Capt. James Vadas
The winter time fishing has been awesome! We have been busy thanks to everybody coming back to visit during winter break. I have found that the people that escape snow will go fishing on cold and windy days. It could be that they are acclimated to the cold or it could be that they fly home tomorrow, so today is the day. Either way I find myself catching really awesome fish right as the cold fronts move in, especially sheepshead, mangrove snapper, black drum, flounder, grouper and black sea bass while using live shrimp with a 1/2-ounce jig head tied on 2 feet of 20lb fluorocarbon leader, 15lb braid spooled on a 4000 series reel with a medium heavy rod. This vast variety of fish is a favorite table fare of the locals. You know, all the ones we like to eat. Most of the time we are only fishing just a few miles off Anna Maria Island on the artificial reefs to fill our coolers up. On a recently record-breaking cold morning, that turned into a really successful trip, I took my brother-in-law and his friends, visiting from Chicago, out for a half day charter. They have been to Anna Maria Island before but this was their first-time fishing. The good Lord blessed us with some huge fish close to the Island, so I was able to hide from the wind and keep everyone warm and dry except for the guy that jumped in to rescue his phone. He unfortunately didn’t get it back and I don’t advise diving into cold water to search for a phone. Thankfully it happened after we were done fishing. I personally have a waterproof phone case with a floating lanyard attached to it, because I also have been the victim of a phone drowning. God bless and tight lines yours truly, Captain James.
