As Anna Maria Island anglers spend their days on the water instead of Christmas shopping, they are being rewarded with a variety of catches while working the inshore waters.
With water temperatures rising and lowering every few days, bait options vary.
On cooler days during and after the fronts, live shrimp work well to target a variety of fish, including sheepshead, redfish, pompano and trout. Tipping jigs with small pieces of shrimp is a great method to target fish on cooler days. Just remember to work the jigs slower because cooler water temperatures will slow down the fish, which are trying to conserve energy to stay warm.
As far as where to cast your jigs, you should be concentrating on finding the warmest water around. So areas like canals, creek mouths and sheltered shorelines out of the wind are good bets.
On the warmer days just before the fronts, when water temps have had a chance to creep back up to normal levels, you might try using live shiners as bait, which opens the door to catch-and-release snook. Water temps in the upper 60s are acceptable for targeting these fish and, if it’s warm and the snook are hungry, you might get a couple of great catch-and-release snook sessions in before the next front.
A live shiner as bait is good for targeting migratory fish like Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and jack crevalle. Typically, the spotted seatrout will respond as well — if you’re in the right areas. Deep grass flats are a great place to start. You also might encounter bluefish — which might not be big ones like the ones on the East coast — they are worthy of putting up a good fight on medium spinning gear. Just remember to use caution when removing the hook because bluefish have strong jaws and mouths loaded with teeth that could easily crunch fingers.
Lastly, on days with light or no winds at all, seize the opportunity to head out into the Gulf of Mexico. In depths of 30-50 feet of water, plenty of fish are lurking around reefs, wrecks and hard bottom. Live shrimp as bait will work fine when combined with a bottom rig. Key West grunts, porgies, flounder, sheepshead, snappers and hogfish are all susceptible to offerings of live shrimp, resulting in quite a fish fry on the good days.
Merry Christmas to all and to all, good fishing.
On my Just Reel charters, I’m spending most days fishing inshore due to windy conditions. Using a DOA CAL jig on a jig head works great when trying to find action. Drifting over grass flats and jigging is yielding a plethora of spotted seatrout, as well as a mix of ladyfish and jacks. An occasional pompano is making a showing, although they are random at best.
Switching over to shrimp as bait adds to the action, with catches of redfish, sheepshead, black drum and mangrove snapper. Casting pieces of shrimp on a small jig head works best, although using a knocker rig with a quarter-ounce of lead works, too.
On warmer days, I’m finding action on catch-and-release snook while using live shiners as bait. I’m also seeing a few redfish and some large trout with this bite.
Capt. David White is spending most of his water time working inshore, as windy days seem to be the norm this past week. Targeting snook around mangrove islands and shorelines sheltered from the wind is producing some consistency to the bite.
And White says there are scattered redfish being caught while targeting snook. In some of the deeper grass flats, spotted seatrout are showing up to the party as long as the tides are right and the water is calm and clear. Numerous smaller trout are being caught, although limits of slot-size fish are attainable by determined anglers.
Finally, White says casting baits around rocks and docks around nearshore structure close to the beach yields flounder.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.