So over the years of fishing here, it has become apparent that Florida weather is completely different than anything north of Florida. Not only that, but what my clients thing is “good fishing weather” is damn near the opposite of what we look for down here. Id like to take a moment to go over weather and conditions that make fishing good and bad here. Lets start with weather. When you are in Florida and you look at the extended forecast; its all bullshit. The weather doens’t matter until the day has begun. Even when you look at weather for the next day, they are never right and most of the time not even close. Only when you can look at the actual radar in the moment will be the only time you will have any idea what the conditions will be. So when it comes to fishing and fishing guides, we will typically not want to cancel a trip until the morning of your trip. Almost every day I’m booked, I head down to the boat ramp and prepare for my day. Wind is a HUGE factor down here. If you are on the west coast of Florida a west wind is like the worst thing that can happen. This is because we have the Gulf of Mexico and when you have that wind, it kicks the waves up hard and makes fishing terrible. With an East wind you can fish a mile or so off the beach and still have some pretty calm conditions. The opposite is true for the East coast of Florida. Ideal conditions for fishing are warm consecutive days with very clear water and no wind. A 15-20mph wind is not something to fish in here on the west coast of Florida because it turns up the water, the fish hate all the sediment and dirty water is a big NONO here. Find Clean water, Find Fish. Which is why we all hate windy days. Combine that with sub 60 degree water temps and fishing begins to suck big time. You have to remember our fish are tropical fish - our water temps in the summer routinely get over 90 degrees, so anything under 60 is really not good and some of our fish die when the water gets below 50. Most areas we fish are less than 10ft deep so that chop can slam against your boat spooking fish easily. Air temp is another big factor. When we get below 60 degrees here it gets very cold. Cold enough that i’ve had people from North Dakota or the UP of Michigan tell me, I can’t believe how cold 60 degrees can be. Its not that we are babies down here, but 55-60 can be miserable with our humidity, it feels much colder. December is probably our worst weather month with temps hovering around 60 daytime highs and its always windy blowing 15-20 many days. These are our hardest conditions for fishing, but many of us can find areas where fish are going to be and have some successful days out there regardless. Just because you fish up north and know how to fish your lake or body of water, doesn’t mean your knowledge is transferrable to our bodies of water down here. Often times even the skills are completely different. My recommendation is to study as much as you can, talk to locals and pick the brain of local guides. Most are pretty honest upstanding guys and gals that will point you in the right direction. Best of luck out there and Tight Lines! Sliprock Charters