheers to another great trip to the sunshine state. A wonderful winter respite no matter how fishy it isn’t or actually is.