With sunny days, mild temperatures and fairly calm seas, Anna Maria Island anglers are ringing in the new year by getting out on the water to do some fishing.
Fishing inshore and nearshore is producing good action on a variety of species with most being caught on live shrimp as bait.
While fishing inshore, many anglers are finding spotted seatrout to be the most accommodating. Using live shrimp combined with a small jig or just a plain old live shrimp on a hook with the addition of a split shot is leading to many hookups.
If shrimp aren’t available, casting a jig head with a soft plastic over the flats is producing action, too.
Using live shrimp along the beaches is also working well as pompano, whiting, trout and black drum are being caught in these areas.
And if there’s any structure present, you may even encounter a few sheepshead.
Speaking of structure, redfish and black drum are being found around docks, piers and other structure throughout our area and they also like a live shrimp.
Nearshore fishing is still going well on the calmer days. Species such as hogfish, grunts, porgies and snappers are being caught in depths of 40-60 feet.
Moving out slightly further is producing action on keeper-sized red grouper, which are back in season as of Jan. 1.
With this being said, weather forecasts are predicting more wind and a deep dive on the thermometer so plan accordingly as you’ll need to do some homework to find a consistent bite when the temperatures drop.
It might be time to start fishing a real wintertime pattern, which for those anglers who welcome a challenge, will be entertaining.
On my own Just Reel charters, I’m catching a variety of species throughout the back country while using live shrimp as bait and artificials, such as soft plastics on a jig head.
Spotted seatrout are the most apparent species being caught and are responding to both live shrimp and artificials.
Redfish and sheepshead are being caught on shrimp around docks and in a few areas along the Gulf beaches. Whiting are also present with the sheepies and reds while working the beaches.
Mangrove snapper and flounder are being found occasionally around rock piles some select docks in Tampa Bay.
Lastly, I’m seeing a few pompano being caught while drifting and jigging the flats.
Capt. David White says he’s finding plenty of spotted seatrout while working the deep grass flats and some select areas along the Gulf beaches. Both live shrimp and shiners as bait are working well to cast catch the trout. While using shrimp as bait, White is hooking into redfish, black drum and pompano. For the reds, casting shrimp around rocks and docks is producing the best action.
For the pompano and drum, fishing along the beaches is most consistent.
Capt. Johnny Mattay is putting his clients on a variety of species inshore. He’s using live shrimp on a jig head to attract species such as black drum, pompano and redfish to the hook. He says slowly dragging the shrimp along the bottom is resulting in a bite that has some large spotted seatrout in the mix.
On the nearshore bite, Mattay has his clients hooking up with hogfish, mangrove snapper, sheepshead and small groupers while using live shrimp on a knocker rig.
And, as of Jan. 1, red grouper season is open and Mattay is cashing in. Using live pinfish as bait is leading to some large red grouper.
Capt. Wes Wildman reports finding inshore fishing for spotted seatrout is quite good. Casting soft plastics on a jig head on shallower grass flats is leading to many slot-sized trout.
Switching to live shrimp as bait and working around structure in Tampa Bay also is producing action for Wildman. Redfish and black drum can be frequently found in these areas and are readily responding to live shrimp offerings.
Moving into the Gulf of Mexico, Wildman says fishing ledges and hard bottom with live shrimp is leading to hookups on a variety of fish, including mangrove snapper, lane snapper, hogfish and gag grouper. Wildman reports that the gags are responding well to live pinfish as bait versus live shrimp.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.