by Captain Weston Russell, Contributing Writer
Welcome to the Palm Beach fishing forecast for January. Cooler weather will be making its way down along with hungry sails. Fishing for these majestic creatures is not hard. You just have to be at the right place at the right time. The best way to figure this out is communication. If you don’t know anyone that fishes, try calling your local bait shop. Also, make sure the first thing you do when arriving at the boat is to turn on your VHF. Tune to channel 19. This is the local fishing channel. You may hear some local captains talking about where the bite is. Also, if your planning on fishing for sails, check out your gear the night before. These fish can pull some drag!
January is a great time for kite fishing. All kinds of pelagic fish will eat a kite bait. I once caught a 30lb gag grouper on a runner hanging from the kite. Wow! Remember that there are a lot of different fish visiting Palm Beach, so you may need a trace of wire to catch the toothy ones. Fishing from the Breakers to the inlet will be a hot spot for anglers.
For the inshore guys, break out the light tackle. The jack attack will be on! Pound for pound, jacks are one of the hardest fighting fish that swim in the ocean. Also invading the inlet will be Spanish macs and bluefish. Small spoons will be the trick. Make sure you include your trace of wire to avoid cut-offs. In addition to the fish I mentioned, the high-flying tarpon will be roaming the beachside looking for anything they can catch. Live bait is the key to getting the bite. Jumbo shrimp, sardines, and threddies work awesome. When the fish bites, you should avoid setting the hook. This tends to be counterproductive with tarpon. Let him close his mouth then wind fast! He’s on!!!