Hot fishing action takes on new year chill
January fishing is proving to be productive in our local waters despite recent cold fronts. If you haven’t noticed, days of mild temperatures and calm waters are outnumbering the cold windy days and, although unexpected in January, we’ll take what we can get.
I’m patrolling the beaches of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key, where I’m finding a number of species ready to bite. Along the shoreline, I’m finding pompano, always a welcome sight. Small pink jigs tipped with shrimp are attracting these tasty fish to take the bait. Mixed in with the pomps are ladyfish, bluefish, jack crevalle and bonnethead sharks, which provide great light-tackle action.
Moving out to slightly deeper water and around structure, the abundance of mangrove snapper is astonishing. Limits of these fish are being caught in depths of 15-20 feet. Live shrimp fished on a knocker rig is working best for me, resulting in snapper up to 18 inches. You may have to weed through the spot tails to get to the snapper, but the prize is there as long as you are persistent and have an ample supply of shrimp.
Fishing nearshore structure is resulting in other species — sheepshead, flounder, juvenile grouper and a couple of undersized cobia. All of these species are coming on to shrimp.
Lastly, fishing on the windy days is challenging at best. I’m resorting to fishing local docks and canals, which is resulting in sheepshead, redfish and black drum. Live shrimp or Berkley Gulp shrimp on a jig head are producing strikes.
Capt. Rick Gross of Fishy Business Charters is catching mangrove snapper. By fishing structure in 30-plus feet of water, Gross is finding snapper 15-18 inches. Live shrimp fished on a knocker rig is producing bites. Along with snapper, Gross is boating flounder, sheepshead and juvenile grouper.
Moving inshore, Gross is dock fishing, which is providing a variety of species. Black drum, sheepshead, redfish and flounder are all responding to live shrimp. Mangrove snapper and even a few snook are being caught in these areas.
Capt. Aaron Lowman at Island Discount Tackle in Holmes Beach is targeting pompano along the beaches of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. The trick to catching the elusive fish is finding sections of beach where a trough is present. The though is the deeper water running parallel to shore between the beach and the first sandbar. Small pink or yellow jigs tipped with shrimp are producing a bite.
While targeting pompano, Lowman is catching bluefish, ladyfish, jack crevalle and bonnethead sharks. None of these are cooler-worthy, but they do provide excellent light tackle action.
Mangrove snapper are in Lowman’s sights. Limits of these tasty fish are being caught over structure in 15-30 feet of water. Live shrimp are the bait of choice, although fresh-cut shiners are working, too. Expect to encounter fish 12-16 inches with bigger sizes reeled up by lucky anglers.
Jim Malfese at the Rod & Reel Pier says fishing there is productive between the cold fronts.
Prior to the last blast of cold air we received, pier fishers brought quite a few different species to the deck. Black drum, sheepshead and flounder are still the mainstay at the R&R, where offerings of live shrimp are producing a bite. Pompano are being caught on shrimp, although the bite is sporadic at best.
Although it’s January, schools of shiners are being spotted around the pier, which in turn is attracting the winter migratory species of ladyfish and mackerel. Both species are being caught on small pink jigs. Live shrimp free-lined from the pier are receiving attention.
Finally, pier fishers using cut squid are hooking into small sharks. Bonnethead and sharpnose sharks are readily taking baits fished on the bottom. Although these sharks rarely weigh more than 10 pounds, they are great adversaries on light spinning tackle.
Capt. Warren Girle is reef fishing when the winds are light and seas calm. Fishing in 15-35 feet of water is resulting in limits of mangrove snapper with some fish measuring in at over 20 inches. Finding mangrove snapper of this size in these depths is a real treat, when generally, snapper 12-15 inches are more common at these depths. For bait, Girle is using fresh-cut shiners or whole live shrimp.
Catch-and-release gag grouper are being found in the shallows. Mixed in with the snapper, Girle is finding keeper-size gags. Although these have to be released, it is still exciting to have one on the end of the line. The sheer power of these fish is enough to pacify any inshore angler.
Finally, sheepshead and flounder are being added to the catch between snapper bites. Keeper sizes of both species are being caught on shrimp.
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