Tampa Bay January Fishing Report
Anna Maria Island fishing remains strong. The water has cooled a bit since my last report as it tries to get back down to more normal temperatures for this time of year. It can be tricky fishing when the water temps hit that low 62 to 63 degree mark. The fish kind of want to be in the springtime spots but kind of want to be in their winter spots; sometimes they want shrimp, but sometime they prefer live shiners. It can leave me scrambling at times with the fish scattered all over the place, but despite all that we have had very successful trips. The stronger cold fronts we had recently are what I had hoped for. That has moved the fish to their winter spots for a while and shrimp will be what they are looking for and that makes my job a lot easier.
The past few days we have been destroying the Trout with keepers in the 16 to 20 inch class and a few larger ones mixed in. When the tide is right there are also a few good schools of larger 18 to 24 inch Trout feeding along with a few trophies over 26 inches mixed in. While targeting Redfish we have also been catching some nice Black Drum up to about 6 pounds, perfect eating size, along with a few Flounder and Sheepshead mixed in. There have been rumors of some Pompano around. I haven't looked for them much yet but plan to in the up and coming weeks. I have also been picking up a few Snook along the way and if the water temp warms up some next week I will target Snook more. We will have to see what this next front brings in. Either way we have been having a lot of action inshore. The Snook fishing really heats up in February, so a few warm days and it will be game on.
On the beach and near-shore reefs there have been lots of Snapper along with a few Flounder, Tripletail and small but fun to fight Grouper.
I have not spent any time offshore lately; I've heard that Grouper and Amberjack fishing have been solid between 20 and 30 miles out.
Well I hope you have enjoyed my report. My spring scheduled is filling quickly and so is Tarpon. If you are planning a trip let me know soon. Until next time enjoy your time on the water, or for some of you maybe I should say the ice.
Capt. Matt
(941) 447-9888
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