Guide bites
Capt. Matt Cowden (727-534-6603): Capt. Matt reports the water temperature drops last week moved a lot of the action into deeper canals. His primary targets have been trout, with live shrimp a good bait at this time of year. Sheepsheads have been abundant in canals, as well, with rocks, seawalls and docks the kind of structure they like. Live shrimp works, though live fiddler crabs are hard to beat for this species. Some off the same spots will give up some black drum.
Capt. Josh Fritz (352-345-9304): Capt. Josh has seen the very good offshore bite continuing over the past week. He’s putting his anglers on loads of hogfish, mangrove snapper and the big, winter sheepshead, which are showing up more and more on offshore rocks and structure. He’s been doing best using live shrimp for all three species, with 28 to 34 feet of water a good depth range to work. Inshore, the redfish bite is good, with the colder water pushing them into the creeks and near the backwater springs, where their food supply retreated to after the cold last week. The black drum and sheepshead are there with them, along with a few trout. The trout also have been on the hard-bottom points near creek mouths, venturing out to soak up some warm from the sun during the day. Live shrimp or white, soft-plastics have been producing some nice fish.
Tackle shop roundup
The Rusty Bucket (727-645-6598): Capt. Bill reports that the sheepshead, which until the cold snap last week had been a bit sheepish, turned on big time. Fishing docks and rock piles with sheep ball jigs with shrimp or live fiddler crabs was the top fish-getter. Artificial crabs doused with a little scent also worked. Redfish and black drum have been a bonus catch using the same baits. The big trout finally have shown up in the numbers we’ve been waiting for. Live shrimp or artificial swim baits fished in deeper holes and channels on low tide is producing some very nice catches. Fishing backwaters with live shrimp under a popping cork or free lined has been a winner on higher tides. Offshore, the hogfish bite continues, with some of the best action on the species anyone can remember. Capt. Bill expects it to only get better as we move deeper into winter.
Tarpon Trading Company (727-937-1488): Guy says the cold weather last week pushed many fish into the Anclote River. Anglers found good action on sheepshead, trout, reds and other species using live shrimp. Rock, dock pilings and bars are where the sheepshead and reds like to hang out. Look for the trout hanging in deeper holes. The forecast calls for some significant warming this week, so it looks like it is going to be an ongoing game of follow the fish this season. Once the Gulf warms a little, fish that had retreated to the river will move back out, so anglers need to be ready to change tactics based on the bouncing thermometer. The outfall canal at the Anclote power plant has been a good place for trout, with live shrimp taking some big fish. Guy stopped by after the coldest air arrived last week. He saw an angler in a kayak land a pompano, though he hasn’t been hearing word in the shop about pompano being landed there of late. Offshore, the hogfish bite has been the best thing going. Boats fishing rocky bottom and ledges between 40 and 45 feet of water have been doing very well using live shrimp on the bottom.
Armed Anglers (727-945-1808): Capt. Griff said the pompano anglers who “know their stuff” have been taking quick limits fishing at the Anclote power plant outfall. One regular has been doing best wading along the channel coming out of the canal into the Gulf, fishing both sides with jigs and limiting within an hour. A few have been reporting permit there, as well, along with some good numbers of keeper and large, winter trout. Live shrimp is the ticket for the trout. The cold weather last week pushed trout and some reds into the Anclote River, though some reds taken after the cold snap came from outside rocks, bars and mangroves along the Gulf front. Offshore, the hogfish bite has been solid, with boats working within 8 miles of shore scoring lots of fish using live shrimp. Rocks, ledges and artificial reefs have been producing these catches. For red grouper, the minimum depth to reliably find keeper-sized fish has been 80 feet. Anglers should note that while the red grouper season is open year around, it is closed February and March in federal waters seaward of 20 fathoms, or 120 feet.