Anglers fishing outside of Port Canaveral this month are hoping for a repeat of the conditions, water temperatures, and aggressive tripletail bite that they had in December. These fish were striking just about any live offering that they could fit into their mouths. If this strong bite continues into the month of January, expect a lot of happy anglers and quite a few fish coming to the cleaning tables. Cobia are another species that will be possible if the water temps stay in the upper 60 to lower 70 degree range. Free swimming fish are the most common but these fish will also follow shrimp boats that are discarding their bi-catch or manta rays in Canaveral Bight or to the south along the beaches. Inside the Port, anglers will find good numbers of sheepshead near dock pilings and rocky areas. Live fiddler crabs are the best bait choice for the sheephead, but live or cut shrimp will work well on them on most days too. You will just have to put up with pinfish, small crevalle jack, and small bluefish if you use shrimp for bait. A few flounder are also possible along sandy drop offs if shrimp or small fingerling mullet are use on a sliding sinker rig. If the water temps drop into the lower 60’s, anglers should work jigs along the main ships channel for weakfish that usually school up in this area. These are suspending fish that gather in the basins to feed on schools of glass minnows. Work your jigs tails or live shrimp about 5 to 10 feet above the bottom and you should have no problem finding them if the conditions are right.
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