It’s hard to believe we’re already in December! What a year it’s been! Thankfully we have a lot of good fishing to look forward to this month in Southwest Florida!
December brings the annual onslaught of cold fronts, wind and cooler water! Thankfully the fish don’t seem to mind! December is always an excellent time to fish the Sanibel and Captiva area. The key to December fishing is being able identify and capitalize on the opportunities that Mother Nature gives you!
Inshore
When the northern winds blow and the water temperature drops, we’ll often tuck in out of the wind to target warmer, shallow flats and mangrove shorelines for Snook, Speckled Trout and Redfish. The Florida Pompano seem to be holding strong so far, and we’ll soon be welcoming back some of the winter species such as Black Drum and Sheepshead into the mix that we’ll target near docks and passes. No matter how you look at it, Decembers inshore fishing will be hot!
Offshore
If it’s a beautiful day, we’ll often head “out front” into the Gulf of Mexico. The water temperatures out there tend to remain more stable at this time of year. Plus, you never know what we’ll find! Grouper are often closer to shore during this time of year (even inshore at times), as well as Spanish Mackerel, Bonita, Triple Tail, Cobia, Snapper and even Kingfish! If Mother Nature allows there should be a bunch of hard fighting, aggressive fish out there to make big drag screaming runs and bring smiles to the face of novice and advanced anglers alike.
The winter season is also a great time for shelling on Sanibel, Captiva and the more remote upper islands of North Captiva and Cayo Costa. The extremely low tides and sometimes strong winds of the season help drive shells up on to the beaches making them ripe for the picking. There has been a bunch of Sand Dollars along the beaches lately, and I’m sure many of you will find them scattered on the beaches this month. They make great Christmas Tree ornaments as well as mementos of your time on the islands! But, please remember that you can’t take live Shells or Sand Dollars from the beaches. For a full overview of shelling and the associated regulations on Sanibel visit https://sanibel-captiva.org/sanibel-island-shelling
I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving! If you’re stuck up North in the cold, it’s a great time of year to book your escape! Flights are cheap, the weather is beautiful, the fishing is awesome and Sunsets are as magical as ever! Keep an eye on our social media for (almost) daily updates! https://fisholdschool.com/gallery
Hope to see you all soon!
Tight lines!!!
Capt. Bryan Dollar
