By Capt. GEORGE TUNISON

The water temperatures are dropping and with the coming week forecasted to be a cold one, that could finally get the sheepshead bite kick-started.

This temperature drop report makes local snook shiver as they seek comfort in deeper creeks and canals.

Our inshore tannin-stained warm waters have cleared, so make a stealthy approach, lighten up on lines and leaders, make long casts using lures that work the mid to bottom of the water column and that perform best at slow speeds.

Winter also brings the lowest inshore tides of the year, which can concentrate fish in specific areas, helping anglers. If you’re a new-to-the-area shallow water boater, now’s a great time to pick a low tide day and just ride while taking note of all the different fishy looking channels, deeper holes, structures, bars and drop-offs that you’ll want to come back to fish or to avoid with your boat.

Spend some time with a good map and use Google Maps to get a bird’s eye view of possible hot spots before your trip which will only make your day more productive.

During the cold water period I typically rely on smaller, slow moving, hard body twitch baits, and (a year-round user of) DOA type plastic shrimp. When it really gets chilly, I’ll switch to the non-shrimp-looking but effective GULP Shrimp on an 1/8 to 1/4-ounce jighead and simply slow-hop or crawl it along the bottom, sometimes letting it sit there for a 5-10 count then repeat, letting that proven fish attracting scent do its work, on the nose of a resting red or cold-chilled snook. This is a great technique when fishing creeks or Cape Coral canals. The GULP Shrimp is also a good choice for sight casting to winter reds and snook warming up on a late afternoon sun-drenched, dark-bottomed mud flat, or out-of-the-wind, sun-warmed sandy shorelines. These fish aren’t chasing baits or lures but if you make a long cast then slowly drag the bait close without spooking the fish then stop it letting the GULP scent work, it may get them motivated to eat.

Use a live shrimp the same way but first bite off its tail or crush it a bit to help release its natural odors into the water as well as making it easier to cast without spinning and twisting line.

When sight casting these shallow fish, work the angles when casting so you don’t “line” the fish, which means casting over the fish where the line becomes visible spooking that resting 40-inch snook that’s soaking up some sorely needed Southwest Florida sunshine.

If you are a caster, this winter force yourself into low gear. Fishing slowly and methodically will often make the difference during cold days on the water. Use your temperature gauge as an area just a few degrees warmer may hold eating fish.

Although it may upset our fly fishing purists, adding scents like GULP to bottom bouncing flies like Clouser Minnows, can up your success rate on slow moving fish. Having a fly rod aboard set up with a sinking tip can be an advantage when fishing creeks and deeper water marinas on the coldest of days.

Hopefully this weekend’s weather will let folks sample the near and offshore reef fishing for a variety of fish like grouper, big mangrove snappers, sheepshead, even a possible permit, kingfish or cobia.

That red grouper you might catch could be 20 years old or more and like most groupers, started life as a female later changing to a male. The current world and Florida state record weighs in at 42 pounds, 4 ounces.

Please be careful about destroying the bottom seagrasses as you fish local shallow waters this winter. Prop scars take many years to grow back, while poor water quality continues to cause seagrass destruction.

No grass means no fish.

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. Contact him at 239-282-9434 or captgeorget3@aol.com.