Report: Looking back over the month, January was actually a very productive month for kayak fishing.  We’ve been catching some very nice fish here in Everglades National Park.  I had the joy of having and seeing six different clients catch their first snook on fly, including kayak-fishing guide Danny and his wife Kristen Wray of Calmwater Charters from Grand Isle, LA. (www.calmwatercharters.net) - they are fishing their way through Florida.
This last month was challenging finding fish with temperatures ranging from the mid thirties a couple of nights up to the eighties in the day. Fish have been scattered.

Snook in the winter normally migrate up into the backcountry to shallow warmer water bays.  Some have but also there are still fish being caught in the deeper passes and outer barrier islands.
Redfish seem to be just as scattered but they are around. The reds have been real skittish when site fishing on the flats especially when the water has been gin clear. I (we) caught larger reds ranging from 24” to 30” in January mostly in muddy coves and bites.   
Speckled Trout are here in abundance this time of year and we have been catching them on most trips. We’re finding them from the barrier islands to some of the deeper channels in the backcountry where there is moving water. Some of the fish caught have been as large as 5lbs. Along with the speckled trout there have been silver trout (northern weakfish) and some whiting are mixed in too.
Last week I did another one of our base camp kayak fishing trips. This one was a three-day trip where we camped on a backcountry campsite about thirty miles south of Chokoloskee or another way to put it thirty miles from civilization. These camping trips are awesome and if you have never been to the Everglades this is something you might want to check out. Other than the fishing the scenery and wildlife is a natural wonder being the only part of North America that is considered to be in the subtropics.
On these trips we shuttle by powerboat the kayaks, the food and all other gear to our base camp.  By utilizing the boat we’re able to bring a lot of amenities that you would not normally be able to have when camping out in the wilderness.
Back to the fishing, I had with me Charles and his son Mat from Tennessee on the trip and although we caught some nice fish every day the second one was a day that will never soon be forgotten. We kayaked to fish a tributary creek in the backcountry and the snook were there stacked up to feed on the abundant baitfish. We ended up catching over thirty snook and lost just as many from either break offs or the fish throwing the hook. What a day, and another great camping trip! We used both spinning gear and the long rods on this trip. Other fish caught this month were black drum, snappers, jacks, ladyfish and bluefish.