Capt. John Tarr with his first of many redfish he caught with Capt. Mark Wright on a recent scouting trip to the Mosquito Lagoon.

Due to the colder than I like weather I stayed hidden under an electric blanket for most of last week and didn’t venture out until Thursday.

Waiting for a warm-up following a major cold front often results in fantastic fishing. The few guys who didn’t wait until Thursday morning, but gave it a try on Wednesday’s late morning/early afternoon schedule also reaped big rewards!

My friend Capt. John Tarr and I started at first light and I was thrilled to be the first vessel in a sheltered bay I regularly fish. The water temperature was a cool fifty-six degrees and we quickly found scattered redfish and big trout up skinny. Finding them did not at first mean catching them, though this changed as the water temp started to rise!

Small lures rigged weedless are the ticket for winter’s shallow-water predators. This Z-Man Curly Tailz rigged on a Finesse Bulletz jighead is one of our most effective offerings and adding a little Pro Cure scent to it makes it even better.

Heavy cloud cover over the Atlantic stalled our sunrise warm-up for about forty-five minutes. During this time we both took shots at cruising fish that mostly refused our offerings. The handful of bites we did receive were mere nips and tugs at the lure’s tail and nothing was hooked.

Eventually, the “bite” turned on as the water temp climbed up a tad. At fifty-eight degrees the nips and tugs became solid thumps or grab and run eats. A few fish still bit timidly though most of the predators meant business.

When no cruising or laid-up fish presented themselves we both simply tossed our Z-Man Curly Tailz over and hopped them across sand spots intermingled with grass patches. This tactic is simple and so effective we employ it all year no matter the season. During the cold water season we simply slow down our retrieve and downsize our lures. Catching well over twenty reds and trout in a couple of hours proves the tactic work and works well!