Incredible treasures await the SoFla. inshore anglers that discover the chilly water sanctuaries of gamefish. You 'll have to learn the precise conditions that not only drive fish from their warmer water habitat, but also those factors that will put the fish someplace else. Oftentimes in winter, the cold fronts that drive bonefish off the flats cause these fish to seek the comparative comfort of the deeper channels- even if the channel bottoms have the same chilly water, life 15 feet down is calmer than 2 feet down as a cold front rushes over you. In a clumsy way, a bit also like heading for the cellar as a tornado approaches, Dorothy, or as birds hit the deck during hurricanes. These sanctuaries sometimes can be quite small in size, which means you might have probe- cast until you find the pocket of pearls, then remember the exact conditions to replicate your results. I've had bonefish absolutely pound a bucktail tipped with shrimp in 15 feet of water when it's cold. Yet those bonefish will mount the flats in strings and bunches, ignoring shrimp cocktail presentations in the chilly shallows. I'm still happy to see them, as I know that they'll be more responsive on the flats as the weather warms-they're not cold-hearted, but cold-blooded.
Jimmy Todd is a veteran shrimper in South Florida who has kept countless skiff livewells full of bait. I've known him and used his services and bait for over thrity years. Like Bill Curtis, Jimmy remembers when you could load your boat with mackeral only a hundred yards off the big Rickenbacher bridge. The other" Jimmy the shrimper" is Jimmy Luznar of Virginia Key. I know the latter, but not as nearly well as the former. Jimmmy Todd keeps his shrimp boats in the Grove. Jimmy is a Prince of Tides kind of shrimper-none of this Bubba Gump nonsense. He is the kind of American native whose daily hard work and toil forms the moral inspiration and platform for simply, good people. I saw him this morning struggling more than usual delivering a bucketful of live shrimp. He wished me Happy New Year and he offered his free hand. I suddenly realised how quickly the years and shrimp had flown by- he was grayer as was I and it all seemed to have happened so fast. In this predawn moment, along the water, it made me so happy to be alive to fish another day, yet it also made me sad. Perhaps these two feelings meet up, shake hands, and" keep company" as they keep us company as we journey into the autumn and winter of our own personal seasons. I've always planned to construct a personal cold water sanctuary composed of a life that could be looked back upon as fully-lived with recollections of many places traveled and many friends whose faces are sure to pop up when the time comes for the soul's camera to rewind.
Jan
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