Cold Water Fishing Tips Here in the Florida Keys

This is a great time of year to drift the mullet muds. Some of you will read this and have no idea what I am talking about.. Let me explain. There are a handful of basins that stretch from the west of Key West all the way up the Keys, and in these basins we will find these mullet muds. Jacks, spotted sea trout, ladyfish, bluefish, pompano, snappers, grouper, you never know what you are going to find. This is a very “easy” fishery and is a blast for everyone.

Pro Tip: What you need to look for are areas of “off colored” or “chalky water” where these mullet have stirred up the bottom. Drift though these muds and blind cast to find a variety of different species.

The cooler water isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to catching fish here in the Florida Keys and Key West. Cobia start to make their way into the backcountry channels and basins during these cooler months and are always a welcome sight on the end of the line and on the dinner plate. Look for these bad boys following sting rays and big sharks up in the shallows. Take a look at our fishing seasons page for a more in depth look at what to expect in the cooler months.

Here in the Florida Keys we are covered on both sides by the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Both of these are huge bodies of water and are deeper than the bays and inlets they surround on the Florida coastline. As the tides and currents flush water in and out of these shallow bays and backcountry flats, they take the cooler water that was exposed to the cold air and mix it with the deeper water coming in from the Gulf or Atlantic. This in turn will warm up the water temperature and make for a “happier” fish population.