Is February too early to fish in the south?

[The Baron]

I watched a little of the BassMasters Elite live stream yesterday, then looked over the leaderboard this morning.  101 pros fishing all day, in Florida, and many struggled to catch 5 fish with several only landing a few and many weighing in less than 10lbs.  This makes me wonder about those days I go out and struggle to catch 5 fish, then come home thinking that was a poor day of fishing.  And here I sit, dreaming of getting to Florida for a couple weeks in February (or any other southern state that’s warm and has bass) to escape from winter.  Dreaming of the fat sacks of big Florida strain bass I could catch… then I watch the pros struggle and wonder if I’d even catch a fish.  I’d hate to pull my boat 20 hours south, rent a place and catch nothing.  I know they’re fishing in a cold front, but I wonder if that’s normal for fishing in the south in February?  Is March a better both?

[VolFan]

‘The South’ is a big place. I regularly visit my in-laws near Fort Myers, Florida in December/January and again in March. I’ve never had a big problem catching fishing. If a cold cold front comes through they will go off the feed and sit very tight to cover, sunny cover if possible. The waters just aren’t deep so big cold fronts can and do affect them more, but it warms up just as quickly. Here in NC I don’t bother unless the water is over 45 and rising.

[Ski]

The Fl Largemouth are spawning, this is just a cold snap that can happen any year in Feb. March is better usually, April better yet in N. Fl.

[Reel]

I fished south (Florida) every winter for 15 years about 20 years back and  the best time was from the last two weeks in February to the end of March.  What you need is hot weather.

[Jar11591]

I’m not from Florida so I don’t have much of an idea, but last weekend the MLF tourney was on the Harris Chain in Florida, and there were several 7s and 8s caught, and many 5s and 6s. The bite seemed to be pretty good. But Florida bass do seem to be more sensitive to coldfronts than their largemouth brethren. 

[Ski]

Jar11591Very

6 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

 But Florida bass do seem to be more sensitive to cold fronts than their largemouth brethren. 

Very true words

[TnRiver46]

Check some weights from FLA 2 weeks ago 

[Zcoker]

Way south is pretty darn hot. Was mid 90’s just a few days ago. Next thing you know a front comes down, pushing us into the low 70s. Then a few days later, it’s back up into the mid 80s. Those kinda temp fluctuations don’t mess with the bite that much, which keeps things going pretty strongly in my neck of the woods. So, yeah, could depend on how far south you go. Even still, southern bass can blank out with a bit of cooler weather which can make ya work much much harder to wake their tails up! 

[Dwight Hottle]

@Jar11591 "But Florida bass do seem to be more sensitive to coldfronts than their largemouth brethren." 

Correctomundo!

[Mike L]

I’ve lived and fished down here for 46 yrs and never really thought that any time of the year is just plain bad. 
There are certain conditions in certain places that make it it’s tougher than others as was already posted. 
 

The farther south you go is a little different compared to Central and of course Northern parts. 
 

Anyway, I’ve sight fished beds on Okeechobee in January through June with the sweet spot from February to April. 
 

She’s there, you’ll just have take into consideration the conditions as was explained above. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

It was 11 degrees here in the “south” this morning 

[Reel]

I fished the Everglades section a lot during the Christmas Holydays and I caught mostly small fish  (1 to 3 pounds).  In March, the fish were bigger on the average and that's when I caught the biggest ones.  Warm steady weather is key.  It's a good sign when the alligators are out cruising.  

 

During a cold front you can catch one fish for the whole day.  After a couple of days of warm weather, you can catch fifty bass in a day covering the same spots.

[Smirak]

19 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

It was 11 degrees here in the “south” this morning 

A mere 8 degrees warmer down here in Huntsville! 

[Catt]

Is February too early to fish in the south?

 

ROTFLMAO 

 

Frontal conditions 😉

[AlabamaSpothunter]

It's just Florida.

 

It's peak fishing in TX, TN, AL, and LA 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's just Florida.

 

It's peak fishing in TX, TN, AL, and LA 

 

 

Depends on where in TN. My launch spot from Tuesday was frozen all the way out this morning. So not only is it far from peak, it’s literally impossible 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

It’s a crapshoot with the weather. So it’s basically fishing.

7 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's just Florida.

 

It's peak fishing in TX, TN, AL, and LA 

 

 

Except for the places that have temps in the teens.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Depends on where in TN. My launch spot from Tuesday was frozen all the way out this morning. 

I mean it depends week to week everywhere, but if you asked anglers from those states when the best months are to be fishing, the consensus would land in January and February.

 

5 minutes ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

It’s a crapshoot with the weather. So it’s basically fishing.

Except for the places that have temps in the teens.

You do realize how many actual teener size fish get caught in the south during freezing temps?

 

The reason the world knows about O.H. Ivie is because of Milliken and a week of freezing weather in west Texas.  

 

My biggest fish this year came when my reels stopped working because of ice.

 

ETA:  FL fish are the only ones who seem to totally lock down during freezing conditions.  I'll stick by that comment.  

 

 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

5 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I mean it depends week to week everywhere, but if you asked anglers from those states when the best months are to be fishing, the consensus would land in January and February.

