70 Degree Trigger

Just as soil temperature sparks seed germination and air temperature invites blossoms, water temperature turns on fish feeding.  In Stuart, our primary fishing inshore companions, namely the Snook, Trout, and Tarpon all seem to wait for the days when the 70 degree mark has been reached  in their atmosphere (the water).  It’s not a feeding frenzy but more like breakfast time on an early Sunday morning when you start to nibble on what’s around without a strong motivation to fill up in a hurry.  Fortunately, this process continues to escalate through the Spring months and culminates into heavy feeding for spawn and post-spawn.  But most notable of the changes seems to be the crossing of that 70 degree threshold that invites the renewed activity for our friends that have been so hard to find over the winter months.  And as consequence, our Wintertime partners of Ladyfish, Pompano, Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel all head off to the cooler waters they prefer and to play with others.

Snook Beginning to Feed

Our Snook population was definitely effected by the unseasonably cold Winter water temps, but as the warm up of Spring takes hold we’re starting to find more and more feeding Snook.  Season remains closed until September but pictures are OK as we try to help our biggest inshore attraction fight the cold weather blues.  To do our part we have not been targeting Snook since January but it seems that now, the hungry fish are feeling back in the game and we are more than happy to play.  Of course, we’re a strong supporter of catch and release for Snook under any circumstances, so for our customers it’s business as usual.  Now we’re looking forward to getting back out at night with the fly rod at the docklights.  Water temperature is key to fishing activity.

When the Jacks are Running

As the wind and seas calm down in early Spring the near shore action begins to pickup with schools of adult Jack Cravelle.  It’s an exciting time of year, here in the Stuart area, as we’ve become somewhat bored with the smaller fish available in the inshore waters of Winter.  The 20 to 30 pound fish provide quite a challenge but worth the effort after a long cold winter.