By Capt. Patrick Smith, Contributing Writer
Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great holiday.
The early cold fronts in November and December got the ball rolling for great fishing. This is an awesome time of year to fish flies and artificial for lots of random species. You can literally catch something different with every cast. Some of the main species have been permit, pompano, ladyfish, bluefish, sheepshead and drum. When it comes to spin tackle, I like a 1000 sized reel on a 6 to 12 pound rod, and I love to throw Goofy Jigs. In the last couple months clients have landed as many as a dozen different species just on jigs in one trip. Color doesn’t matter much, but I do like pink and white or yellow and white. The fishing can be just as good walking the beach as on a boat; just grab a rod and go.
On the fly fishing side, I’ve been using six, seven and eight weights with intermediate line and fishing various weighted clousers. The idea is the same as the Goofy Jigs and you should stay hooked up.
The freshwater scene has its ups and downs this time of the year. On warm days the peacock bite will improve while the largemouth bass remains consistent. Clown knifefish are a little more tolerant of the cool weather and with some patience you should be able to catch one.
Capt. Patrick Smith
www.swamptosea.com • 561-503-0848