Capt. Rick Davidson, Editor (grassflats2@yahoo.com)
November 2023 Fishing Report
It’s been a busy month at the Sea Hag Marina. Our ship’s store rehab is coming along nicely after the hurricane, but everything else is going full-steam ahead, especially the redfishing. This has been one of the best years for redfishing, from the Lady Raider tournament to the Florida Redfish Series. With both red and gag grouper seasons closed, offshore folks took advantage of the expanded red snapper weekends. And there were lots of fun activities, too…a minigolf fundraiser, the Sips and Sunsets event, and lots of live music on our deck. Here are some pics from some of the great catches this month.












Fishing Forecast for December 2023
We’ve had a pretty mild winter so far, and the fishing has been fantastic. Let’s hope for the best, but we will be getting colder. And if it gets cold enough, that’s the trigger for trout to move into the Steinhatchee River, where they are usually met by many wall to wall boats looking for some trout dinners. Cold water has a very reproducible effect on fish; because they are cold-blooded, their activity slows down a lot in cold temperatures, especially in southern areas of the country. And when their activity slows down, so does their impulse to chase after baits. That’s why you’ll hear us saying over and over again….SLOW DOWN your retrieves when using lures. That’s true of both redfish and trout. Offshore migratory fish like Spanish mackerel and kingfish will chase down baits in cold water, but the water temperatures are warmer the deeper you get. On the shallow flats, fish will congregate in deeper water (like the river), move offshore, or find shallow areas that may be just a few degrees warmer than the surrounding flats. For example, large collections of rocks on sunny days will hold warmth and it’s not unusual to find schools of large trout collecting over rockpiles that have good sun exposure. But remember: they won’t chase your lures very far. Slow down the retrieve, or use live shrimp drifted over the rocks or along dark muddy bottoms that can also hold heat. Offshore, cobia, mackeral and kingfish will be around and migrating through with schools of baitfish heading south. And there are already large schools of aggressive bluefish with those bait schools who’ll give you a great fight.
The only tournament in December is the always fun Eggnog Open, a CCA event sponsored by Tailin’ Toads on December 9.
As we get ready for the holidays, we want to take a moment and thank all those that have helped the community after Hurricane Idalia, and our customers for their patience as we got back into business. We have much to be thankful for, and we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, full of love, family and fellowship.