 

You do realize how many actual teener size fish get caught in the south during freezing temps?

 

The reason the world knows about O.H. Ivie is because of Milliken and a week of freezing weather in west Texas.  

 

My biggest fish this year came when my reels stopped working because of ice.

 

ETA:  FL fish are the only ones who seem to totally lock down during freezing conditions.  I'll stick by that comment.  

 

 

I do. Also on some of those days that was one of three fish caught sometimes. Big bass actually most big fish are less volatile during temp swings.

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

I do. Also on some of those days that was one of three fish caught sometimes. Big bass actually most big fish are less volatile during temp swings.

 

 

That's true, but if you only caught one fish, and it's was a DD would care if you caught another one.....no need to answer that one 😁

 

Perhaps the debate needs to be clarified by OP in terms what defines awesome fishing or fishing that merits driving down to the south from somewhere up north.

 

Personally, that means catching your biggest fish of the year.    

 

If I was taking a trip from the north to somewhere south to catch my PB, no question about it, I'm booking the trip in January or February.   

 

If I wanted to catch tons of fish, with the possibility of catching my biggest fish, I'd book the trip in March in April.     

 

 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

7 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

That's true, but if you only caught one fish, and it's was a DD would care if you caught another one.....no need to answer that one 😁

 

Perhaps the debate needs to be clarified by OP in terms what defines awesome fishing or fishing that merits driving down to the south from somewhere up north.

 

Personally, that means catching your biggest fish of the year.    

 

If I was taking a trip from the north to somewhere south to catch my PB, no question about it, I'm booking the trip in January or February.   

 

If I wanted to catch tons of fish, with the possibility of catching my biggest fish, I'd book the trip in March in April.     

 

 

It’s tough to plan for a polar vortex. It was -8 Missouri this morning. It’s going to be in the ‘60s on Monday.

I think it’s a high risk/very high reward kind of proposition this time of year.
 

 

 

 

 

I used to 

[wdp]

I would say typically, no. I’ve caught some big bass in Feb & I live on the TN/MS border. 
 

Right this moment, yes! Major cold front, super cold out, and there’s still ice & snow on ground from couple days ago. 🥶🥶

[softwateronly]

My experience, though limited and anecdotal, is the biggest bass use the leading and trailing edges of cold weather to actively hunt on shad fisheries.  They possess an enormous advantage in body mass to mitigate the falling temps just as their prey are being most effected by the same environmental issues.  Up north, this shows itself more often late in the year, think first multi night cold snap in early october and the beginning of the prolonged/season long cold snap in November.  In the south with a prolonged prespawn period, I'd expect and have experienced one week in east TX a similar opportunity.  My first pb came from a little cut, halfway up a creek in 6' fow about an hour and a half after the current front moved out revealing clear skies and bright sun.  4 days later, a cold front rolled in overnight and dropped the air temp 35 degrees and 10 hrs later my current pb was caught in front of a dock in 9' fow near the creek mouth.

  I think that the difficult fishing we encounter around cold fronts is more related to missing the window of change than the cold weather itself.  I'm running with this till I learn more.

 

[The Baron]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Perhaps the debate needs to be clarified by OP in terms what defines awesome fishing or fishing that merits driving down to the south from somewhere up north.

My #1 priority would be to get away from sub-zero temperatures and frozen water.  I’d rather not be wearing winter gear and gloves, but I doesn’t need it to be T-shirt weather either.  Anything in the 60’s or more would feel great.  I’m well aware the weather is never a guarantee, but it would be a real disappointment to drive south for 20+ hours and still need winter clothing.

 

As far as fishing, I’d definitely be down there for big fish over numbers.  That said, I’d rather not fish 8 hours for two bites.  But if one of those bites was my PB I’d be very happy.  My PB is only 5.5#, so not a high bar to clear in the right area.  I’d be thrilled with anything over 6# which is a very rare largemouth up here.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 minutes ago, The Baron said:

My #1 priority would be to get away from sub-zero temperatures and frozen water.  I’d rather not be wearing winter gear and gloves, but I doesn’t need it to be T-shirt weather either.  Anything in the 60’s or more would feel great.  I’m well aware the weather is never a guarantee, but it would be a real disappointment to drive south for 20+ hours and still need winter clothing.

 

As far as fishing, I’d definitely be down there for big fish over numbers.  That said, I’d rather not fish 8 hours for two bites.  But if one of those bites was my PB I’d be very happy.  My PB is only 5.5#, so not a high bar to clear in the right area.  I’d be thrilled with anything over 6# which is a very rare largemouth up here.

I think a trip mid March to early April would be perfect than.  

 

Problem with Jan and Feb fishing down in the deep south is that you'll have two weeks of 70d highs, followed by a week with overnight temps in the teens.    The fishing however remains pretty awesome through it all.   As @softwateronly stated so well, there is some kind of dynamic that happens with water temps below about 45d where the Shad can barely stay alive meanwhile the Bass are perfectly okay.   The only problem then is trying to find something the fish will confuse with the real thing.    Those dying and stunned Shad can be really hard to mimic in my experience.  

 

By mid March those extreme cold fronts are over with even though overnight temps can still dip into the low 30s.   Almost all the fish are up shallow.