Growing up in Florida, you become accustomed to hot weather and summer time fishing patterns which tend to last the majority of the year. Contrary to what some people north of the state believe, it does get cold here in Florida and does have an affect on fishing. Most fish slow down in the winter leaving anglers scrambling for ways to find fish. However, the speckled perch (crappie) love the cooler water temperatures and will school up making for some fun days on the water. Saturday was one of those days for myself and Dad. It was around 48 degrees early in the AM with a 10+ wind expected to increase to 20+ by noon and the weatherman was right on his prediction. Since the wind was so high, we decided to "just" go spec fishing on the Withlacoochee River instead of chasing reds in the shallows. We ran up river to an old phosphate pit which is typically good for us around Thanksgiving/Christmas. Mostly it is open water casting in deep holes, but this time there was a large mat of grass/pads in the area we like to fish. As soon as we started dropping the Myti-Mite jigs down through the grass, we were pulling in 10" + specs. We ended up catching two dozen and keeping the 10 slabs for a fish fry at lunch. The grass was sitting over a 20 ft hole but the fish were suspended anywhere from 3-6 ft under the grass.
Spec fishing is something that all fisherman have probably done during their lifetime but doesn't get all the attention that bass, reds and grouper receive. I am guilty of this and don't go spec fishing as much as I once did. But there is no more enjoyable day on the water than what I had Saturday and it is something that any person/kid can easily do. All you need is a light action spinning rod or even a jig pole. I prefer to use jigs but live minnows are a staple for spec fisherman and provide a great way to catch a good mess of fish. The jig of choice for the day was the Myti-Mite in the Christmas Tree (Red/Green) and Powder Puff (Pink/White). Here are a few pictures from the day.
