The water temperature last Tuesday Dec. 6th was 63 degrees F early in the morning and warmed up to 66 by mid-afternoon. As the water temps drop the trout and redfish find warmer water up in the creeks and tidal streams along the coast here in the Cedar Key area.
I took 5 guys from the Villages out Tuesday around the shallow flats, out in the open water and not up the creeks or even close to the mouths of the little streams. Fishing was a little slow out there. We had a lot of action with speckle trout over the grass and sand and when we moved next to an oyster bar alongside a mangrove island we caught several redfish too.
At the first bar, one of my fishermen, tossed a line away from the bar and hooked into a nice 18.5in trout. In the cooler it went. A few small reds and one keeper trout was all we could catch there. 
Tom with His Trout
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Anchor up and a short ride later we stopped at a spot that has oysters and grass and is located a few yards off Deadman`s Channel. Off to the side and up the edge and next to more oysters and grass. A lot of bait schooling and fish below them striking.
It was a beautiful place, air temp was about 79 degrees, flat calm surface, birds flying, pure white sandy beach nearby, and then one of the rods started to squeal as the line started running out. The fish came to the surface and thrashed about some and then shot back down and stripped off a few more yards of line.
Tom Kuhar brought a fine redfish alongside the boat and I netted it up and onto the deck. It measured 21.5 inches and we slipped it into the cooler. We motored over to Snake Key and a wide grassy area there and drifted along slowly fishing with cut bait and jigs and shrimp. Nothing. The water temp was 65-66 degrees. 5 degrees warmer and 2 weeks earlier I caught big plump trout there , sliver and speckled. 
Tom with His Red
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Folks, we still have a while before the water temp gets so low the fish migrate up in the rivers and tidal streams.
When it gets that low I fish in the Waccasassa River and catch both reds and trout up in that warmer water. When the weather is not too cool and the skies are clear with calm waters, it`s a great adventure out on the water angling for some fresh fish for dinner. Call me at 352-221-5463 and schedule a trip with your family and I`ll fillet the fish. thanks, Capt. Dan | 
