Welcome back yak fans. Well, another year; another Christmas; another Birthday! As the old saying goes, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.” The generation of “don’t trust anybody over 30” and “hope I die before I get old”, “my generation” is meeting AARP! 2017 gave us some scary weather and a few other weird things; but, we came through it all to a new year and, hopefully, a resolution to fish often, enjoy life more, stay close to those who count, and read my column once a month (LOL).
On to fishing. As the days get colder, it offers some great fishing for the intrepid among us. The out flow at the power plant on the Anclote is a great spot in the winter months, either from the pier or in your kayak along the barrels. You will find cobia, pompano, reds and, of course, lady fish, jacks and other species stacking up in there when the plant is running. Please be aware, this is a on demand plant and it doesn’t run all the time. Soft plastics, shrimp, pompano jigs and cut bait work well; also, this is a good place to work a spoon, if it’s not too crowded.
Ozello reports a good trout bite but the reds are scattered I wish I knew where the schools are running. Maybe I’ll find them this weekend, as I need my monthly Ozello fix. In the local news. one of my favorite species, the Sheepshead, seem to be up and down the coast right now with some as big as ten pounds being spotted. I was able to bring in four my last trip, and they are some of the best eating you will ever find!
For the shore guys, another place that’s on fire right now is Jenkins Creek Pier in Hernando County. Friends of mine caught reds and trout there the other day using an electric chicken fluke tail jig. Jenkins Creek Pier is a good winter spot due to the spring directly behind it in Linda Pedersen Park. In your areas, any spring-fed creek, should be holding fish looking for warmer winter temps. Locally, the black drum are moving in, usually on the incoming tide. The drum are usually only going to hit a shrimp. I’ve found that pinching the head on the shrimp works best to get the scent out. On an interesting note, the best way I’ve found to carry live bait (i.e. shrimp) on the kayak is with a soft pack cooler. What you do is put a brick of blue ice in the bottom, then make a nest for the shrimp with newspaper. Moisten the paper (in salt water) and put your shrimp in dry. In other words, don’t add any more water than the wet newspaper. This will keep the shrimp alive and kicking for over 24 hours. The last time I went out, I picked up some bait at 6 a.m. Saturday and forgot about them. Then, at around 6 p.m. Sunday, I went to the car, opened the cooler and six shrimp jumped out at me. This system works! The other nice thing is there is no bait bucket bubbler or O2 to deal with; and, it’s compact. Give it a try and let me know.
I’d like to mention that this is my ninth New Year with The Coastal Angler and their success is all because of you, our readers and advertisers. Thanks.
All right, I’m going to wrap it up for this month, so here’s wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Tight Lines.