Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | Don’t like the cold? Wait for afternoon warmups to fish

Cold nights, bright day skies and low water will test the inshore angler’s skills this weekend. With nights in the 50s, sleep in Saturday and Sunday then hit the water for the late afternoon warmup for your best shot at cold tolerant redfish and spotted trout. The afternoon starts with negative tides so it will probably be a short window of opportunity before dark.

Snook closed to harvest on the first of the month and even though you can still catch, photo and release, many anglers believe it’s best to not target them as they already have enough problems dealing with the big chill. The season will remain closed to the end of February.

The sometimes believed local weather forecaster is calling for light weekend winds, which makes trips out to the snapper grounds feasible. Another red snapper harvest weekend is open (Dec. 6-8) but don’t forget that when in federal waters (starting 9 miles off shore), lane snapper season is closed till the end of the month. Inside the 9-mile boundary or in state waters, lane snapper season is open year-round with an 8 inch harvest length, which, in my humble opinion, should be increased to at least 10 inches or more. Mangrove snapper is open year-round and the further out you go the bigger they seem to get, although there are schools of quality fish on near shore structures.

With cold weather setting in, migratory baitfish keep moving south, which may put a damper on local kingfish catches but still worth a look. Kingfish are often encountered very close to the coast as well as seen on your offshore snapper journey. As always, look to the skies and our feathered friends to guide you to possible Spanish macs, kingfish and bonito action.

Cold weather also signals the start of local sheepshead season. These professional, tough-scaled, hook robbers are gathering in large numbers on nearshore locations, with many already showing up in traditional spots like the structures around Boca Grande Pass. If you haven’t fished for them, be warned that you will experience losing some bait before you get the hang of actually catching one.

These fish with very powerful, human-looking, crushing dentures love tiny crabs, shrimp, barnacles, clam bits and in some cases, small fish. Tricky to hook because they often inhale your crab (making your line and you jump), crush it, then expel the bits back into the water before consuming them, which makes hook-set timing problematic, especially for novices. Small, thin-wire, ultra-sharp hooks and very small bits of bait work best. First, set up next to a barnacle-encrusted bridge piling. Take a flat shovel with you and scrape the piling, letting the free crunchy meal drift down and, hopefully, getting the fish eating. Often hard to catch and not so easy to clean but worth the effort as they are one of the finest tasting local fishes we have. Open year-round with an eight-fish daily limit. They need to be 12 inches total length to harvest.

Being in the tropical fish import business years ago, I have seen, handled and housed many incredibly beautiful and often very strange looking exotic fish from all the world’s oceans, but one of the most peculiar species I’ve encountered isn’t considered an exotic at all. Actually, it’s a rather common bottom-dwelling fish known as a flatfish or flounder. This very aggressive camouflaged killer is typically snowy white on the side that lies flat against the bottom and a mottled brown green on the other side, making it tough to see for its intended victims. This oddball starts life with its eyes in the usual positions on both sides of its head but as it matures the right eye actually migrates around to the left so both eyes end up topside. Flounder season just opened this month with a 14-inch total length and five per day harvest.

Baked crab meat stuffed flounder? Outstanding!

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-579-0461 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.